Gov. Palin has had a couple of not so helpful interviews with Gibson and Couric. It was a mistake for the McCain campaign to allow her to be interviewed by individuals who are a part of the New York elitist media. It would've been wiser to have her make the rounds on friendlier turf: Fox News, conservative talk radio, Washington Times, New York Post, Jim Leherer. The Gibson/Couric types are less objective and are more concerned about gotcha journalism and impressing their friends with a disasterous interview for a conservative politician. McCain's campaign allowed the whining of the media establishment to get to them. But one must always remember as noble as journalism once used to be, a vast majority of the big names in network and cable media have an agenda and have lost all sense of fairness.
That being said here's tonights scenario: Gwen Ifill has been the news story for a couple of days. She most certainly had a conflict of interest when she accepted the offer to moderate the debate last summer. The burden was on her to disclose the information about her upcoming book to the debate commission when the offer was made. Ifill would go to jail if it was revealed that she received a $350,000 bribe to speak glowingly of Obama, his life, his politics and his campaign as a journalist. Instead she stands to make a minimum $350,000 if her book makes the NY Times bestseller list which requires a minimum of 100,000 copies sold. There will be much pressure on Ifill to be fair in her questions and there will be as much attention on her tonight as Palin/Biden.
The pressure on Biden is to not be himself. Being himself means several gaffes, bloviating and awkward responses. He must work hard at not seeming to be piling on Ms. Palin. He cannot appear to be a bully or bloodthirsty. He has to be a gentleman, something that wasn't taught in the blue collar neighborhoods of Scranton, PA. It is not natural to him. He is a bareknuckles politician and if he was up against a man he would be in his element. Tonight there will be much pressure and attention on Biden to keep from doing what he does often: open mouth, insert foot.
Gov. Palin's luster has been tarnished to be for sure. After tonight that will change. All she has to do is be herself: folksy, articulate, classy, conservative and everything she was the night of her star performance in Dayton, OH at her announcement and in St. Paul at the convention. She will be in trouble if she tries to be what the campaign has been trying to mold her into: something else.
She cannot try to act like she has lots of foreign policy experience because she doesn't. All she needs to say if challenged on that front? "I have at least as much foreign policy experience as the top of the Democratic ticket". She can easily respond to questions about Supreme Court decisions by citing not only Roe v. Wade but also the recent decisions for granting habeas corpus rights to terrorists, the eminent domain debacle, and some of the affirmative action decisions that have turned into quotas.
She cannot seem to make up answers on the fly. She must simply refer back to the fact that she is not a Washington insider and that she has demonstrated her ability to be an executive overseeing dozens of departments, hundreds of millions of dollars, while taking on corrupt politicians even in her own party and seeing that some went to jail. She needs to emphasize who she is and what she has become and that she will make a fine Vice President to a man who is more qualified to be President than any person left in the race.
She needs to underscore that in Washington she will be the voice of the common man who for too long has been under-represented in the halls of government. She needs to emphasize that she knows what it is like to make minimum wage, to live in small town America, to go to a public school, to compete in a beauty contest to try to win scholarship money to go to college, that she went to a regular college not one of the elitist schools, that she married a man when she was young had kids, injected herself into the local PTA to make a difference, what it is like to have a husband who works in the oil fields and is a member of the Steelworkers Union. She needs to talk about having to live on a family budget, stretching dollars to make ends meet. She needs to remind everyone that she represents the America that majority of Americans live in.
All Sarah needs to do is be herself, not what all the New York socialites and inside the Beltway cocktail clubs expect her to be and she will perform very well in tonight's debate. If she does, she will reignite the base, and inspire many others that she is a good reason to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket.
__________________
When a newspaper posed the question, "What's Wrong with the World?" G. K. Chesterton reputedly wrote a brief letter in response: "Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely Yours, G. K. Chesterton." That is the attitude of someone who has grasped the message of Jesus.
Re: Palin vs. Biden Prediction: She Will Do Great!
I agree, but is that what her advisors are telling her too? I sure hope so. We'll see tonight.
Her innocence on some of these things is what is refreshing if people would get it. She's not soiled with the ability to just make up something to cover your butt like so many of these guys do.
__________________
Master of Science in Applied Disgruntled Religious Theorist Wrangling
PhD in Petulant Tantrum Quelling
Dean of the School of Hard Knocks
Re: Palin vs. Biden Prediction: She Will Do Great!
The good that may come out of the interviews is the notion that she cannot be a very good phoney. She is too honest and too untarnished by years of corrupt politics to be a filibustering pol. Hopefully they will tell her, "Quit listening to us and your critics and just go out there and be Sarah. If they make fun of you, that only helps our cause because most Americans get it. They realize that the party of the common man is the GOP and that those who say they are for average people are really not. They only use those contituentcies to gain power. They actually loathe the commoner. Go out there and be yourself."
__________________
When a newspaper posed the question, "What's Wrong with the World?" G. K. Chesterton reputedly wrote a brief letter in response: "Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely Yours, G. K. Chesterton." That is the attitude of someone who has grasped the message of Jesus.
Re: Palin vs. Biden Prediction: She Will Do Great!
Dennis Miller had a good suggestion for her.
Come out and admit that she's not perfect. Those that were hoping so are probably disappointed. That being said, she is still the best candidate for the VP ticket between her and Biden and she ain't giving up!
I believe all she needs is a tie, to show she is on equal ground with Biden. If she clearly wins the debate, the McCain ticket has a great change of winning the election.
How she performs tonight can make the difference in the election!
In media interviews from here until election day, she needs to call it out when she feels that an interviewer is trying another pop quiz "gotcha" question. Before the interview begins, she should be pro-active and say, "I'm only responding to questions that deal with this election and current world and economic policies that concern the American people. Save your pop quiz questions that have no bearing on the issues at hand for your local High School and college political courses."
During the interview, if she get's ambushed with a pop quiz "gotcha" question, she should politely say, "I told you before this interview that I was not answering stupid pop quiz questions. I don't have time for such foolishness, so this interview is over!"
__________________ Words: For when an emoticon just isn't enough.
Re: Palin vs. Biden Prediction: She Will Do Great!
I have a question for you Palin supporters. The campaign and the supporters, to large extent, are basing a huge chunk of your Palin argument on this "elitist, liberal news media" theme. I understand your feelings about the media and their bias.
But are the indepedent, swing voters really going to buy that she's a strong, able leader to deal with America's problems at home and abroad, and yet according to her supporters, she can't contend with members of the press?
I mean how can she be strong and able to lead and be so taken advantage of by a person with a camera and microphone? IMO, that's an extremely risky argument to make.
__________________
In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity. Augustine
Re: Palin vs. Biden Prediction: She Will Do Great!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeinAR
I have a question for you Palin supporters. The campaign and the supporters, to large extent, are basing a huge chunk of your Palin argument on this "elitist, liberal news media" theme. I understand your feelings about the media and their bias.
But are the indepedent, swing voters really going to buy that she's a strong, able leader to deal with America's problems at home and abroad, and yet according to her supporters, she can't contend with members of the press?
I mean how can she be strong and able to lead and be so taken advantage of by a person with a camera and microphone? IMO, that's an extremely risky argument to make.
Mike,
This is how I feel about her. She is an accomplished person. She has made good conservative moves and changes for the people. I want her in office.
Sarah Palin's Accomplishments
Under her leadership, Alaska invested $5 billion in state savings, overhauled education funding, and implemented the Senior Benefits Program that provides support for low-income older Alaskans.
She created Alaska’s Petroleum Systems Integrity Office to provide oversight and maintenance of oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure, and the Climate Change Subcabinet to prepare a climate change strategy for Alaska.
During her first legislative session, Governor Palin’s administration passed two major pieces of legislation - an overhaul of the state’s ethics laws and a competitive process to construct a gas pipeline.
Governor Palin is chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, a multi-state government agency that promotes the conservation and efficient recovery of domestic oil and natural gas resources while protecting health, safety and the environment.
She was recently named chair of the National Governors Association (NGA) Natural Resources Committee, which is charged with pursuing legislation to ensure state needs are considered as federal policy is formulated in the areas of agriculture, energy, environmental protection and natural resource management. Prior to being named to this position, she served as co-chair of this committee.
Prior to her election as governor, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council and two terms as the mayor/manager of Wasilla. During her tenure, she reduced property tax levels while increasing services and made Wasilla a business friendly environment, drawing in new industry.
She has served as chair of the Alaska Conservation Commission, which regulates Alaska’s most valuable non-renewable resources: oil and gas.
She was elected by her peers to serve as president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. In this role, she worked with local, state and federal officials to promote solutions to the needs of Alaska’s communities.
Re: Palin vs. Biden Prediction: She Will Do Great!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pressing-On
Mike,
This is how I feel about her. She is an accomplished person. She has made good conservative moves and changes for the people. I want her in office.
Sarah Palin's Accomplishments
Under her leadership, Alaska invested $5 billion in state savings, overhauled education funding, and implemented the Senior Benefits Program that provides support for low-income older Alaskans.
She created Alaska’s Petroleum Systems Integrity Office to provide oversight and maintenance of oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure, and the Climate Change Subcabinet to prepare a climate change strategy for Alaska.
During her first legislative session, Governor Palin’s administration passed two major pieces of legislation - an overhaul of the state’s ethics laws and a competitive process to construct a gas pipeline.
Governor Palin is chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, a multi-state government agency that promotes the conservation and efficient recovery of domestic oil and natural gas resources while protecting health, safety and the environment.
She was recently named chair of the National Governors Association (NGA) Natural Resources Committee, which is charged with pursuing legislation to ensure state needs are considered as federal policy is formulated in the areas of agriculture, energy, environmental protection and natural resource management. Prior to being named to this position, she served as co-chair of this committee.
Prior to her election as governor, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council and two terms as the mayor/manager of Wasilla. During her tenure, she reduced property tax levels while increasing services and made Wasilla a business friendly environment, drawing in new industry.
She has served as chair of the Alaska Conservation Commission, which regulates Alaska’s most valuable non-renewable resources: oil and gas.
She was elected by her peers to serve as president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. In this role, she worked with local, state and federal officials to promote solutions to the needs of Alaska’s communities.
As I said, she's an intelligent person that has accomplished good things. There is no debating that, up to this point, that has absolutely not translated to her run for VP. It's been atrocious.
Look I have major dislikes of GWB and Dick Cheney. I think they've been bad for the country. That said, I've never once seen in an interview on ANY media outlet, where they didn't appear strong, decisive and able to lead. They gave me that perception. Sarah Palin simply doesn't have that.
I think blaming all of that on the media monster is a bad idea with undecideds.
__________________
In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity. Augustine
Re: Palin vs. Biden Prediction: She Will Do Great!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeinAR
As I said, she's an intelligent person that has accomplished good things. There is no debating that, up to this point, that has absolutely not translated to her run for VP. It's been atrocious.
Look I have major dislikes of GWB and Dick Cheney. I think they've been bad for the country. That said, I've never once seen in an interview on ANY media outlet, where they didn't appear strong, decisive and able to lead. They gave me that perception. Sarah Palin simply doesn't have that.
I think blaming all of that on the media monster is a bad idea with undecideds.
I agree, but did you want her to act like Geraldine Ferraro or Hillary? I would take Sarah over them - hands down!
Hybrid Mode
