Monday, September 15, 2008
THE PALIN INTERVIEWS
The McCain camp very wisely kept the ever talkative Sarah Palin under his watchful eye during the ten days following the republican convention. She only spoke her scripted stump speech, an abbreviated version of her convention appearance. Reporters were not allowed near the vice president nominee.
McCain’s handlers finally agreed upon an interview with one network reporter, ABC anchorman Charles Gibson – consistently referred to by the familiar name form of “Charlie” by Palin during the conversation. One wonders why the campaign selected “Charlie” for this privilege of the first interview. Palin seems somewhat presumptive with this familiarity, since he referred to her as “Governor.” Or, maybe he told her to call him “Charlie.” That is a small point, but a bit troublesome.
Nevertheless, Charles Gibson is an experienced professional journalist, and he was no doubt conscious that he could not be too easy with Ms. Palin and maintain respect among his peers. Yes, he threw her a lot of soft-balls, but he also threw some hard-balls as well. She was treated very kindly at times, although professionally.
Ms. Palin’s response to the first question bothered this observer. Asked how she felt when called about the vice president nomination, and when she was told she had been selected. Her response was: “I’m ready” plus other immodest, overly-confident comments.
Gibson questioned, “Doesn’t that take a lot of hubris.”
Palin answered: “No. Not really.” She repeated expressions of her confidence that she was ready for the job of being vice president and taking over if needed.
This was too, too much for many of us. Nomination for that position would give any seasoned public servant some trepidation, and it would evoke some kind of modest expression from most. Harry Truman had a “kicked by a mule” humbleness about taking over from Roosevelt.
Anyone who does not understand the gravity of the position is not qualified to hold it. The prospect should be sobering even to the most confident and experienced among us.
Although Gibson was not going for any “gotcha’s,” he did catch Palin unprepared in a few instances. In other instances, she danced around his questions. She used the old technique of answering a different question than was asked. Gibson did not push her. Most troubling was her tendency to perpetuate a false or misleading position taken earlier.
She was given ample opportunity to correct her “thanks, but no thanks” turning down the money for the “bridge to nowhere,” not admitting she was for it earlier or that she accepted and spent that ear-marked money on other Alaskan projects of interest to her. An overly courteous Gibson did not press and nail her to the wall, as most reporters might have done.
Oftentimes Gibson seemed content to let her obvious misstatements stand for the viewer to judge. Unfortunately, a lot of viewers are not that politically sophisticated.
Most of us who follow the news, national events, and public policy knew what Gibson was asking her about the “Bush Doctrine,” but she did not know. After he explained it to her, she danced around the question of whether or not she agreed with Bush. It is clear that she had been instructed be cautious about agreeing with Bush, lest the democrat charge of “four more years” stick.
She agreed with Obama on strikes at Bin Laden and Taliban inside Pakistan, thus not in agreement with McCain. She did state clearly that her personal positions against abortion in any case, other than the mother’s life, disagreed with the McCain position. To her credit, she said her personal positions should not be law necessarily.
She talked proudly of her NRA membership. She spoke against banning public possession of assault weapons, pushed by law enforcement agencies of all kinds, who must face such weapons in the hands of criminals.
Delicately phrased by Gibson, Palin addressed the issue of whether she could be a mother and also attend to the awesome duties of vice president or head of state. This is a question being raised by many women around the country, he said. She responded with the usual hubris that she did that while being mayor and governor, and therefore could surely handle it. She could have at least said it would be difficult, and full of many conflicting demands on her time, energy, and attention.
Gibson did not address many other touchy questions which have arisen, nor did he confront her with some of the more publicized discrepancies or the controversies in her background. Although he raised some, basically he treated her with kid gloves.
Governor Palin’s verbal skills and agility were quite impressive. She lacked substance and gravitas. She is being taught the party line as fast as she can learn it. She is not yet ready for prime time, nor for serious national responsibilities.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
McCain’s handlers finally agreed upon an interview with one network reporter, ABC anchorman Charles Gibson – consistently referred to by the familiar name form of “Charlie” by Palin during the conversation. One wonders why the campaign selected “Charlie” for this privilege of the first interview. Palin seems somewhat presumptive with this familiarity, since he referred to her as “Governor.” Or, maybe he told her to call him “Charlie.” That is a small point, but a bit troublesome.
Nevertheless, Charles Gibson is an experienced professional journalist, and he was no doubt conscious that he could not be too easy with Ms. Palin and maintain respect among his peers. Yes, he threw her a lot of soft-balls, but he also threw some hard-balls as well. She was treated very kindly at times, although professionally.
Ms. Palin’s response to the first question bothered this observer. Asked how she felt when called about the vice president nomination, and when she was told she had been selected. Her response was: “I’m ready” plus other immodest, overly-confident comments.
Gibson questioned, “Doesn’t that take a lot of hubris.”
Palin answered: “No. Not really.” She repeated expressions of her confidence that she was ready for the job of being vice president and taking over if needed.
This was too, too much for many of us. Nomination for that position would give any seasoned public servant some trepidation, and it would evoke some kind of modest expression from most. Harry Truman had a “kicked by a mule” humbleness about taking over from Roosevelt.
Anyone who does not understand the gravity of the position is not qualified to hold it. The prospect should be sobering even to the most confident and experienced among us.
Although Gibson was not going for any “gotcha’s,” he did catch Palin unprepared in a few instances. In other instances, she danced around his questions. She used the old technique of answering a different question than was asked. Gibson did not push her. Most troubling was her tendency to perpetuate a false or misleading position taken earlier.
She was given ample opportunity to correct her “thanks, but no thanks” turning down the money for the “bridge to nowhere,” not admitting she was for it earlier or that she accepted and spent that ear-marked money on other Alaskan projects of interest to her. An overly courteous Gibson did not press and nail her to the wall, as most reporters might have done.
Oftentimes Gibson seemed content to let her obvious misstatements stand for the viewer to judge. Unfortunately, a lot of viewers are not that politically sophisticated.
Most of us who follow the news, national events, and public policy knew what Gibson was asking her about the “Bush Doctrine,” but she did not know. After he explained it to her, she danced around the question of whether or not she agreed with Bush. It is clear that she had been instructed be cautious about agreeing with Bush, lest the democrat charge of “four more years” stick.
She agreed with Obama on strikes at Bin Laden and Taliban inside Pakistan, thus not in agreement with McCain. She did state clearly that her personal positions against abortion in any case, other than the mother’s life, disagreed with the McCain position. To her credit, she said her personal positions should not be law necessarily.
She talked proudly of her NRA membership. She spoke against banning public possession of assault weapons, pushed by law enforcement agencies of all kinds, who must face such weapons in the hands of criminals.
Delicately phrased by Gibson, Palin addressed the issue of whether she could be a mother and also attend to the awesome duties of vice president or head of state. This is a question being raised by many women around the country, he said. She responded with the usual hubris that she did that while being mayor and governor, and therefore could surely handle it. She could have at least said it would be difficult, and full of many conflicting demands on her time, energy, and attention.
Gibson did not address many other touchy questions which have arisen, nor did he confront her with some of the more publicized discrepancies or the controversies in her background. Although he raised some, basically he treated her with kid gloves.
Governor Palin’s verbal skills and agility were quite impressive. She lacked substance and gravitas. She is being taught the party line as fast as she can learn it. She is not yet ready for prime time, nor for serious national responsibilities.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
