Thread: In defense of Sarah Palin

I'm not republican, but I'm not necessarily anti-Palin, so here it goes. It's my understanding that Palin has been campaigning almost daily since the... what do they call it? Big party? Beer bust? That thing they did during the hurricane... Rally? CONVENTION. That's it. My mind went blank for a minute. She's been out there, she's been on T.V., I don't see any less of her than I do of Biden at this point. Since she's V.P. candidate and the election is mainly focused on the office of the President, I don't find it surprising that she doesn't get all the press McCain does. That's probably why you're not seeing as much.

Originally Posted by maplemaker

I'm not republican, but I'm not necessarily anti-Palin, so here it goes. It's my understanding that Palin has been campaigning almost daily since the... what do they call it? Big party? Beer bust? That thing they did during the hurricane... Rally? CONVENTION. That's it. My mind went blank for a minute. She's been out there, she's been on T.V., I don't see any less of her than I do of Biden at this point. Since she's V.P. candidate and the election is mainly focused on the office of the President, I don't find it surprising that she doesn't get all the press McCain does. That's probably why you're not seeing as much.

The Press is not allowed to ask her any questions. They're not allowed to even talk to her on the record in passing on her plane.


The Ed Schultz Show

Breaking News from Big Eddie:
McCain Camp insiders say Palin "clueless"
Capitol Hill sources are telling me that senior McCain people
are more than concerned about Palin. The campaign has held
a mock debate and a mock press conference; both are being described as "disastrous." One senior McCain aide was quoted as saying, "What are we going to do?" The McCain people want to move this first debate to some later, undetermined date, possibly never. People on the inside are saying the Alaska Governor is "clueless."

Originally Posted by maplemaker

I'm not republican, but I'm not necessarily anti-Palin, so here it goes. It's my understanding that Palin has been campaigning almost daily since the... what do they call it? Big party? Beer bust? That thing they did during the hurricane... Rally? CONVENTION. That's it. My mind went blank for a minute. She's been out there, she's been on T.V., I don't see any less of her than I do of Biden at this point. Since she's V.P. candidate and the election is mainly focused on the office of the President, I don't find it surprising that she doesn't get all the press McCain does. That's probably why you're not seeing as much.

Hi there,

I started out not being anti Palin, but something strange is pulling me in a negative direction. Oh, before going farther, let me please just tell you this is only my opinion. Don't for a second take anything I say as a slam or anything like that at all.......ok? We all think differently.....that's all it is.

Mr Biden has many many years of sound bites and a long legislative track record that helps define who he is. He's a well known entity, and you pretty much know what you're getting. Mr's Palin is basically a total unknown, and that's fine (or it should be anyway). The thing is, there really has been a lot less access granted when it comes to being ALLOWED to interview her. I totally believe that to be true.

You're right, you don't see a lot of Mr Biden on tv at the moment either, but it's not as important in his case. He does make the news occasionally, but I think Mrs Palin gets much more press than he does. One subject that comes up a lot is the inabilty to actually have an off the cuff or spontaneous discussion with her, and that's where my question comes in.

I'd like her supporters to comment on if that bothers em at all, and if not, then why wouldn't it. I have my doubts it can be done in a reasonable manner, but I'll still leave some room for changing my mind.

Martin

Watch the interview and you soon see why they don't let her talk spontaneously or answer questions. I really feel sorry because they really have done her a disservice by shielding her this long, obviously not preparing her and putting her in way over her head. Her self confidence really has to have been shaken by these really poor performances. The fact that the Republicans declared war on the press didn't help either.

Hey, Martin. Sorry, should have quantified the post a little better. As a senator, Biden is really well known, but I don't think he's getting any more or less as the V.P. candidiot than Palin. I neglected to separate the two situations clearly. Sorry.

The first thing that comes to my mind is that the initial surprise effect was extremely strong and she became an overnight celebrity. But I doubt that the campaign was betting on that momentum to carry over for the next 60 days.
I believe they have a strategy and her being sequestered is part of that. I can only speculate why, but from the two interviews I've seen it seems that a major part is minimizing any possible damage (which will be amplified by her celebrity status). I think the idea is to rely on few strong and very orchestrated performances in front of a friendly public, and minimize any exposure to any kind of hostility.
My feeling is that the goal of the campaign is to win the election, even if that may not be the same thing as making the best long-term choices.
In any case she is the pick for a VP, not running for president, I would be more worried if the spotlight continues to be placed on her, or if shortly before the election she is catapulted again in another celebrity orbit. The discussion should be mostly who of the two candidates will make a better president, and their choice for the potential replacement is just plan B. In theory the better president will also have a better plan B, but as I said at this stage it seems that the campaign goal is to win the election no matter what.

I don't think this is the positive view you are looking for, but I don't think it's negative either.

When one of the candidates is 72 years old has had two bouts of melanoma his plan B has a lot of relevance? When he said he puts country before winning the election his choice of VP candidates sort of puts that in question too.