TPM: Why Palin's Interview With ABC Is Already A Farce

I spent most of the day today traveling and then giving a talk up at Union College a few hours north of New York City. So I was offline most of the day. And though I heard about Charlie Gibson bagging the first interview with Sarah Palin, I was eager to get home and read the details.

Well, now I've read them. And it's pretty clear this farce is going to be close to unwatchable. Set aside that this comes just on the heels of McCain campaign manager Rick Davis saying Palin would not sit for any interviews "until the point in time when she'll be treated with respect and deference." The tell comes high up in the AP story by David Bauder. The second graf reads ...

Palin will sit down for multiple interviews with Gibson in Alaska over two days, most likely Thursday and Friday, said McCain adviser Mark Salter.

Political interviews are never done like this. Because it makes the questioning entirely at the discretion of the person being interviewed and their handlers. The interviewer has to be on their best behavior, at least until the last of the 'multiple interviews' because otherwise the subsequent sittings just won't happen. For a political journalist to agree to such terms amounts to a form of self-gelding. The only interviews that are done this way are lifestyle and celebrity interviews. And it's pretty clear that that is what this will be.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[PazPraSempre]

When asked if she took a moment to think about the position of VP before taking the offer, she said "No, I didn't blink. You can't blink."
She has a family, a newborn with Down Syndrome, and she didn't even bother to consider uprooting her family, and the significant time it would take away from her baby?
What if God forbid, we have the possibility of going to war with Iran? Is she not going to blink as well, and just send in the troops without considering all possible measures to handle the situation?
We need a leader who takes the time to think and analyze before making major decisions.

[Justwonderings]

Enough of this already.
Enough manipulating the press and America.
Enough avoiding the facts and feeding us lines.
Palin is ridiculous and totally unprepared. If Obama gave answers like she gave charlie gibson he would be walked off the plank. This is an embarrassment.

By the way, saying you understand Russia and can handle the threat because you can see the edge of the outermost territory of Russia from an island in Alaska is like saying the governor of Guam protects the US because its in the Pacific and can protect us from China.
Oh and we are not at war with Russia. What is this 1985 watching the movie "Red Dawn"
What a joke.

[MRb1000]

They will not ask her about this!
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/_palin_family_shockers_what_sarahs_really_hiding/celebrity/65407

[Lupin77]

I'm sure she will receive a copy of the questions so that she can prepare her answers and that was probably one of the conditions for the interview. The repubs don't want to put her out there unless they can control the situation because she's totally unfamiliar with the issues and unless the interview is controlled because we will all see that she's unprepared to be vp.

[Turtleposer]

If Palin can't handle the nastiness of a national campaign, how is she going to handle Congress, if God forbid, she ends up being our president?

[Turtleposer]

Funny thing about the interview with Palin--ABC's doing everything it can to conceal when it's going to be held. I'm pretty adept at Googling, but it took me 45 minutes to find out the interview is at 6:30 EST, Sept 11.

Not that it'll matter. Gibson will throw Palin a few softballs & everyone will proclaim what a wonderful leader she is.

[DebbieinPhx]

IF Charlie Gibson had any professional scruples he would say, thanks anyway... whenever you are READY to tell the TRUTH to the American people about who you are and what you believe, give us a call, until then continue to hide behind the SAME ridiculous prerecorded telepromter speech and continue telling the same BLATANT lies again and again and again, even though every major news media outlet has show side by sides of you saying the exact opposite...if only

[Manx]

Chuck Gibson is not to be taken seriously after his partisan ambush of Obama during the Obama/Clinton debate. And that goes for George Stephanopolous.

The question Gibson should ask Sarah" "As a Christian, conservative ideologue like Bush, what is it that makes you different from him.?"

[LAB11]

Oh, so that's where the "deference" reporters are--ABC News.

[anpu]

You can not trust Gibson to be a journalist. He already played his hand in the Democratic debate which he hosted with George Stephanopolis (sp?). He was hyper-aggressive towads Barack Obama and extemely partisan in his questioning and follow-ups.

That debate was so bad that journalists from across the country were criticizing how Gibson and George handled the questioning of two candidates fighting for the Democratic nomination for president.

Gibson is a joke and so is Palin!

[buddydave]

ABC is the new FOX.

[CTmom13]

It won't be legit/......It's a JOKE

Republicans can only win with LIES, SMEARS and VOTING SUPPRESION....FACT - they are doing all of those things again -

[richdoll]

i don't know about you i'm tired of hearing about ms palin, i'm a political junkie and all day is palin this and palin that except for the real issues. she will not speak with the media unscripted. the media msmbc, cnn,cbs is skirting around the issues. everything negative the pundits are squashing and try to spin she's the real deal. until she speaks unscripted i do want to hear her. obama is being swift boated by the media.

[sunny4]

Next time there is an election, let the media choose the president. I am sick and tired of all the
commentators and their spin.

[chosenson]

McCain making donations to Obama:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/09/mccain-and-palin-once-again-play-barracuda/

[odoreida]

It's remarkable how everybody can write about what a farce this interview is before it actually takes place.