Student Who Quizzed Palin On Pakistan: Her Handlers Are "Tyrannical"

Surprised (and upset) we missed this one. On Monday, Michael Smerconish, the never under-stated radio talk show host, had on his program the Temple Grad student who got Sarah Palin to say that she supported cross border raids into Pakistan even without that country's consent.

Palin's statement drew a lot of buzz, not simply because it mirrored the position of Barack Obama, but because it flew in the face of the alleged caution that John McCain preaches when it comes to talking about Pakistan. As such, the McCain campaign was quick to denounce the whole episode as "gotcha journalism."

Asked about it all, the student, Michael Rovito, was nearly apoplectic at the notion that questions for a vice presidential candidate were somehow inherently unfair.

"My dad and my uncle are kind of mocking me," he recalled. "My dad is saying 'Shut up, shut up.' I was like, 'No, I'm not going to shut up. If she is the vice presidential candidate I'm going to be paying her salary with my taxes. She needs to answer this question... It wasn't until she pulled away that I was like 'God, she just said what Obama says.'"

At this point, Smerconish jumped in, airing his own displeasure with how the McCain campaign has handled Palin's roll out, vis a vis the media: "This idea that she shouldn't be out there answering questions is insane... they are putting her in such short pants, they are not doing her any favor, meaning the advisers."

"It is tyrannical," replied Rovito. "It is bordering on tyranny, where we can't have these presidential and vice presidential ... candidates now, they aren't accountable, they aren't answering any questions. I think it is tyrannical ... they can't be shielding her, shifting her off to Arizona and some desert just to coach her on what to say on Thursday."

Tyranny may be a bit of an overstatement. In fact, in the end, McCain's sheltering could help Palin during the debate. As Smerconish noted, "The perception is only enhanced that she can't handle it... the expectations will be so low that if she simply hangs in there, people will say: 'Hey not as bad as I thought.'"

Listen to the interview here.

COMPLETE VP DEBATE COVERAGE: BIDEN PALIN VIDEO, HIGHLIGHTS

Comments

[Indie2008]

If you think her handlers are tyrannical now, just imagine her as VP, where her handlers can control her access.They will roll her out as their lean, mean neocon machine, and Joe-Six-Pack won't know what hit him.

[suvbaby]

A Must see

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJUCU1UH2w

[ChewyToy22]

That video is scary as he!!!!!!!!

And should be broadcast every living day until the election.

Thanks for posting.

[SoupBoneJones]

I wonder sometimes if her pick was a joke. I keep thinking they'll tell the country April fools and drop her for Lieberman.

http://www.thegreatschlep.com/site/index.html

[Diogenis]

Without her, Mac diminishes completely.

[sacrebleu]

Matt Taibbi outdoes himself (READER ADVISORY--People with bladder control issues should do a tinkle before reading):

MAD DOG PALIN: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/23318320/mad_dog_palin

[editorjuno]

Outstanding rant, frighteningly great illustration. Thanks!

[rock2casbah]

Well that's your opinion Stein where you inserted that "Tyranny may be a bit of an over statement". It has been mentioned pretty regularly in association with the McCain campaign by many who are rarely known for over statement.

[rock2casbah]

Is that photo a McCain campaign press kit photo?

Where did that black guy come from?. Are they hiring over there at the McCain campaign for black people photo op props? I am sure that is the first black guy Palin has ever seen close up.

McCain campaign is getting more ridiculous and surreal by the day.

[gfreshski1]

No disclosure, no knowledge, no change from Bush.

If you vote for Unstable/Unable, you are deserve 4 more years of this crud.

I don't but you do.

[gfreshski1]

No disclosure, no knowledge, no change from Bush.

If you vote for Unstable/Unable, you are an idiot. Period.

[wedgie]

This isn't about smart or stupid. This is about what she believes and how that will affect the way she would govern.

**

[glesslib]

I would take issue with you. It is about smart and stupid as well as how she would govern. The president or vice-president doesn't have to know everything on day one of their administration. However, they need to be smart enough to sit down and learn the things they are going to have to know to serve well. If a person already thinks he (Bush) or she (Palin) know everything and don't need to read, consult, surround themselves with the best advice and spend every day learning on the job, then it's over. Palin is not smart enough to know she's not smart enough.

[editorjuno]

How about her (lack of) intelligence "and how that will affect the way she would govern" -- doesn't that count?

[BluePride]

Smart? She's gotta be. Informed? Not a chance. She doesn't have the breadth since most of what she knows came from one book. McCain doesn't think, either. He mentally takes an answer down off the shelf and reads it. If it's mean or nasty he adds a smile.
Both have vision but Palin-DRONE's is myopic. Gwen will bring that out like a pro!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59mOukUZNUo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVwpMB8QAUU

[itsrg]

It is not the Palin-Rovito exchange at Tony Luke's last weekend in and of itself that illustrates the sort of tyranny that Mr. Rovito referred to in his interview with Mr. Smerconish, but rather the circumstances around the exchange. The questions themselves would have been far less eventful had Governor Palin been available to both press and public. The content of the responses would have likewise been unremarkable had McCain commented differently on his seeming difference of opinion with Palin in his subsequent TV interviews. The concerns raised by Mr. Rovito, as well as by the public, around his exchange with Palin stem largely from the lack of credibility in McCain and Palin's argument that she misspoke her views, and by reference those of McCain. She may well have erred in her representation of McCain's views, but it is hard to say at this point whether she misrepresented her own. The other aspect of this incident that could surely seem tyrannical from a student's point of view stems from the direct attack McCain and Palin have aimed at Mr. Rovito himself simply for asking the questions in the first place. She could have opted not to engage the questions.

[boogiewoman]

She really is a pitt bull, she has handlers for God sake. Does Joe Biden have handlers?

[Diogenis]

Nope, Joe's faith does not handle snakes.

[Puller58]

Her rollout rivals the rollout of the Edsel for most lame product ever.

[teacheng]

We have to keep making sure that everyone knows her ridiculous lack of knowledge.

Don't assume cause WE have learned the truth that everyone knows. Show her videos to your parents, your friends, your colleagues.

[Rog49Thomas]

This just goes to show how insidious liberalism is.

First, an television anchor has the temerity to ask Sister Sarah questions and then follow-up on her incoherent answers.

Next some smarty pants elitist (who's been one of them thar East Coast universities) starts gettin' uppity and askin' questions.

Where my friends will it all end?

Where is our country headed to?

McCain/Palin in 2008
One's unstable the other's unable
Forward to the 11th Century!

[drumz]

Your being sarcastic, right? Because it's pretty good sarcasm ala Minn. Mike.

[DoTheMath]

Sometimes I swear I wouldn't make it through this election without the Huffington Post. Thanks for the laughs and the camaraderie.