Palin's First Press Conference Cut Short (VIDEO)
UPDATE at 5:46 PM EST:
Some Republicans were not happy with the way that the Palin press conference was conducted, complaining that it seemed intended to bolster her status as the leader of the party and that she was hogging the media attention.
According to CNN:
Some Republican governors tell CNN they were not particularly happy with the way the Republican Governors Association press conference was executed Thursday, saying that they agreed to go as a show of GOP governors' unity -- but they ended up feeling like silent Palin supporters, since it was clearly a press conference called for her.
The GOP governors spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity.One called it awkward: "I'm sure you could see it on some of our faces."
Another Republican governor eyeing a presidential run in 2012 told CNN the event was "odd" and "weird," and said it "unfortunately sent a message that she was the de facto leader of the party."
There has been palpable tension among some GOP governors gathered in Miami that Palin has been sucking up all the media oxygen.
In an interview with CNN, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour shrugged off that suggestion.
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advertisement"That's just somebody running down a rabbit trail. There's plenty of oxygen here," he said.
More from The Daily Telegraph:
Here in Miami, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska has just given her first press conference since she shot to international prominence when John McCain picked her as his vice-presidential running mate. It was a mess. According to my digital recorder, the actual Q & A with her lasted three minutes and 23 seconds and there were just four questions - three before press staff attempted to shut the thing down.
It wasn't really Palin's fault. She was answering the questions competently, declining "to talk about strategy within a campaign that's over" and repeatedly pivoting back to talking about GOP governors - a dozen of whom were standing behind her (though one Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana was conspicuous by his absence). This is, after all, the Republican Governors Association gathering.
Perhaps out of a desire to stop it becoming the Sarah Palin Show, perhaps in an attempt to shield the Alaska governor from a Mainstream Media free-for-all, what was billed as a Palin press conference began with 13 governors filing in. Governor Rick Perry of Texas then gave a lengthy introduction. After that, Palin delivered her own remarks followed by the very brief question session.
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First Posted: 11-13-08 11:39 AM | Updated: 12-14-08 05:12 AM