Palin: No Press Conference, No Medical Records, No Big Surprise

Sarah Palin hasn't had a press conference or released her medical records. I'm not surprised.

The McCain/Palin camp telegraphed that Palin wouldn't have a press conference. Back in early September, McCain's Head Mudslinger Rick Davis said Palin wouldn't take tough questions from reporters "until the point in time when she'll be treated with respect and deference."

Winking, Blinking And Nod

Given Palin's interviews to date, I can't imagine any non-Fox reporter giving her adequate "deference" when it comes to asking her about: Troopergate, the road to nowhere, the VP's job description, Ted Stevens, her wardrobe, going rogue, pallin' around with First Dude and Secessionist Todd , Putin rearing his head, her witch-doctor pastor, being a drag on the ticket, etc.

Her Katie Couric interview was the beginning of the end.The McCain team just can't afford to have Palin answer any pesky follow-up questions, only to have her look like a deer in headlights, asking "In what respect, Charlie?"

I think McCain will always be haunted by his impulsive pick of the unqualified and unvetted Palin. Especially if he loses. Oh well. They'll always have St. Paul.

It would be nice if the media highlighted these omissions in the next 24 hours and held Palin accountable for agreeing to release her medical records, not releasing them and not having a press conference. Sigh...

Palin said she didn't blink when McCain asked her to be VP. People blink when they lie. Palin blinked a lot when Brian Williams asked to about releasing her medical records. Palin was for releasing them before she was against it.

Palin's been winking and blinking a lot on the campaign trail. Luckily, voters won't be giving her and McCain the nod - if we turn out our vote. It's in our hands now.

Follow Karen Russell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Karen_Russell

Comments

[EdgedInBlue]

Fox ( http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/03/palins-medical-history-released/ )is reporting that her records were released Monday evening. The link http://www.johnmccain.com/Downloads/110308SHP.pdf is just a letter from her doctor stating she is in good health.

[caterpol]

The choice of Palin, on the heels of GWB, truly underscores what the GOP thinks of American voters. That alone should disqualify the GOP ticket.

Shame on anybody willing to accept such an insulting choice. Double shame on those pretending that she's worthy of serious consideration when they so clearly know better.

[UnderdogSRD]

No 'Meet The Press"
No "This Week"
No "Face The Nation"

No clue, no brain, no way, no how.

Dan Quayle has to be chuckling to himself.

Vote 08 - Obama / Biden. Unless of course you want the recession to turn into the big D.

[justoverit333]

What is in those medical records. hhhmmmmm.

[ericmiami]

Look, she answered the 3 a.m. call.
Too bad she mistook the caller for Sarkozy!
Ha ha ha ha ha.

[Myshkin57]

I caught a few seconds of 'Morning Joe' this morning and someone who sounded like Tucker Carlson (I didn't see his face) was trying to say that Palin's being able to read a speech from a teleprompter demonstrated that she was very intelligent. What a joke.

I guess there's a very small chance that Palin just got caught in an embarrassing series of brain flatulence and she really is quite intelligent. But, nothing she's done has demonstrated that she is very intelligent. It's just silly to argue that someone who spent six years in college learning how to read sports news from a teleprompter is extremely intelligent in virtue of having the ability to do so.

[billthomson]

But, if the campaign really believed that the Couric interview was an aberration, the clear strategy would have been more interviews, press conferences, etc. The fact that her last solo interview with a real reporter was Couric tells you everything you need to know.

[Myshkin57]

I agree. And, I'm pretty sure nobody coached her to say that her foreign policy experience consisted of being ready to see Putin rear his head into Alaskan airspace.

[RuffNReddy]

And you know... come to think of it, her records are probably being altered as we speak.
Doctor pay-offs for new records with proper letterhead, etc...
It's not beneath the GOP to mishandle information, is it now?

[walkthewalk]

I can't understand why the media hasn't called Palin out on her antics. How can anyone be a serious candidate for vice president without having held a press conference, sat down for an in-depth Sunday morning interview or released one's medical records? Rather than having treated Sarah Palin with great disrespect, the media has treated her most deferentially. There is no other candidate who has had to prove his or her qualifications by sharing so little with the press and the American electorate.

[TJane]

Can't take an unfiltered question from the press, can't hold a press conference but makes time for SNL?? Yeah, she's ready.

[Myshkin57]

That's because she hasn't learned the job yet. You know how it works when you apply for an important job. You go in and tell your prospective employer that you know nothing about the job you would be hired for and that you will learn within a few year's time.

I hear that's how they hire doctors. You just go to a hospital, tell them you really, REALLY want to be a doctor, demonstrate no knowledge of human anatomy or physiology but tell them that you'll learn as you're cutting people open.

Geez! She's as ready as a doctor who hasn't gone to med school. So, stop criticizing her.

[robXdion]

Because it's sexist to point out the real truth instead of these manufactured issues.

[BrnPhil]

She gets away with everything just like Bush and Chaney. I can't wait for her to go back to Alaska soon.

[metivo]

WHY would a seemingly robustly healthy Sarah Palin NOT release her medical records. It truly is strange.

[sleek]

Easy explanation: she's hiding and covering up something.

[kycatfan]

Because she may have had a tubal ligation or hysterectomy after Piper, which would show that Trig is Bristol's child.

[WilliamProc]

Well, its too late for McCain to save his campaign by jettisoning the ballast Sarah Palin. Its sinking faster than the Maine. But about her medical records...

The other canidates have offered them for scrutiny, but for some reason known only to the RNC, her's can't be divulged. Why not? Mrs. Palin has trotted around the country vilifying Obama about not being forthcoming about his associations whit various persons, but she can't let anyone see her medical records, when most employers, at the least, want a physical for their new hires. Why should she be any different? And just what is she hiding? Unknown health problem, a past abortion, was temporarily relaxing at some mental institute when she met her beau?

The public does have a right to know, and she shouldn't try to shield herself behind the 1st Amendment.

[nextpres08]

She's a poser and I can't wait for her to go back to Alaska ASAP. The idea of her being VP makes me cringe. America will be the laughing stock of the world if McCain/Palin win.

[Pacojam]

That's an excellent word for her "poser". A poser that wants to pose her way into the most powerful job in the world.

[Bitsko]

Nice commentary. Ms. Russell. Let's hear more from you!

[RedKnuckles]

McCain's first important executive decision was to make a sensible VP pick. That his impulsiveness and ambition overshadowed reason is one of the main factors in him being behind in the polls. I agree that this pick will haunt him. That said, with the sad lot he had to choose from, he may have simply not gotten the post convention bounce with a Ridge or Lieberman pick. He was screwed either way.

[Pdubya]

original birth certificate sealed by govenor of hawaii.

no big surprise.

thank you philip berg.

[metivo]

Today, the State of Hawaii officially verified the existence and authenticity of Obama's original birth certificate. Case Closed.

[Squigibo]

What he said.

Obama is a true blood American.
Sarah is a true blood.... uh.... ummmm..... well? Nevermind. Go Obama!

[ckt]

Yeah, keep beatin' that drum. I has been confirmed that he was born in Hawaii. But you keep poundin' out that beat cause soooooo many people are interested (not).

[Myshkin57]

That birth certificate "issue" was settled months ago. Several independent organizations verified it. Do some reading.

[KimberleyC]

She doesn't release the medical records because she doesn't want to. I think it's legitimate to speculate why. I hardly think she has proven herself as the "reformer" she brands herself. She's nothing but the same old stuff.