When Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain's running mate, there was much enthusiasm on the right - and much shock/dismay/hatred/venom on the left.
These were both good, reassuring reactions. She had the GOP base charged up, she scared the dickens out of the Dems. Bingo.
All the things that made her such a great choice, everything about her that made 38 million people tune in to hear her speak, all that we loved and they despised....has been dampened. The McCain campaign seems to be turning her into a 'candidate'
I know that they are keeping her away from the press because they haven't 'earned' the right to interview her. Whatever. So they give us Gibson. Ugh. And Hannity. Sheesh. And soon, Couric. Spare me.
I want her to stop giving the same damn speech. I want her to talk to the press, make it the local press if you must. I'd love to hear what she has to say to some guy reporting for the Smallville Daily Press (or whatever).
She connects with people. She has things to say. She can hold her own and charm the pants off the electorate. She is a genuine weapon that needs to be unleashed.
The lefties have continued their assault while Palin has been effectively neutered. Keeping her at arms length only gives them more ammo.
Bring back the Sarah Palin we knew before McCain picked her - so the country can see all the reasons he did.
Posted by Vox at September 23, 2008 11:39 PM | Sarah Palin , politicsYou know... I have to 100% agree with you on this post. I'm getting tired of hearing the convention speech over and over. I'd like to see her shoot from the hip here and there at some of these engagements. I know they are trying to be careful and not have any "misspeaks" but she is a risk taker and needs to show a little more of that. You make a good point about her maybe popping in some local Joe-Schmoe interviews. Does their website have a place to post feedback? Might be a good suggestion if they do.
Posted by: Lori at September 24, 2008 06:52 AMI just read part of the transcript of the Couric interview, and from what I can tell, Gov. Palin does not appear to be "growing" as a candidate. I mean, she's not necessarily getting better at the top-of-the-noggin' answers. She doesn't inspire confidence, or even admiration at the fact that she's glib (b/c she's not...at least not yet, at least not with Gibson or Couric). I think, therefore, that the McCain campaign may be trying to do something that probably isn't possible: preserve all of the good feeling that followed her convention speech. The alternative, though, is to let Sarah be Sarah, and run the risk that impressions of her grow worse with added exposure, not better.
(Of course, if you REALLY wanted to let Sarah be Sarah, you could authorize her to say, "I don't know; I'm still learning about that" every time she gets asked a question about something she doesn't know much about. People would either find that totally charming or really scary.)
Posted by: Special Agent Johnny Utah at September 24, 2008 11:27 PMHey, quit posting my email! Oh, I guess that was my fault. Anyway, when I said that the McCain campaign was trying to preserve the good feeling that followed the speech, I meant that they're trying to keep her off TV so that people's primary impressions of her come from the convention. There's no way she could ever achieve those lofty heights again...and there are lots of opportunities for her to stumble. So, maybe McCain wants to leave everyone with happy memories, and leave them wanting more.
Posted by: Special Agent Johnny Utah at September 24, 2008 11:32 PM