Political Punch

There are several things that scare me about McCain.
(1)His combination age and problems with cancer.
(2)He is so wealthy and out of touch, he doesn't know what most Americans are going through. How can anyone who doesn't know how many houses(7)or cars(13) he owns, and thinks our economy is basically strong, possibly resolve those problems?
(3)Since the primaries started, he's claimed to be both an insider and an outsider. He claimed his 26yrs in Washington made him the only candidate with the prerequisite experience to be president. Now he's claiming to be an outsider, a maverick and an agent of change, although his voting record with Bush is over 90%.
(4)He's so deep in bed with corp America, their lobbyist are running his campaign. When the gov't seized Fannie Mae, they discovered his campaign mgr's been receiving 15K a month from Fannie Mae since 2005 . Fannie Mae exec's admitted they kept him on the payroll because of his close association with John McCain. Do you think they would have continued paying him if he wasn't getting the results they wanted with McCain? Do we really want a wolf in the hen house.
(5)He selected a VP he's only met once, didn't spend a sec checking her out, and for reasons that doesn't put this country's welfare first.
(6)He's perfectly willing to use a women to get elected even though she's totally unqualified, has serious ethics issues(under investigation abuse of power)and has some radical religious views. I guess he got plenty of practice when he dumped his former wife Carol, who had become as invalid as a result of a serious car accident. He neglected and played around on her until he met Cindy, his wealthy cash cow current wife. With Cindy's money, and her wealthy fathers political influence, he launched his political career by running for congress. As wealthy as McCain is, his former wife's medical expenses and support is provided by Ross Parot, not McCain.
(6)With Palins radical religious views, I wonder what she would do if she suddenly became president and had to deal with the 2 wars and our current financial and energy crisis? After reaching the Peter Principle, would she just throw her hands up and declare that it's GODS WILL? While talking to a Muslim or Jewish leader, would she tell them their's nothing the US can do for them because the problems they're facing is GODS WILL? How can we put anyone in the White House who's idea of foreign policy experience is field dressing a moose in close proximity to Russia?

Why McBush is out of touch? >>>> Boomerang Effect" currently bedeviling John McCain's presidential bid: "First, McCain chastises Obama for committing a sin that he himself has committed. Then Obama points this out, distracting voters from his own foibles and refocusing the spotlight on McCain. For Obama, the impact of the attack is immediately negated. But for McCain it's doubled: he ends up looking both a) guilty of whatever he accused Obama of and b) totally hypocritical."
My major example was McCain's attacks on Obama for associating with former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson. The problem? McCain's own campaign is swarming with 26 advisers or fundraisers who have lobbied or are currently lobbying for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac--including campaign manager Rick Davis.

DB-your outburst shows you're trying so hard to be a republican, you've lost the ability to think rationally. Even though I'm against abortion, I know what one chooses to believe often has little to do with reality. My intelligence, common sense and cognizant reasoning ability allows me to realize that making abortion illegal won't stop women from having abortions. It just makes the act illegal rather than legal. Sarah Palins belief in abstinence and no sex education in the curriculum didn't stop her 17yr old unwed daughter from getting pregnant. Neither has any of those beliefs prevented Alaska from being one of the leading states, per capita, in STD's, teen pregnancy, illiteracy and birth defects.

Cocaine and marijuana are illigal, but both are abundant and people are using both on a very large scale, illegally. Making an item or an act illegal doesn't eliminate the item or the act. Common sense alone should make that clear. At least young girls are no longer bleeding to death or dying from infections caused by illegal abortions. The graphic scenes you described will still be repeated all over this country if Roe v Wade is reversed because women desperate pregnant women will resort to illegal abortions. The difference being, under Roe v Wade, women don't have to risk suffering post operative trauma, due to the use of crude techniques, or infections due to unsanitary conditions. Prior to Roe v wade, these problems were far too often the result of self induced abortions. Instead of being subjected to daily news accounts of fetus being found in dumsters, on high school and college campuses or buried in backyards etc, they are disposed of humanely.

There's and old saying: AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE. The first step in bringing that old saying into fruition is SEX EDUCATION, especially in the schools. It won't eliminate the problem, but do any of you really think Alaska, or Palin's daughter, would be any worse off if it was taught in the schools. Maybe if Palins daughter had received sex education as a part of her schools curriculum, or at home instead of from her soccer playing boyfriend, maybe she wouldn't be 5 months pregnant.

Your all right on!...I mean who could possibly support someone who is against a womans (if that what you all call them today)right to have their Dr. pull their little babys out of the womb, legs first, with the head still inside and then stab the skull with a knife and place a vaccum into the head and suck the brains out. You little Liberal Democratic Obama's -- Go Get Palin!(she's not a real woman)...and get her kids too!

Sarah Palin is a religious zealot and doesn't belong in the White House. She claims to be against government interference in the lives of citizens. Yet, Palin wants the government to reverse Roe v Wade and impose her prolife views on everyone by taking away a womans right to choose. She, and religious zealots like her, want the government to force educational institutions to teach creatism because her religious views won't allow her to accept evolution.

George Bush's blatant lies have caused enough social, political and economic problems in this country. Sarah Palin has proven to be Bush's equal when it comes to lying.

(1)She's lying about her original position on the bridge to nowhere.

(2)She's lying about her original position on mans involvement in the cause of global warming.

(3)She's lying about her opposition to accepting earmark money. This yr alone as governor, her earmark requests are 10 times greater than that requested by Obama's home state of Illinois. And Illinois' population is more than 12 times greater than the population of Alaska.

(4)She's lying about being against government waste and spending. She took over as mayor of a town with a population of 9000 and a zero budget deficit. When she left office, she left the community with a 22 million dollar buget eficit.

She's not qualified emotionally, psychologically, professionally, experience wise or ethically to hold the VP position. She does, however, seem to have the perfect qualifications to be a republican.

smbenchi is 100% right, I would be still unemplyed if I would have Sarah's attitude on my job interviews. Ultimately she in an arrogant way is refusing to take her job interview seriously with her future employer - us the peaople

Food for thought. During the RNC, Palin, before she went into political hiding, McCain and the republican party made fun of Obama's work as a community organizer and tried to turn it into something embarrassing.

She was chosen in part because she's suppose to be such a religious person, and gives McCain a shot at securing the evangelical vote. The republican party has gone to great lengths to align itself with religious leaders and groups.

Wouldn't you think that at least one of these so called religious minded individuals or groups would have appreciated, and made known to the Sarah, McCain and the republican party, that JESUS CHRIST WAS ALSO A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER AND ACTIVIST, AND PONTIUS PILATE WAS A GOVERNOR.

Exactly what does that say about how far they will go to get votes?

Man, some excellent responses and ideas have been expressed so far. Palin is a radical individual with some radical and conflicting ideas. There is one thing that she tries to hide that stands out to me. When it comes to CREATIONISM VS EVOLUTION, she tries to hide her true self by pretending to be openminded and supportive of open dialogue on the two subjects. Yet, the same Sarah Palin, as mayor, organizes a book burning party in order to distroy books with content she and her followers didn't agree with. She even fired the librarian when she refused to go along with her efforts. The librarian was eventually reinstated after the towns people started a recall petition to have Palin removed as mayor.

This is the two faced, vindictive, radical minded Sarah Palin the republicans are trying to hide from voter and media acrutity, at least until after the election.

WHY CAN'T SHE JUST EAT HER WAFFLE?

This is all very backwards to me. Anyone running for public office is supposed be a servant of the people. She, McCain, Obama, & Biden are essentially asking the American people for jobs. So I think she's the one who needs to show deference - and she needs to show deference to the American people.

This is all very backwards to me. Anyone running for public office is supposed be a servant of the people. She, McCain, Obama, & Biden are essentially asking the American people for jobs. So I think she's the one who needs to show deference - and she needs to show deference to the American people.

This is all very backwards to me. Anyone running for public office is supposed be a servant of the people. She, McCain, Obama, & Biden are essentially asking the American people for jobs. So I think she's the one who needs to show deference - and she needs to show deference to the American people.

Talk about being elitist.

Squall - great point! They really are trying to take away everyone's rights!
Freedom of speech,
Women's right to choose, freedom of religion and lifestyle...
I'm wondering how many people will be forced to register for the draft and be sent off to fight in a pointless war because mccain "would rather lose an election than lose a war"????
More men will die for McCain's ego.

As far as I'm concerned, from what I read in this article, If McCain-Palin get into office, I have a feeling they will attempt to restrict the freedom of the press and freedom of speech. Seems to me they are afraid of the media, afraid of people speaking out against them. I also hope when Charlie Gibson does interview Palin, he confronts her on this very issue because it seems to me she is afraid of the media.

It is extremely co-dependent to make it seem like it is OUR fault that she cannot interview or talk to the media. This is an excellent way to shift blame and buy time while they try to get her up to speed on things because they know that if they let her out now she'll crash and burn from ignorance.

Is this the type of government the American people will elect to power? People who hide, shift blame, lie and avoid confrontation? Are there people that stupid to buy that crap?? If so, we are doomed.

Palin is a political prostitute. She is being exploited by McCain as political arm candy and she’s standing there with that plastic smile AND she is allowing it!!!

How sexist is it that a group of men are dictating when and where she CAN speak!??!?! They are about to put a woman in the driver's seat of power but then coddling her and hiding her as if she isn't strong enough to handle media because they are not being "fair." Nuh-no...she's a pitbull, remember? You wouldn't do THAT to a man running for office, would you? And the media are the misogynists, really? McCain's campaign is perpetuating the idea that women should be seen and not heard. Why can’t she speak for herself? Well probably because she hasn’t been given that script yet. As soon as she rehearses the speech a MAN has prepared for her, we’ll see her on the news. She is regurgitating things THOSE MEN have told her to say! How is that empowering for her or other women?? ANY woman who believes she stands for "girl power" or women's empowerment is clearly still suffering from the same Stepford Wife syndrome Palin is.

If she cannot handle the press attention of a high profile occupation or a TV interview then she cannot handle the leaders of Korea, the Middle East, or Russia. One must conclude she is NOT prepared to be responsible for running the country, either.

Ask her about the alleged blatant RACIAL SLUR comment she made about Obama beating Clinton.

Dear Charles Gibson and ABC news,

Please ask Sarah Palin some of these questions.

1) You have been skeptical that global warming is caused by humans.
On what basis do you reject the scientific consensus that fossil fuels
and human activity have contributed to climate change ?

2) You asked the librarian in your town about the policy for banning books.
Are there books you think should be kept from the public?

3) You have claimed credit for killing the "bridge to nowhere" the 398 million
link between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. Didn't you first support it until
it was clear Congress was not willing to pay for it and then you changed your
mind and to be against it?

4) You have said students should be allowed to "debate both sides" of evolution.
Should creationism be taught alongside evolution in public schools?
Do you believe in evolution?

5) What would you do differently than the Bush administration in fighting terrorists
in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

6) Your opponents claim you and John McCain would just extend the Bush
administration for another four years. Cite Three instances in which you have
differed with President Bush.

7) When you began as mayor of Wasilla was a town with zero debt. When you left
the office of mayor of Wasilla did you leave the town in debt of over $22 million
dollars? Was that $22 million of indebtedness for infrastructure or for a sports
complex?

8) Did you charge the state of Alaska per diem charges for 312 nights spent in your
own home while you were governor of Alaska and these per diem allowances were
intended to cover expenses while traveling on state business?

9) Did your husband and daughter charge the state of Alaska over $43,000.00
dollars in travel expenses in the 19 months you were governor?

10) While you were under investigation for abuse of power, you admitted that more
than two dozen contacts were made between your staff and family to a person that
you later fired, pressuring him to fire your ex-brother-in-law.
Why did you apply so much pressure to fire your ex-brother in law?
Why did you fire your ex-brother-in-law's boss?

11) Did you ever support Alaska succeeding from the United States ? If so how long
ago did you support it?

12) Did you refer to the Iraq war as "God's Plan" while speaking
at your Pentecostal church in Wasallia?

13) Choose from the inaccurate facts she said in her VP nomination acceptance speech
from your own ABC website at ...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Conventions/story?id=5726571&page=1

"Are you, or have you at any time ever been, a member of the Alaskan Independence Party?"

The first reporter to ask her that question will end up flipping hamburgers for the rest of his life.

If Republicans can only take the pressure when treated with 'deference', how do they expect to stand up to someone like Nikita Kruschev?

I'm sorry...you can't compare Hilary Clinton, Presidential Candidate, to Sarah Palin, VP Candidate. Govenors are known for the domestic leadership skills they bring to the table not a thorough knowledge of world politics which comes over time.

This is an election of Presidential nominees. I would be equally nervous if Biden became president by default one day. There are many reasons he had a failed attempt at the presidency.

Lets give Palin the same deference we'd give any other Governor in the VP slot.

I think most of us can agree that no one wants 4 more years of large government, non-existent civil rights, and economic failure. So use all the energy you've put into posting on websites and be sure to vote in November. That's when your opinion will really count.

So, she's ready to lead since she has executive experience and Alaska is close to Russia, but she's not ready to confront the media or answer tough questions.

interesting....

I think Palin should be treated with the same 'deference' she treated Obama with in her speech.

She is a pit bull with lipstick and said so herself.....she wants the job of VP...then vet her like a candidate for the job of VP.

Interestingly, on the blogs right after she was selected, we predicted that the Republicans would use her as a "poor me - the media is hurting me" candidate and then refuse to give press conferences. I guess we were right.

Rosa Brooks of the LA Times wrote:

"Over the years, Palin has actively courted the Alaska Independence Party, or AIP, an organization that supports Alaskan secession from the U.S. To be clear, we're not necessarily talking about friendly secession either: As the AIP's founder, Joe Vogler, told an interviewer in 1991: "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. ... And I won't be buried under their damn flag."

The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. could learn from this man.

Share Vogler's sentiment? You can purchase a "Joe was right!" T-shirt on the AIP's website for $25. The AIP's website also provides helpful links to other secessionist groups, including the Southern Independence Party of Tennessee (which boasts of going after "these Politically Correct Liberal Communist[s]"), Ulster nationalists and Chechen separatists.

The McCain campaign denies that Palin ever joined the AIP. But while it is in dispute whether she attended its 1994 convention, she did visit the 2000 one and addressed AIP conventions in 2006 and 2008. Her husband, Todd, was a registered AIP member from 1995 to 2002, and the AIP leadership certainly considers her one of their own.

Video footage shows AIP Vice Chairman Dexter Clark describing Palin at the 2007 North American Secessionist Convention as an "AIP member before she got the job as a mayor of a small town -- that was a nonpartisan job. But you get along to go along. She eventually joined the Republican Party, where she had all kinds of problems with their ethics, and well, I won't go into that." (No need to. The Alaska Legislature's ethics investigators are on the case.) Apparently with Palin in mind, Clark then went on to urge AIP members to "infiltrate" the major parties."

It's obvious John McCain and the Republican Party didn't scrutinize Sarah Palin before selecting her. What they saw was her gender, which potentially gave them access to female voters, especially disgruntled Hillary voters. They also saw her association with the very conservative Republican based Evangelicals, which McCain was having trouble winning over.

It was only after her selection did they bother to send a team to look into what they had. There reactions since shows they made a huge mistake as far as character, background and qualifications are concerned. That's why they are spinning all of these lies and labels to try and manufacture a positive image of her. They are trying to buy time until they can program, solidify and sanitize her true image. This is why they are trying to prevent anyone else from scrutinizing her because they now know she would be an embarrassment.

Can anyone imagine a atrong woman like Hillary hiding from the media or relying on the Democratic party to hide who she really was? The Republicans had no problem parading her out on stage at their convention to launch an attack on Obama. Now that the convention has ended, she has to be protected from the very media she and the Republican party have been pandering to. The Democrate presented America with a real woman, a strong woman in Hillary Clinton. You might not like her or agree with he politics, but you can't deny her strong constitution. The Republicans have presented us with a female VP candidate that's so fragile and questonable, even they aren't comfortable enough with her to allow public scrutiny.

WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT MCCAIN AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY'S ABILITY TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS?

Here are some more questions Palin should be asked.

How can you love America when your husband was a member of AIP secessionist party?

How can you dare proclaim loyalty to the USA when there's a video of you welcoming the AIP who rub shoulders with racist organizations?

Sara Palin should start giving inter-
views about the time that Ohbama starts
with the town hall debates with McCain.
"I will debate John McCain anywhere,
anytime"....................

Here are some questions Sarah Palin should answer before the election.

What do you think God’s will is for natural resources and the environment?

What do you think God’s will is for the military?

What do you think of Revelations?

What are your feelings about Track going straight into the military instead of going to college first? Why did he make that choice?

How many campaign contributions did you get from energy related companies?

Since you have been Governor of Alaska during the oil boom which has caused such surplus, how will you be able to face the challenges of a budget huge deficit?

How do pregnancy and executive office combine?

Who does the cooking since you fired the Governor’s Chef? Bristol? Willow? Piper?

Did you intentionally become pregnant as Governor of Alaska?

If so did you do it to prove that women should not have to choose between Career, Education and Family?

Since you became Pregnant during your last two executive positions, do you intend to become pregnant as Vice President? President of the United States?

If you did not intend to become pregnant as Governor of Alaska, why did you?

Do you think it is God’s will that Trig has Down Syndrome or was that your intent for political reasons in conceiving a child at the age of 43 knowing of the high risk?

Why do you think the government should take care of special needs children which people chose to conceive and bear with full knowledge of the risks or realities of disabilities?

Do you think it was reasonable to travel back from Texas to Wasilla, Alaska after your Water Broke while in labor to deliver Trig knowing he was premature and Down syndrome and you would be traveling on commercial flights with hundreds of other people who would be inconvenienced if Trig Delivery happened on the flight and problems occurred.

Why did you travel at all so close to your due date?

Don't you think having chosen to deliver a special needs child you as his mother owe him more than 3 days at home together before you returned to work?

Why is a seven year old daughter Piper providing childcare for YOUR special needs child?

Wow. She will just rip the terrorists apart with that strategy. What will they ever DO if she won't talk to them!?

Place nice, or she'll go Nome.

Excuse me Sarah Palin is not running for the Queen of the United States to grant interviews as she pleases. Nor is she so weak and fragile that she needs to be protected.

If you reported with fairness you would not have to be told to shred Obama and to treat Sarah Palin with Respect and Deference: respectful submission or yielding to the judgment, opinion, will, etc., of another.

Now why exactly did they use that word?

Word to all media people and outlets that are not named Keith Olbermann or Rachel Maddow: THESE PEOPLE ARE RUNNING FOR A JOB TO SERVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. YOU CANNOT LET THIS STAND! Country first???? It is your DUTY to question the candidates. They are ready when the hold up their hand and say "Yup I'll run." My God! Obama and Biden both did interviews this weekend - Stephanopolous and Rather - and Obama even faced off with "papa bear" O'Reilley. I am incensed beyond belief and terrified that this will work because you - the American media - will let it happen.

She has gone from a Reindeer Barbie to a Pit Bull with Lipstick to an Ice Princess. Whah! I won't do interviews unless they are on *my* term, Whah! Can you imagine the right wingnut uproar if Obama/Biden attempted this political BS?

This is an interesting insight into how they react to tough situations. If elected, will they put the world on hold until more favorable conditions arise?

Having read so many of the posts here, you have to agree that Sarah Palin has to be answer the questions presented to her without receiving the questions in advance and without a tele-prompter giving her pre-packaged answers. Could she not answer the questions when the citizens of Alaska asked them? was she shown the "deference" she was looking for then? This is not "do as I say, not as I do" since she is doing this with her family values (and trots out her family) and then withdraws her family and access to them when it is offensive. Can't have it both ways, y'know? Last time I got into trouble at school for being unprepared, I had to do more work, etc. to show that I was serious. Does this not apply to Ms. Palin? Either answer the questions or remove yourself from the race for being unprepared.

On a side note, Ms. Sarah "Baracuda" Palin has been asked by Heart to stop using their song without permission. It must be another form of not being prepared on the campaign trail when your own "tag" song had to be forcefully removed because someone didn't pay attention to those little legal niceties, right?

I don't find fault with her for being a woman or a preceived lack of experience. I find fault with the fact that I still don't know what she stands for, where she comes from and where she is going as a potential VP for our country. If she is so techno-savy, she should have been prepared for this level of scrutiny from the online community but clearly was not.

I just hope the media doesn't fall for this. Just because Sarah Palin is being scrutinized doesn't mean it's happening because of sexism or partisan bias.

Ms. Palin's candidacy is a joke and an insult; the McCain campaign must have an awful lot of contempt for the American people.

And what of the media? They start pushing back and the McCain campaign punishes them. They didn't like how CNN treated one of their lackies, and McCain cancels his interview with Larry King. They don't like NBC and that network takes Olbermann and Matthews off of election coverage. Now this.

What a JOKE!!!

Sorry, but Palin is interviewing for a position "a heartbeat away from the presidency", a taxpayer-funded job at that. In what universe could one expect to be hired by refusing to interview until deference and 'just a few more days' is given?

I agree that her personal life is off the table, but policy issues, her personal beliefs (incl religious) and her record are all up to public scrutiny, ie how would she govern? We need this information NOW, since Ms. Palin is so new to the national scene.

No job interview, no job (no votes). Got it?

Rick Davis today announced that the McCain campaign will restrict access to Governor Palin by Reality until Reality agrees to a basic set of ground rules that will ensure that the Governor is not subjected to unfair and unexpected events. Mr. Davis said that Reality has a well documented history of intrusiveness and disrespect for Republican candidates and office holders. He pointed out that there is precedent for this action.

Just read the Kudlow interview.
Pretty amateur. The questions that is. Amateur quality as in softball not hardball.

She's scared out of her mind -- ok, that's not fair. MCCAIN'S scared out of HIS mind. That's why no interviews. Get in front of a real journalist, not Charlie Gibson, for goodness sake.

She's probably having a crash course on everything from American history to foreign policy. Can you imagine her debating Joe Biden on foreign policy?

That is entitlement syndrome to the 20th power.

So we have to be "nice" to Sarah Palin before we hear what her positions are? Whose country is this, anyway?

This ain't Wasilla. Sit down and answer every single question that the electorate has. Otherwise, get out of the contest.

How's that for nice, Miss Congeniality?

Deference is something you earn, and the best way to earn it is by answering tough questions from skeptics.

Deference is something you earn, and the best way to earn it is by answering tough questions from skeptics.

If every politician and political candidate were allowed to sit around and wait until they had 'deference,' there'd be a whole lot of sitting around. A vice presidential candidate doesn't have the luxury of waiting for deference. Palin is simply not prepared for candidacy or for vice presidency. This is the biggest of big leagues, and we can't have a president who chooses a vice presidential candidate who isn't prepared to take questions from members of the press, deferential or not. The 'news flash' for Palin is that not everyone thinks she's qualified, and she needs to prove herself just like any other political candidate.

If you can't stand the heat get back to the kitchen.

In Europe, Palin is seen as something between a female clod and a JOKE. It's no secret why she's being kept from news interviews by her handlers. She's able to read from teleprompters but unable to conduct a rational discussion. This is all well known outside the US. Too bad for the US! The Republicans will strip Democratic voters from the rolls in key battleground states, and the RED states will vote for this creationist gun toting wacko.

One would think the US voters would have more respect for their Constitution than this.

This is a joke, but it's no joke at all. This woman is running for VP and "we the people" can't ask her a few questions? This is crazy, yes, only in America. What is the McCain camp trying to hide. I went to McCain's website to read Sarah Palin's bio. Well, there was no bio only the transcript that a Bush speech writer wrote for her when John McCain announced that she was joining the ticket as the nominee for Vice President. Corruption???

Tell the GOP that respect goes both ways. When they decide to put up a serious candidate instead of a political gimmick, they'll get respect. Until they do, they're a disgrace to this country.

From merriam-webster :
Deference (noun): respect and esteem due a superior or an elder; also : affected or ingratiating regard for another's wishes

Should Mrs. Palin be respected? Yes, for all her accomplishments as well as the position for which she is nominated.

Should she be deferred to? No. Not in this case. Perhaps you forgot, Mrs. Palin, but you are a candidate for public office. The second highest public office in the land. You are literally 57 days and a heartbeat away from the Presidency of the United States of America. You are an unknown to (for all intents and purposes) the Entire Country. Now is not the time to hide behind your apron strings and complain about how the media is being elitist and sexist. If you dare to aspire to this most sacred of positions, If You Would Serve, Protect and Defend US, you must submit to the full force and question of the American Public. Every opportunity to find out what kind of person, what kind of leader, you would be must be seized and used to its fullest extent. We demand, and deserve, no less.

Gov. Sarah Palin won't subject herself to any tough questions from reporters "until the point in time when she'll be treated with respect and deference."

If you want deference and softball questions, then apparently, Charles Gibson is your 'go to' guy.

Sarah Palin is more likely to be ready for an episode of Jerry Springer before she is ready to be the Vice President of the United States.

McCain has chosen Palin, a relative unknown to the voters, for VP just 60-days before the election. Just who does he thing his is to prevent our questioning her credentials to be VP. It sounds and looks to me that McCain is pulling "George Bush Tactic"; screen the people, screen the questions and don't let them know the truth.

If Palin in not ready for questions; then she is not ready to be VP; and given McCain age, maybe President of these United States.

Sarah Palin has a family and background more akin to those that are featured on Jerry Springer. McCain must have been strapped for time and candidates that wanted to run with him as VP. I do not see her as a role model for families. I do not want my teen age daughter uninformed and pregnant, but rather to make her choice as an informed adult.

Palin does not appear to have the level of in-depth judgment needed to be VP or President and is hiding from the voters because of personal matters that she does not want to discuss. We do not know her and we are being prevented from knowing her by McCain in these last 60-days before the elections. What is being hidden? Is it the overstatements of her meager credentials and her distraction be her attacks on and comparison to Obama? The barracuda needs to swim with the boys (sharks) if she is to have the respect (difference) that McCain thinks that she will get by hiding from the media.

Jake Tapper, it is high time you stop your media watch. Since last night it has been all over the newswire that Sarah Palin will sit down with Charlie Gibson this week. And it says this interview has been in the works since last Friday.
Charlie Gibson is YOUR network, Jake.
I used to think you were one of the relatively fair ones out there. But, your mask is slipping Jake. Come on, get over your idignation that she didn't give you the interview and start being more balanced.

Last Friday on PBS' "Washington Week" a comment from Jeanne Cummings, now of Politico but formerly of The Wall Street Journal drew an rare ovation from the audience:

John McCain offered, and Palin accepted, a position where this unknown woman could be president in just 60 days. She deserves no sympathy regarding questions---we have no time to fool around. She should answer every question asked because we only have 60 days to find out everything about her so that the public can make an informed decision.

[I wrote it down from Closed Caption (I'm deaf), so it's an approximation. But you should be able to find the transcript and video later today when they get it up on PBS Washington Week website.]

Isn't so sexist of McCain to "protect and shelter" his new VP pick just because he's afraid the media isn't going to be soft on her? Same old strategy of not talking to the perceived enemy! Same old, same old McSame=Bush!

McCain is hiding Palin because he never vet her. Everybody knows McCain is a sucker for a young, pretty face -

Obama 08!

Is Palin just a distraction? I think of McCain's "love child" and the swift-boat allegations 4 years ago. I wonder if we have been duped. She was choosen because of the pregnant daughter, the Down syndrome child, the son going of to Iraq...oh, yes on 9/11. Can it really be that the McCain camp thinks the American people are so stupid that we could be distracted by this reality TV, Jerry Springer bull that we would NOT pay attention to the issues?
Think about it...really...the Carl Rove folks that are running the campaign know everything about Palin. The whole vetting issue is all fodder for the talking heads on TV and a distraction from the real issues.

2:51

I guess guys like Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Abraham Lincoln weren't running our country.

I believe Peggy Noonan was right when she said Governor Palin is a "gimmick." That's what's wrong with her nomination, and that's what's wrong with having her read off a script a couple of times and then shuffling her back to Alaska for training. Nothing in her biography depicts a woman who has at any point had any desire to understand or take important stands on any issues. She has stunning emotional intelligence and that helps her win elections and win over people, but it seems like everything she's "accomplished" has been to further her political career and not because she's trying to be a dutiful public servant. It's painfully clear that she lacks the intellectual curiousity of a Truman to make up for her underwhelming academic credentials. She surrounds herself with yes men who are fired as soon as she sees any signs that they may disagree with her. That's actually the most scary part of the prospect that she may be next in line to becoming "the leader of the free world." Not only does she lack the intelligence or necessary foundation of knowledge or understanding of the role she would play as VP or potentially as the POTUS, but her administration would probably be made up of the most woefully underqualified WH staff since...ever.

Forget experience, she lacks the competence to be the VP. Like Paul Begala, I'll be sending McCain fitness tapes and nutrigrain bars if he wins this election.

I have a couple of questions I would love for her to answer:

1. What was the most difficult order she has had to give to the Alaskan national guard?

2. Since being the Governor of a state close to Russia is suppose to be some sort of foreign diplomatic experience, I would like to know when was her last negotiation experience with the Russians and what was it over?

3. Does she believe that states should be allowed to secede from the union? and why?

4. What does she think is the best way to lower teen pregnancy rates? and why?

5. What was the most difficult decision she has made in public office? What made it difficult?

6. What does she believe is the best way for the USA to become energy independent?

As a 26 year resident of Alaska. I've seen politics and then I've seen politics. Sarah has uncovered corruption, denied inappropriate use of public funds and has kept the public interest in her sight when making decisions. Grant she may be new, but when the nation has seen much of the same old thing, maybe new is what we need. Remember, this nation didn't used to be run by attorneys, it was run by farmers, business owners and other professionals. Thanks

Oh c'mon. She's just "not ready".

Nor is she ready for a VP job.

If Palin does somehow have to step into the Presidency, is this how she is going to react when faced with difficult situations? If she must deal with a conflict against an aggressive country such as Iran, is she just going to hide from them until they treat her with respect?

Obama didn't hide from the media back when they were ripping him apart with the Reverend Wright story. Clinton didn't hide when the Bosnia Sniper Fire story came out. Obama didn't hide when his opponents were using the name "Hussein" to insight baseless fear in onlookers.

If Palin can't face the "brutal" media, then she isn't strong enough to be second in command of this country.

If she can't handle the heat, she can get out of the kitchen!

When the media was all over Obama's Rev. Wright stuff, Obama stepped up and didn't hide from the media. He gave a speech directly to people. He demonstrated courage in that situation.

Palin has to hide behind "terms and conditions" because she's NOT ready to even give interviews, much less be commander in chief. Yes, the VP has to be ready to be president, and there are about a million people more qualified than her.

JonShannow,

You are wrong sir. Half of this country would keep them out of politics. The other half will go after power at any cost.

We export this kind of stuff so be warned.

A less hostile media environment? The next 60 days will be the most hostile of the entire campaign!

In response to Bill Mitchell, the difference between Palin and Biden is that it might have taken 15 days before Biden participated in and interview is people had ideas of what Biden stood for. What does Palin stand for. Time is short and even shorter thinking Palin is a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

If Palin can't develop a thick enough skin to withstand some scrutiny she has absolutely no business running for a national office.

It's called wedge politics people, and it mean you don't have to