Will Sarah Palin Meet the Press?

Image from source, Orlando Sentinel

For the last couple of days, the buzz has been that Sarah Palin will be headed back to Alaska. The "cover" story is that she's going up there to give her son Track (Treadmill? Path?) a proper send off to Iraq. I don't doubt that she's actually going to do that, but the scuttlebutt is that she'll also be doing some major "pre-finals" cramming. In other words, she's not only "not ready to lead," she's not ready to campaign.

The ironies abound in Sarah Palin's story, and the resultant swooning attention she's getting from the party faithful. But the strongest one, in my opinion, is that the centerpiece of her attack on Obama was that he's a great speech maker, but little else. Well, since she's been in this campaign, all she has done is give some speeches--variations of each other--and whether they are great or not depends upon your politics.

The John McCain campaign has thrown up more than just a cover story, they've also done some preemptive groundwork to keep the press at bay by attacking the media. The media is being unfair to her, they're being sexist, and on and on. They've even been equating The National Enquirer (a favorite when they were going after John Edwards) and Us Weekly with "mainstream media." This has been working to a degree, because the press has been so viciously beaten for being "biased," that they cower like an abused animal whenever they see that swat coming.

But they may have caught a whiff of something else in the air, because they're started to question: when is Palin going to meet with the press? As is now standard procedure, the story keeps subtly shifting. Today on Face the Nation, John McCain said Palin will talk, "In a couple of days." Some sources have said in a week or two. Or as Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager said on FOX "News" Sunday today, "She will be available to the news media -- when and if we decide if that is going to be the case."

That last answer is very telling. She's not ready. They know she's not ready. And a press interview right now would take off the rosy sheen she has been able to exude over the last 10 days. But the catch-22 for McCain-Palin is, if she does't talk to the press, they'll have to keep reporting about her without rebuttal from Palin herself.

[Excerpt]

Could Gov. Sarah Palin simply avoid the press? "Fox News Sunday" makes news with Chris Wallace's tough questioning

Barack Obama, John McCain and Joe Biden were on the Sunday morning shows. Sarah Palin wasn't -- and maybe she never will be. (Palin and McCain are pictured on the campaign trail Saturday.)

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis told "Fox News Sunday" that Palin will do interviews on the campaign's terms and conditions. "We'll do things on our timetable," Davis said. . .

And then there was this from Brit Hume, the alleged "journalist" in FOX's roster of commentators:

"I don't think the public gives a fig whether Sarah Palin answers questions from reporters," Hume said. . .

Some reporter he is, that Hume.

Read more at: Orlando Sentinel