Quote Of The Day
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, McCain, Media, Palin“I am not denying that Sarah Palin may have great skills. She may well. I am insisting that neither you, nor I, nor John McCain has any valid reason to believe that she does. This is not an argument about the attributes she lacks. It’s an argument about the information we lack. I am pleading with my fellow conservatives: Please demand more and better knowledge before you commit yourselves to a political leader. That’s all.”
- David Frum of the National Review in a response to a reader’s email.
A trickle of Republican operatives are starting to see the writing on the wall and it’s not good. So, to make sure they save their own credibility, they’re talking openly about how unconventional it is for McCain to keep Palin from the media. They know that this is really bad form and the exact opposite of what you’d expect from a “maverick” candidate.
Folks, there’s a reason I’ve written about this a lot in the past few days. Because this situation is simply not acceptable. We need to know A LOT more about Sarah Palin before she can be entrusted to potentially lead the nation.
And say what you will about Obama, but he has been through the media gauntlet for the past 20 months. Palin should be subjected to the exact same scrutiny at least for the next 2.
This entry was posted on Saturday, September 6th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, McCain, Media, Palin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 6th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
I completely agree. It’s my perception that the push-back against Sarah Palin isn’t an anti-conservative thing or an anti-woman thing.
It’s an anti-stupid thing.
September 6th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
True. However, Obama has repeatedly been shown to be a person lacking experience, judgment and a moral compass through a slow, reluctant vetting process and STILL the media continues to promote his agenda and Obama maintains a base of support from people who do not care about such ‘trivialities’.
On the other hand, take a look at all of the trash posts and nasty articles by such dependably despicable news sources like HuffPo, WaPo, The DailyKos, Political Pop and others. Smears, lies, sexism and slander abound. So while the more ‘reputable’ media are not blatantly attacking Palin, many liberal surrogates are doing it for them.
September 6th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
People like neocon Bush apologist and Iraq war enabler David Frum are exactly the reason why the Republican party is on the verge of complete destruction. Not an opinion I respect.
Nobody advocates not vetting Palin over the next two months. Not one person in the country is saying that. Pure straw man.
But there is a difference between vetting and a witch hunt.
What I am seeing now is a witch hunt.
September 6th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Just remember that Obama stood up and addressed the furor over Wright, et al. You have to expect speculation in the absence of a direct response.
September 6th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Frum must have missed his issue of that hard hitting bastion of journalistic excellence, PEOPLE magazine, which pummled her with tough questions like:
As a new mom, how are you going to juggle all this?
and
What’s your message to women who might see a second shot at shattering the glass ceiling?
and
Do you feel ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?
and
How do you feel about your son, Track [an Army private], going off to war in Iraq?
OK, I know that was a bit snarky, but now, here’s an honest question to the right, that I would love an answer to…how is it that the right has lambasted Obama for being a “celebrity”, but I have not seen one crack or criticism about Palin giving her first interview to a THE NUMBER ONE CELEBRITY MAGAZINE in the world?
Obama, we were told, was not a serious candidate, but a celebrity. First, I know Obama and Biden did the same PEOPLE thing, and I think they deserved a crack for it, but isn’t it just slightly unnerving that the right doesn’t find Palin’s celebrity appaling?
I can’t resist it, I have to add it in….
PEOPLE want to know.
September 6th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
You know, I thought remembered posting something else about Frum. Found it , A post from last November [LINK]. Check out the graphic - I think I can recycle that and just substitute Palin for Paul in the caption.
Then I was posting about the stupid things that Frum had been saying for the two years prior. Of the whole Neocon crowd, I can’t think of anyone who is more anti-libertarian and more consistently wrong in every single thing he says and every bit of advice he has for the Republican party than Frum. Even Bill Kristol gets it right more often than Frum. And that is almost impossible.
September 6th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
“But there is a difference between vetting and a witch hunt.
What I am seeing now is a witch hunt.”
MW,
With all due respect, I think the “witch hunt” argument is the straw man … it’s being used by the campaign to allow Gov. Palin to avoid answering legitimate questions, before the speech writers have time to come up a good set of canned spin responses.
For the most part, the more outlandish stories are really only being pursued by tabloids and bloggers. To the extent that any of these stories have made their way into the mainstream has mainly been the result of denials by the McCain campaign themselves.
I still think the main story here is the lack of real vetting by the campaign. If they knew about some of the legitimate potential “problems” in advance (as they claim), it surely doesn’t inspire confidence that they allowed things to get this out of hand.
In short, this media feeding frenzy could have easily been avoided … or at least lessened.
… unless of course, that’s what the McCain campaign wanted.
Just my opinion,
Todd
September 7th, 2008 at 12:55 am
[...] … especially as it compares to Sarah Palin’s ducking the media. [...]
September 7th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Actually MW i know a person advocating the nonvetting of palin
September 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
McCain and Obama have both said it; it’s ALL ABOUT PERSONALITY. If Palin toes the party line, mouths the right words, plays the mom role and doesn’t do anything (else) “scandalous” she will be serving the GOP well, and THAT IN ITSELF may be enough for McCain to win the election. It’s downright sickening.
September 12th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Casey, I’m surprised you know how to spot a lie! It seems to me most Republicans don’t even know when they’re lying to themselves, so I’m surprised to see one claim the ability to recognize a lie when they see one. Also, I’m perpetually amused when I see the people who are directly responsible for the most vile political slander I’ve ever seen turn around and act all hurt about those “nasty” liberal blogs badmouthing their candidate.