Slow Slide Into Oblivion
I spent most of the day today traveling and then giving a talk up at Union College a few hours north of New York City. So I was offline most of the day. And though I heard about Charlie Gibson bagging the first interview with Sarah Palin, I was eager to get home and read the details.
Well, now I've read them. And it's pretty clear this farce is going to be close to unwatchable. Set aside that this comes just on the heels of McCain campaign manager Rick Davis saying Palin would not sit for any interviews "until the point in time when she'll be treated with respect and deference." The tell comes high up in the AP story by David Bauder. The second graf reads ...
Palin will sit down for multiple interviews with Gibson in Alaska over two days, most likely Thursday and Friday, said McCain adviser Mark Salter.
Political interviews are never done like this. Because it makes the questioning entirely at the discretion of the person being interviewed and their handlers. The interviewer has to be on their best behavior, at least until the last of the 'multiple interviews' because otherwise the subsequent sittings just won't happen. For a political journalist to agree to such terms amounts to a form of self-gelding. The only interviews that are done this way are lifestyle and celebrity interviews. And it's pretty clear that that is what this will be.
Here's some more to inspire confidence ...
The interview is a coup for Gibson, who also had the only sit-down with McCain during the Republican National Convention. During that interview, he did not question McCain about Palin's family, a decision that he fretted about for hours, Gibson said in a Web log posted last week."Once you know about her daughter's pregnancy, once you know about her husband's political interest in the Alaska Independent Party, once you know about the special nature of their latest child, I think that's enough," Gibson wrote.
The relevant questions about Palin all related to her experience and policy positions as a mayor and governor of Alaska.
ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said he did not believe Gibson's stated stance about family questions was key to securing the interview.
It will be unwatchable.
--Josh Marshall
Pitiful
Just read this piece in the Times about MSNBC pulling Olbermann and Matthews off as hosts on major political events. I see all the different arguments. But it seems pretty obvious that the network got cowed by complaints from the McCain campaign.
--Josh Marshall
Not Training Wheels We Can Believe In
There's a lot of complaining that the McCain campaign won't allow anyone to interview Sarah Palin. And for the major news outlets that would be in line for such an interview there's a logic to keeping up the drumbeat. But McCain campaign manager Rick Davis is right: It's their campaign to run. They can do it how they want. Everyone else should just shut up, stop complaining and call the reality for what it is.
Davis says Palin won't give any interviews until she feels "comfortable" giving one. And this morning he added that she wouldn't give any "until the point in time when she'll be treated with respect and deference."
Sarah Palin could be the President of the United States in four and a half months. We tend to think of this as an abstraction; but it's true. And yet today she's so unprepared and knows so little about the challenges and tasks facing the country that she can't even give a softball interview.
That's really all we need to know. Yes, she's off being prepped at some undisclosed location. And I've little doubt that by the time her debate rolls around she'll be sufficiently pumped full of slogans and bromides to make a show of it. But now, this moment, is the one that tells us all we need to know.
As is so often the case, Palin is the incarnation of the Republican slurs. The darling of the hard-right; she gives stem-winding speeches. She pushes all their buttons. But she's such a lightweight, they can't risk letting her answer a few questions. Not even on Fox. They know she's not ready and probably never will be. But they think the politics might work for them.
Late Update: Here's video of Davis:
--Josh Marshall
Election Central Sunday Roundup
Sarah Palin is still avoiding interviews -- and sticking to the teleprompter. That and other political news in today's Election Central Sunday Roundup.
--Eric Kleefeld
Do we need to remind Joe Biden he was hired to take the gloves off.
Late Update: Am I actually seeing more examples of Obama hitting Palin than Biden? WTF, not Obama's job.
Latter Update: Also, time to start calling McCain the liar that he is. On taxes principally. He's lying about taxes. Can't be said enough, has to start now.
--Josh Marshall
Oy
If this is the attitude of the investigative reporter CNN has put on the trooper-gate case, I guess we shouldn't be expecting much from them.
--Josh Marshall
Oops ...
From the WSJ ...
The biggest project that Sarah Palin undertook as mayor of this small town was an indoor sports complex, where locals played hockey, soccer, and basketball, especially during the long, dark Alaskan winters.The only catch was that the city began building roads and installing utilities for the project before it had unchallenged title to the land. The misstep led to years of litigation and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for a small municipality with a small budget. What was to be Ms. Palin's legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla.
--Josh Marshall
McCain Plays the Cameron Card
According to a article just out from Huffington Post, the story about flags from the Democratic National Convention being thrown away is simply false. The story was jumped on and apparently authored by the McCain campaign. But the real tell is down in the Huffpo piece where it traces the story to none other than Fox News' Carl Cameron.
Longtime readers 
of TPM will remember that back in October 2004 this site caught Cameron publishing a series of fabricated quotes attributed to John Kerry on the front page of the Fox News website.
After I placed a series of calls to Fox News inquiring about the Kerry story, the story was eventually pulled, and Fox was forced to issue an apology and retract the fabricated story. Fox spokesman Paul Schur told TPM: "Carl [Cameron] made a stupid mistake which he regrets. And he has been reprimanded for his lapse in judgment. It was a poor attempt at humor."
Why anybody would believe anything this joker says is difficult to fathom. But he's good enough for McCain.
--Josh Marshall
Real Investigation Much Needed
Reed Hundt has more on McCain's apparent obstruction of the trooper-gate probe.
--Josh Marshall
Question
Isn't Palin supposed to move to Cheney's undisclosed location after she gets elected, not before?
--Josh Marshall
Election Central Saturday Roundup
Barack Obama and John McCain will commemorate the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks together with a joint appearance at Ground Zero in New York. That and other political news in today's Election Central Saturday Roundup.
--Eric Kleefeld
Those of Us Who Are About to Tire Swing ...
It always brings a tear to my eye when I see the Grey Lady hopping on the McCain tire swing. But there she goes. Yesterday the McCain campaign was all mum on the Walter Reed/Green Screen goof until deep in the evening when they released some pro forma bamboozlement to the effect that it was all on purpose. They mean to highlight the middle school.
From the Times report ...
"The changing image-screen was linked to the American thematics of the speech and the public school was simply part of it," Mr. Bounds said, adding that during the speech, Mr. McCain "called for public education reforms that empower parents and students before bureaucrats and labor unions."
Sadly, the Times actually went for that explanation. And even more bizarrely, Timesman Michael Falcone actually bought the idea that the McCain campaign wouldn't want to highlight the real Walter Reed because of the controversy over its treatment of Iraq and Afghanistan war vets.
However that may be, a few problems with the idea that this wasn't a goof. One is that McCain campaign manager Rick Davis was admitting it was a goof at party's after the speech and telling reporters that Fred Davis, McCain's ad man, was at fault.
But you don't need the inside scoop to know what happened here. Those who watched the convention closely know that through the event, the screen backdrop had rotating video of what Bounds called "images of Americana." Stuff would cycle in and out.
But that's not what happened with McCain. Our crack analysts at TPM HQ pulled the tape. And what happened in McCains case was that the green screen was up for 5 or 6 minutes. Then it got pulled. It was replaced briefly by a cornfield. And then after a few moments of that it was the picture of the flag, which appeared as a blue screen to viewers on tv. That remained through McCain's entire speech. No more changes. It was pretty clear that someone on McCain's staff realized the goof a few minutes into the speech, cancelled the pre-programmed order of images and hurriedly slotted in flag image to save the day.
--Josh Marshall
Bringing Out The Base
AP sees the GOP's problem:
Since the last federal election in 2006, volunteers like Graham combined with the enthusiasm generated by the Obama-Clinton struggle to add more than 2 million Democrats to voter rolls in the 28 states that register voters according to party affiliation. The Republicans have lost nearly 344,000 thousand voters in the same states.
--Will Thomas
Nitpicking
There are plenty of issues in the career of Sarah Palin that deserve a hefty amount of scrutiny, so I'm only going to give this one a few seconds.
The McCain camp is reveling in her sale of the governor's jet on eBay. McCain himself said yesterday, "You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor, and sold it on eBay -- and made a profit!"
Someone should really tell McCain to be more careful with his words:
In fact, the jet did not sell on eBay. It was sold to a businessman from Valdez named Larry Reynolds, who paid $2.1 million for the plane -- shy of the $2.7 million purchase price -- according to news reports at the time. Reynolds contributed to Palin's campaign in 2006.
Palin, so far as I can tell, has precisely said she auctioned the plane on eBay, without confirming whether or not it actually sold. Just a friendly reminder that details can be pesky things.
--Will Thomas
The Economy Is Strong, Ed. #193
Senior officials from the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve on Friday called in top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants, and told them that the government was preparing to place the two companies under federal control, officials and company executives briefed on the discussions said.
--Will Thomas
Obstruction
Newsweek: McCain camp and its Alaska allies move to shut down trooper-gate probe.
Definitely take a look at the Newsweek article. Also take note of the following, that we're going to be looking into next week. Within days of Palin's selection, at least seven of her aides and associates, who had previously agreed to cooperate with the trooper-gate investigation, informed investigator Steve Branchflower that they were now no longer willing to be deposed. Note too that this was immediately after the McCain team deployed what George Stephanopoulos reported was a "rapid response team of about ten operatives that includes lawyers" to the state.
So the question is: what contact did representatives of the McCain campaign have with these aides that had agreed to testify but within days of her selection took back their pledge and are now refusing to cooperate?
--Josh Marshall
We Will Not Be Exploited!
That school out in North Hollywood that John McCain shameless exploited as his convention speech backdrop is calling foul.
Meanwhile, the McCain camp, despite requests for comment from almost every media organization under the sun, is refusing all comment.
(Remember, just between you and me, at that party last night Rick Davis was blaming it on their ad man Fred Davis.)
--Josh Marshall
Obama Mocks Palin For Earmark Flip-Flops
On Saturday, Barack Obama mocked John McCain's running mate for aggressively seeking earmarks in Alaska and campaigning nationally as anti-pork. "I mean, words mean something," Obama said. "You can't just make stuff up."
TPM Convention Highlights
Palin Grants First Interview To ABC News
Inhofe: Does Obama Really Love America?
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- Obama, McCain Call For Changes In Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac
- Democrats Make Big Gains In Voter Registrations
- Election Central Saturday Roundup
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- RNC Ad: Obama Offers "More Of The Same"
- Palin Mum On Whether She'll Endorse Stevens
- Nielsen: McCain Edges Out Obama With 38.9M Viewers
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- Rice Reiterates Opposition To Ending Cuba Embargo
- Canada's Prime Minister Dissolves Parliament, Calls New Election
- Official: Six Killed In Iraqi Bombing
- Court Temporarily Blocks Miers U.S.-Atty. Testimony
- Pelosi Calls For Economic Stimulus Package
- Home Forclosures Hit Record High In 2nd Quarter
- Russian Official: No Military Response To U.S. Ships
- WSJ: Iraq Seeking To Buy 36 F-16s From U.S.
- Syria Proposes Terms For Peace With Israel
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