Reporters Told All Palin Flights off the record-At least one reporter objected

[RamboLiberal]

LEBANON, Ohio—John McCain took a risk in picking little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate, but now the campaign's playing it safer. She's sticking to a greatest hits version of her convention speech on the campaign trail and steering clear of questions until she's comfortable enough for a hand-picked interviewer later this week.

More than 40 million people tuned in last week to listen to the speech from Palin, the 44-year-old first-term governor whom McCain announced as his surprise vice presidential pick just days before. Since then, that basic script is all anyone has heard from her publicly, and her only interaction with the media was a brief conversation with a small group of reporters on her plane Monday—off the record at her handlers' insistence.

Associated Press reporters were not on the plane, but an aide told the journalists on board that all Palin flights would be off the record unless the media were told otherwise. At least one reporter objected. Two people on the flight said the Palins greeted the media and they chatted about who had been to Alaska, but little else was said.

By comparison, her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden, has been campaigning on his own, at times taking questions from audiences. In fact he split off to campaign separately from Barack Obama the day after Obama announced his selection. They rejoined at their party's convention and spent the following weekend campaigning together.

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But none of the candidates in this race has been so shielded from the media, so protected from any spontaneous situation, and Palin's unvarying remarks give the impression that she and her message are being tightly controlled. As before her convention speech, McCain's campaign is briefing Palin for her first TV interview.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_10420075

[renate]

1. Dear Sarah Palin,

Please keep pissing off the media.

Thanks!

[Bread and Circus]

2. This is the biggest scandal of them all....

if she literally can't field any questions from the press then they obviously have no confidence in her knowledge of the world or national affairs. It's that simple. There's no other "but, but.." about it. And if she doesn't know any of this stuff then she cannot be qualified or ready to be VP.

That they are getting away with this without a huge amount of outright anger and protest shows just how cowed we are.

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. it's sort of tragic, even after that speech has been complexly discredited

she continues to do as told & repeat it. Like a god damn stepford wife.

[loves_dulcinea]

4. its called catapulting the propaganda

if you repeat a lie often enough, then many morons will repeat the lie as if it were truth

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. That idea only holds up if the lie can't really be proven to be a lie at the time.

Like the WMD thing. Bush knew enough to lie about shit that would have to play out later on in order
to the truth knowing that by then it would be too late.

[grannylib]

5. What a baby. If Obama's pick had to be sheltered and sequestered

to keep him/her from running off her mouth and showing how ill-prepared she really is, people would be going NUTS.

[intheflow]

7. That's right.

The meme would be that he's so arrogant and uppity, he's keeping his VP sequestered. :puke:

[Cosmocat]

9. It would be the DEATH of the candidate ...

absolutely right!

[Arkansas Granny]

8. This proves to me that McCain & Co. don't have much confidence in Palin's

experience or qualifications. All they want the public to know in order to form their opinion of her is one speech that she didn't even write. I doubt that we can rely on the media to uncover the information about her background and history that would show her glaring unsuitability for the position for which she has been nominated.

[Barack_America]

10. Wow. The McCain campaign doesn't think much of Palin, do they?

-She's only allowed to say things cleared by the campaign

-She's only allowed to talk to people cleared by the campaign.

Seems to me she's a "kept" woman. They're treating her like a pre-feminism housewife. No wonder they're styling her hair like Gidget.

[grannylib]

11. But..but..that would be...SEXIST!!! And it's the MEDIA and the

LIBRALS what're being SEXIST!1!!!1!
I'm SERIES!