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McCain: Please Don’t Watch the Palin-Couric Interview (Updated)

Posted by ELYAS BAKHTIARI in Media, Politics.
Sep 25th, 2008 | Comments

Some liberal bloggers have been floating the idea that McCain’s “suspend the campaign” stunt was really basically an elaborate attempt to distract people from Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric that began running last night.

Now, I initially dismissed this as paranoia and still don’t think it is even close to the primary reason for McCain’s actions. But the more I watch of the interview, the easier it is to believe that some McCain staffers heard her answers and sometime yesterday afternoon said, “My god, we have to do whatever we can to make sure this gets buried in the news.”

It’s that bad. And the thing is, McCain bears some of the responsibility. By shielding Palin for so long, he has put a lot of pressure on her to perform well. If McCain hadn’t made a big announcement about going to Washington, the big news of today would have been Palin’s interview, just like it was after her interview with Charlie Gibson aired. That’s what happens when you limit access leave the public hungry for more information.

And now he wants to postpone the VP debates? Could it be that he doesn’t think she’s ready to face Biden? Or he’d prefer to have the debate after many early voters have already made a decision? As David Letterman says, something doesn’t smell right.

But don’t take my word for it. Watch the videos and ask yourself if she’s ready to take over as president.

On foreign policy:

On the economy:

Watch CBS Videos Online

UPDATE: One more video, another one dealing with the bailouts and the economy:


Watch CBS Videos Online

  • JSpencer
    Keep in mind, Sarah Palin is the result of McCains judgement, experience, and decision-making ability. Need I say more?
  • hkdharmon
    Wow, that was painful to watch. I kinda feel bad for her. She stutters like she is totally caught off guard and has no idea what is going on.
  • elrod
    That was the most entertaining interview I've ever watched. Ever.

    I'm envisioning Putin's head flying over Alaska.
  • kritt11
    She's even less qualified than I thought. Wow, what an irresponsible choice for someone whose slogan is "Country First". Maybe he should change it to "McCain Victory First".

    This was obviously calculated merely to attract disgruntled Clintonites and conservatives who were less than enchanted by McCain. With the mess the country is in-- it is just unimaginable.
  • kritt11
    No wonder she's not allowed to talk to the press without McCain's handlers around!
  • @elrod: Your wish is already a reality:

    http://www.boingboing.net/2008/09/25/failin-pal...
  • arlamae1
    Everyone keeps asking her about foreign policy, which in my view means negotiating with other countries, having a broad goal of imperialism or isolationism, negotiating with foreign leaders, making alliances, etc. She keeps talking about her common border with Russia -- which is an issue of national security, and may or may not be affected by foreign policy, but -- I just don't think she knows the difference.

    Bill Maher put it correctly -- she's a 'Category 5 Moron.'
  • Oh. My. God. That was awful. Painful to watch. And what was with the snarky "I'll find some and bring them to ya" answer? I truly would not trust this woman as VP or god forbid as President. The last 8 years of the Office of the President placing itself not only above the law but also above being accountable to the people of the United States was plenty enough to erode all that is good about this country. We can't really afford childish behavior like this anymore.

    Wow. Just wow.
  • mlhradio
    I completely agree with the original poster. Various bloggers opined that McCain's cheap political stunt was to distract from the Palin interview, and I thought that was a far, far stretch. I *still* think that, but now that I've seen some of the interview, I am beginning to think that it must have played some small role in McCain's decision, or at the very least the timing of his stunt.

    Wow, that Palin interview was *bad*. I mean, sphincter-puckering, eye-wincing, toe-curling *bad*. Haven't seen someone so unqualified since Perot tapped John Stockdale to be his veep pick.

    If there ever was a reason to vote against McCain, it's to make sure this walking, breathing disaster of a woman is as far away from the presidency as possible.

    (Remember that poor beauty pageant with Miss South Carolina totally bungling her answer? Sarah Palin reminds me of her. Andrew Sullivan has a link to that video over on his blog, if anyone wants to compare)
  • kritt11
    Maybe the campaign should hire Tina Fey. At least she would be better at pulling off the impression that she knows what she's talking about! Probably few would be able to tell the difference!
  • Elyas
    Another quote that wasn't in the first two clips (a third one added above):

    COURIC: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries? … Instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

    PALIN: ...Ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy– Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions.
  • kritt11
    She's got a bad case of stage fright-- combined with a deep realization that she doesn't know squat about anything but local politics. Totally out of her league. I wonder if this interview will be used by the DNC to destroy McCain's chances???
  • pacatrue
    Well, from reading the comments first, I thought her head would explode or something during the interview. It didn't seem THAT bad, but maybe you guys just set the right expectations.

    What struck me the most was that she could do better with the same material than she is. Particularly in the first item, she could have listed several trade negotiation issues, coast guard maneuvers, etc., that the state has been involved in. It still doesn't really mean anything, but it can sound alright. But she didn't pitch it well. Same sort of thing with defending McCain's record in the other interview. There should have been a way to restate the one credential she knew about McCain forcefully and then turned the question more successfully, but she wasn't quite able to. She actually got in the most trouble when she wandered away and tried to make up an Obama attack on the fly without having anything to base it on. That rang the most hollow to me.

    I do worry for her in the debate with Biden, though. She's got to improve her manner to appear more confident and in control before then.
  • Edsel_F
    I think McCain pulled his "stunt" just to kill some time . If he could successfully kill the first presidential debate, then they could have an excuse not to have the vice presidential debate.

    With the way this thing is going I could just about believe McCain would do anything.
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