– I’m not sure why Sarah Palin felt the need to do that interview about media bias. What does she gain from it? To those who don’t like her it will come across as whining. To those in the “I Heart Palin” chorus it only affirms what they already believed. No seasoned political consultant worth anything would’ve advised her to do that interview. However, it also may be exactly why so many people love Sarah. She’s real. She isn’t thinking of every move three steps ahead. She’s Sarah all the time and she says what she believes. That’s why even her missteps seem genuine and in this age of artifice, I think many of us are looking for someone real. She is the anti-Obama in many ways. While Obama is all teleprompter, Sarah is off the cuff. Obama is urbane while Sarah’s country.
– Obama is being quoted everywhere saying he will create a “recovery oversight board” and bring a long overdue sense of responsibility and accountability to Washington. The acronym is “ROB”? I hope he was just speaking off the cuff and they have a better name than that.
– Could you imagine CBS’s Harry Smith saying this to anybody not named Ann Coulter: “You should have a cross…You should put yourself up on a cross.”
January 10, 2009 at 4:39 pm
I agree. I still like Palin a lot and think she got a very raw deal from the Dems, the MSM and McCain campaign in general. And her feelings are certainly justified. But if she wants to stay in this game (and she certainly has the talent to do so), she’d do much better to get some media training (about how to be on the OTHER side of the camera…I know she was a sports journalist herself), plus some solid advice from a political and/or PR consultant. That way she’ll be on the offensive for the next Charlie Gibson/Katie Couric-style interview, if there is one.
With this documentary Palin had a golden opportunity to make made some humorous and biting comments about the huge financial rewards Couric and Fey have reaped because of her (heck, she reinvigorated both of their careers). I completely sympathize with her regarding the attacks on her pregnant daughter. But in general, this documentary sounded rather whiney. She’d do better to be holding news conferences about issues of substance (economy?) that are facing the new administration and let bygones be bygones. Of course, if she had done that, would the MSM cover it? They’re probably only covering the documentary because it provides more fodder to heap derision on her.
I hope she’s able to move past what happened during the course of her national debut and use it to her advantage, because she is the kind of person and political leader we need. But based on her post-campaign PR steps so far, I’m not overly impressed.
January 10, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Haha, I love the “recovery oversight board” acronym.
January 10, 2009 at 9:09 pm
I think one can be “real” and take advice from more experienced people at the same time. While Gov. Palin’s “real”ness might endear her to some, her willingness to jump into things without being prepared only serves to turn people off. Part of Sen. Obama’s appeal is that he is widely perceived as being cautious and willing to listen to others.
January 10, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Yes, Mr. Obama is perceived by some as willing to listen to others, but in reality he is only interested in his own agenda. His primary concern is his own self-interest; after that he is a semi-committed socialist and fully committed enemy of capitalism and traditional American values. His perceived cautiousness is nothing but a mixture cold-blooded calculation and uncertainty. Anyone to whom that appeals gives me the creeps. Sarah Palin is indeed the antithesis of all that. What of it if she jumps in without preparation? I wish they all would. Then we would know what they really believe and how they really act. I have never seen anything of Sarah Palin that I have not liked. I don’t agree with everything she says, and I agree that she needs some work (who doesn’t?). But she never hits a false note: she believes in what she says and says what she believes. As far as I can tell, we will never have to be ashamed of her. We are now at a point where America as we know it may not survive. If she can help turn that around, lets give her all our support. Kit
January 11, 2009 at 3:25 am
I have read in a number of sites about Gov. Palin’s “whining” about her bad treatment by the press in her recent series of taped interviews. I think these comments come from a mixture of “Palin-haters” and other folks who never saw the interviews in question. Gov. Palin’s responses are calm, reasoned and factual in every example I saw. She was, in fact, treated unfairly by the msm, in ways so foul that they exceed the treatment of any candidate in my lifetime. And the vicious calumnies continue to this day. She did not volunteer criticism in these interviews. When asked about the falsehoods she gave calm, straightforward answers. I challenge anyone to document an example of “whining” from the actual interview record.
January 11, 2009 at 5:55 am
“She isn’t thinking of every move three steps ahead.”
That might be an endearing quality for someone we want as a friend or neighbor, bu I would hope that those who wish to lead us are calculating enough that they are always thinking three (or four or five) steps ahead. “Real” and genuine people are nice, but they don’t necessarily (and unfortunately I think this is the case with Palin) make the best leaders.
January 11, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Materialist,
Unfortunately, when she responds to the Katie Couric thing by saying “Katie, the world doesn’t revolve around you!” or the Tina Fey parody by suggesting that some were “exploiting” the opportunity (at least I think she said something along those lines in the documentary)….she sounds whiney. Sorry.
Better to make her point with humor. It can be done. And focus on the future and the challenges this country is facing, for heavens sake. That’s really all that matters now. Bottom line, she can stay “real” and still get some guidance from some political PR pros.
It’s time.
January 11, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Yes, Mr. Obama is perceived by some as willing to listen to others, but in reality he is only interested in his own agenda.
Please don’t mistake my post as an apologia for Sen. Obama. I was simply trying to explain why I think he appeals to some people while Gov. Palin does not. Obama is perceived as generally cautious and is capable of BSing an interviewer when he doesn’t know the answer; Palin is not. It’s true that the ability to seem prepared in interviews does not make one “real.” At the same time, one can be “real” and still appear prepared in interviews.