Our dear governor from Alaska is about to get another dap from Charlie Gibson and friends, but I'm not sure if she will think its a hand shake or finishing putty. However there are some in the press with a handful of questions that seem apropos.
Our attention should certainly be focused on the real problem, and that is the real McCain but he is so dull that his own supporters barely follow him around town and the press hasn't quite figured out how to avoid a question that is answered in a three letter acronym that rhymes with sow. Fortunately for the Republicans it's about to become all Palin all the time when ABC begins its sensational coverage and hagiography of Alaska's governor. If it was up to the Anchorage Daily News (a McClatchy paper) however, we would be treated to some rather interesting questions. Several days ago they published an editorial outlining the questions they felt would be appropriate to ask the chief executive of their state:
There's no polite way to say it: Sarah Palin has been hiding out from hard questions. It took 10 days from when John McCain announced his pick until the McCain campaign agreed to schedule Palin an unscripted interview with a serious journalist.
ABC landed the big "get" with Palin. She'll talk to newscaster Charlie Gibson later this week.
McCain's camp has handled their vice-presidential pick like some celebrity who will only deign to give an interview if conditions are favorable. McCain campaign manager Rick Davis told Fox News Sunday, Palin would take questions "when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it."
Palin has accused Barack Obama of being a me-first celebrity candidate for president. At least he has been facing media questions for the past 18 months.
Here are some of the questions Palin should be answering, for Alaskans and the rest of the country:
• You present yourself as a Republican maverick who took on your own party's corrupt political establishment. In November's election, your party is running an indicted U.S. Senator, Ted Stevens, who is awaiting trial on charges he accepted more than $250,000 of unreported gifts from the state's most powerful lobbyist. Will you vote for his opponent? Will you urge Alaskans to help you change Washington and vote him out of office? If not, why not?
• Sen. Ted Stevens' trial is still pending; he has declined to say whether he would accept a pardon from President Bush before Bush leaves office in January. Do Alaska voters deserve an answer to that question before they cast their vote for or against Stevens in November? What is your position on a president pardoning a public official before a jury has ruled on guilt or innocence?
• Alaska Congressman Don Young appears to have won his Republican primary, even though you endorsed his opponent. Will you vote for your fellow Republican Don Young, who has spent over $1 million on legal fees without telling his constituents what sort of legal trouble he is in?
• Why have you reneged on your earlier pledge to cooperate with the Alaska Legislature's investigation into Troopergate?
• In spring of 2004, the Daily News reported that you cited family considerations in deciding not to try for the U.S. Senate: "How could I be the team mom if I was a U.S. senator?" What was different this time as you decided to run for vice president?
• As governor of Alaska, you have not pushed for laws or regulations that put your personal views on abortion, same-sex marriage and creationism into public policy. As vice president, will you push to outlaw abortion, restrict same-sex marriage and require the teaching of creationism?
• If you were a fully qualified vice-presidential candidate from the get-go, why did you wait more than 10 days to face reporters?
• McCain spokesman Rick Davis told Fox News the media didn't show you enough "deference." How much deference do you expect to get from Vladimir Putin or Hugo Chavez?
• You have said victory is in sight in Iraq. In July 2007, when you visited Kuwait, you said, "I'm not going to judge the surge." In the March 2007 issue of Alaska Business Monthly, you were asked about the surge and quoted saying:
"I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. . . . While I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place."
Define "victory" in Iraq? What is the exit plan?
As always, any mention of Alaska's governor keeps the focus off the subject at hand: who's more qualified to lead, John "POW" McCain or Barack "Community Organizer" Obama? But, just maybe by emphasizing these questions once again, and getting them answered, will point out the audacity of despair that led Senator McCain to make Ms. Palin his vice presidential choice. Then, maybe we can get back to the task at hand, which is to take seriously the idea of governance, the need for it, and to get somebody elected who actually believes that government by the people and for the people is actually a respectable and welcome way to organize a community as vast and diverse as the United States is.
And just for those who love a poll: