Rolling Stone recently published a Paul Alexander Piece entitled
Kerry Fights Back.
Within the piece, he alludes to (among other things) the difference in attitudes of the press between Dubya (falling all over him during tequila parties on the plane) and Kerry (similar to the disdain they held for Al Gore). Anybody who needs a refresher can go check out Bob Sommerby's Daily Howler for details ...
Whatever. In the article, there's a brief exchange that occurred between Mike McCurry and one of our fave press pin-up girls, Nedra Pickler. I thought it might be interesting and kinda fun to challenge Kossians to summarize, being sure to include an appropriate subordinate clause in the ought-to-be trademarked PICKLERism format. (It's been a while since Nedra has really had our attention.)
Here's the exchange (along with the set-up paragraph):
So, late on Friday night, well into a flight from Denver to Boston, McCurry made his way to the rear of the plane, where network cameramen, still photographers and reporters who do not work for A-list dailies -- a group that includes both reporters from the newsweeklies, such as Time, and members of the press from states sure to go to Bush, such as Texas -- are seated. One reporter not so jokingly referred to this section as "steerage." McCurry approached Nedra Pickler, an Associated Press correspondent -- a sturdy, unflinching woman who takes her job deadly seriously.
"Would you be willing to participate in a group interview on deep background," McCurry asked her, "should Kerry come back to the reporters?"
"No," Pickler said flatly over the roar of the jet engines. "It is the position of the Associated Press that if John Kerry were to meet with reporters, the interview should be on the record."
So, feel free to offer your best follow-up, either as a McCurry quote or as something that Paul Alexander might have included, though he failed to note ...