John McCain and Sarah Palin are both drowning in messes of their own making. He looks foolish for his grandstanding on the economy, the campaign "suspension" that never was and finally his failure to convince Republicans in the House to get behind the bailout compromise bill he inaccurately claimed credit for singlehandedly making possible. She is still trying to live down her profoundly embarrassing interviews with Katie Couric. Even as the smoke clears from their most recent segment, word has leaked that a yet to be aired portion shows Palin unable to name a single Supreme Court case besides Roe v. Wade.

So what does the McCain-Palin ticket do in response to this adversity? Why, suggest that the media must be up to something! Check out this odd moment from the most recent Couric sit-down. This time Palin is joined by McCain who shows that Barack Obama is not the only politician he is shockingly condescending towards:

How on earth is a question asked by a completely sensible voter a "gotcha question?" Apparently now American voters are in the same boat as Maureen Dowd and numerous other "media elites" who shouldn't dare ask Palin about basic foreign policy. If you ask Palin a question you're apparently out to get her and her family too! This interview wasn't the only oddity of the day.

Sarah Palin's much-anticipated vice presidential debate with Joe Biden is this Thursday and her interviews with Couric have raised serious questions about what kind of performance she will deliver. McCain aides have reportedly said Palin was a disaster in practice debates. And in an odd change of pace, instead of playing the usual expectations game--McCain surrogates seem to be preemptively criticizing the questions that Gwen Ifill may choose to ask. Skip to about the 2:15 mark:

Again with the "gotcha questions" claim! Even by Fox's standards, this is ridiculous. No one knows what Ifill will ask, we only know that she is a consummate pro who deserves more respect than this. Basically the GOP seems to be saying that if Palin bombs on Thursday it will be because the media wanted her to, not because she simply, obviously is wildly uninformed on national affairs. Hey, casting herself as a martyr worked for her during her debut speech at the RNC but I think it will backfire this time.

Here's why...I just saw Bill Maher on Conan O'Brien's show and he was asked about Palin. He made a point that I thought was very profound. What if Sarah Palin was president right now. As the Dow fell 800, what would a President Palin do? Would we feel remotely comfortable? It's a terrifying thought and I think the American people will have that in mind when they watch her this week--and if the polls are accurate they've endured one McCain maverick maneuver too many.

Comments (41)

1. This is an excellent post and everybody should be hitting on this theme of "gaming the ref" when McCain and Palin have had the rocking-chair media ride of all time.

   I've enjoyed over the last few days being one of the few foreign voices on the blogs here (I'm Panamanian -- w/BA and MBA from US universities).

   I always read the Nation when I was in school in the states because I got information and opinion I was getting nowhere else. I thought then and think now that there's a reflexive anti-market bias here but I understand why. The deregulation chorus is so strong the other way. Down here where we have both progressive social policy and pro-business fiscal and monetary policy b/c no military, we don't have the same fights.

   Same as atheism. As a student in the states, I was a hard-core atheist because I had to fight my corner. In Pamana which separates church and state, I don't mind organized religion at all so long as I don't have to practice it. It doesn't affect me in the slightest. And 25% or more of the country is at least "humanist".

   My cable has Fox and CNN. To follow the election, I watch CNN because Fox is too crazy. On CNN, however, I've found only these regulars to be unbiased towards McCain: Jeffrey Toobin, Christiane Ammanpour, Rick Sanchez, Soledad O'Brien, Jack Cafferty, Larry King, and David Gergen.

   The rest? Wow. Campbell Brown is the worst of the worst but Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Gloria Borger, Bill Schneider, John King, Jessica Yellin, Dana Bash...plus all the other anchors and of course Lou Dobbs who's no McCain buff but he's beyond racist...and on and on. It's all "Maverick"/"hockey mom" all the time.

   Caracol and RCN are Colombian channels whose govt favors McCain and they are way more neutral.

   Posted by DexterManley at 09/30/2008 @ 02:18am

2. Whoa, wait a sec, Sarah Palin IS president exactly right now. He just isn't wearing lipstick.

   Otherwise, the level of capability & leadership qualities is the same. W said to the nation & his party, forward run, the sky is falling.

   And his GOP turned & ran in the opposite direction.

   No one is listening to him with even an ounce of credulity any longer, just as no one is listening to Palin with anything remotely approaching an expectation of competence.

   Posted by sloper at 09/30/2008 @ 02:53am

3. The rest? Wow. Campbell Brown is the worst of the worst but Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Gloria Borger, Bill Schneider, John King, Jessica Yellin, Dana Bash...plus all the other anchors and of course Lou Dobbs who's no McCain buff but he's beyond racist...and on and on. It's all "Maverick"/"hockey mom" all the time.

   Caracol and RCN are Colombian channels whose govt favors McCain and they are way more neutral.

   Posted by DexterManley at 09/30/2008 @ 02:18am

   DM, Great observations. I've noticed the McCain / Palin bias as well. I've also noticed that for about every every minute we get to hear what Obama says, we get to hear three or four minutes of McCain's blathering.

   CNN has been back tracking a little as of late, but I noticed that they aired McCain's little speech yesterday calling on Congress to get together, but not without turning it into anothe political stunt to promote himself. The guy can't stop himself from his grandstanding and self-promotion. That appears to be the problem with the GOP. Even when they get into office and have control, instead of running things, they are more worried about maintaining control than actually doing their jobs. They don't stop to think that if they did their jobs well, the people of this country would continue to vote for them.

   Evidently, they know the people of this country will see that they are the party of the rich, so the only way the can be reelected is by using smoke and mirrors because their corrupt records speak for themselves. They can point their fingers all they like at the dems, but in the end, it's their own party that could only muster 1/3 of it's vote to pass a republican based measure. This whole situation sucks, but the GOP brought it on with their deregulation, zero oversite, and graft to the nth degree. Now they get to stew in their own juice for awhile.

   Posted by Wolfgang1 at 09/30/2008 @ 04:02am

4. "What if Sarah Palin was president right now. As the Dow fell 800, what would a President Palin do? Would we feel remotely comfortable? It's a terrifying thought .."

   Beautiful , sassy, adorable, great public speaker are all descriptive of the lovely Sarah so who said she needs. brai......hey wait a minute. Bush, Obama, Old Mac, Pelosi and your House of reps had a go at this one and together seemed to have stuffed it up quite well.

   So what if the lovely Sarah Palin were president right now? What would she do? Could she do any worse?

   Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 06:06am

5. ... this theme of "gaming the ref" ...

   Posted by DexterManley at 09/30/2008 @

   Well put.

   And McCain is the chair throwing "Bobby Knight" of the sport.

   Posted by skeletonman at 09/30/2008 @ 06:28am

6. What was Maher's point exactly? How lucky we are to have Cheney in case of emergency at this critical moment?

   The biggest challenge in the debate will be Biden's. He has to avoid all condescension, arrogance, or superior postures, since I know from watching the Couric interviews that seeing Palin struggle can arouse a certain sympathy.

   In addition, the pivot of his argument should be for Obama and against McCain, not who should be vice president. All his fire should be on McCain. Fred

   Posted by ffeldman at 09/30/2008 @ 06:30am

7. Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 06:06am

   Again....I remembered this just yesterday-

   "Mask I don't know how much you know about women but from my vast experience I would far rather have a male finger on or near the nuke button."-------Posted by LRJONES4 10/17/2007 @ 12:29am

   Posted by Maskdelta at 09/30/2008 @ 07:08am

8. Posted by ffeldman at 09/30/2008 @ 06:30am

   Biden will do one simple thing.....let her talk.

   Tina Fey had to put MINIMAL imagination into her impersonation.

   Posted by Maskdelta at 09/30/2008 @ 07:10am

9. ffeldman, both posts.

   Hear, hear.

   Let Sarah be Sarah.

   And let Joe hang W around McC's neck, referring to his debate opponent only when asked & then but briefly, before always steering the focus back to McC as W's heir.

   Posted by sloper at 09/30/2008 @ 07:18am

10. I swear, Palin should just stay quiet, smile sweetly and stick her chest out, at least until she brings herself up to speed on things. Nobody expects her to know anything about Foreign Policy: She's Gov of Alaska. Lots of people know nothing when they first start out. She should have just said that, mentioned the efforts she was making to get up to speed, and tell her interrogators when she was ready she'd get back to them. And the people would have loved it. But no, she let a stumblebum like Couric whose barely held on to her own job screw her up: She tried to bluster her way through. Disappointing, cause with time she'd do a good job.

    I swear, the political class, even the smart ones, just don't understand how to win the hearts and minds of the public: They still think bullshit works.

    Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 09/30/2008 @ 07:36am

11. Take Bidens foot out of his mouth, insert into Palins. If he can keep it there, even given the "low expectations game" of the repubs, he will "win" the debate.

    The cons are already spinning. What does that tell us? Fear, and loathing of the masses.

    Posted by crabwalk at 09/30/2008 @ 07:40am

12. Again....I remembered this just yesterday-

    "Mask I don't know how much you know about women but from my vast experience I would far rather have a male finger on or near the nuke button."-------Posted by LRJONES4 10/17/2007 @ 12:29am

    Posted by Maskdelta at 09/30/2008 @ 07:08am

    That mask was before the sober, well balanced Sarah appeared on the scene and added some balance to my vast experience of women. However I'm sure Todd will be holding this submissive woman's hand and in someway controlling that finger if it should wander to close to that bloody button.

    Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 07:47am

13. well...if yer a half ignorant political rookie steeped in simplistic talkingpoint duckspeak and wickedly weak on substantive knowledge...

    i guess every question not scripted and practice answered beforehand is a "gotcha" question!!!!

    i'm seriously beginning to wonder if she may indeed drop out after the first debate...

    but i soooo hope not!!!!

    Posted by dexter666 at 09/30/2008 @ 07:52am

14. its truly funny when a SNL player can lampoon you by quoting long stretches of your publicly recorded speaking...

    seriously - the woman's diction and rambling nothingspeak reminded me of dear miss south carolina's speech a little while back...

    I WANT MORE!!!!!

    Posted by dexter666 at 09/30/2008 @ 07:54am

15. Not sure if the pitbull wasn't pulling an I'm not too bright stunt with Couric. Maybe like Obama she is a star in addressing large crowds but like him not so much the pitbull in the one-on-one interviews. I wouldn't be surprised if her Couric interview-persona changes with Joe and she gives him a good working over later in the week.

    This Charlie Rose interview from last year gives some insights into her personality or persona in interviews. So attractive but very different from her forceful public speaking style.

    http://www.charlierose.com/guests/sarah-palin

    Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 08:11am

16. This woman is dumber than a sack of wet mice, but at least she got to go to the parent-teacher conference with Katie Couric. I get the feeling with her that gotcha questions include "paper or plastic?".

    Posted by onthehelm at 09/30/2008 @ 08:35am

17. Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 07:47am

    No, actually, LR, it was back when HILLARY was going to be near that button and you, in a rare OPEN display of good ol' Aussie machismo chauvinism, told us what you think of women in positions of power.

    Then along came Caribou Barbie and suddenly you had a change of heart....based purely on politics.

    See, it's not even about supporting Palin...it's about trying to blunt the DAMAGE she's doing to McCain. If McCain could win by dumping Palin?....you'd say "Dump the sheila and get a bloke in there, Maverick John!"

    Posted by Maskdelta at 09/30/2008 @ 08:49am

18. Trapdoor questions? Really?

    Katie Couric: As we stand before this august building and institution, what do you see as the role of the United States in the world?

    Couric: Gov. Palin, you've had a very busy week. And you're meeting with many world leaders. You met with President Karzai of Afghanistan. I know the McCain campaign has called for a surge in Afghanistan. But that country is, as you know, dramatically different than Iraq. Why do you believe additional troops, U.S. troops, will solve the problem there?

    Couric: You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?

    Couric: Have you ever been involved in any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?

    Couric: When President Bush ran for office, he opposed nation-building. But he has spent, as you know, much of his presidency promoting democracy around the world. What lessons have you learned from Iraq? And how specifically will you try to spread democracy throughout the world?

    oh yeah...big traps there..

    Posted by ankcdisney at 09/30/2008 @ 09:11am

19. oh yeah...big traps there..

    Posted by ankcdisney at 09/30/2008 @ 09:11am

    Couric should have handed her a japanese finger puzzle. Now that's a trap...

    Posted by chaoszen at 09/30/2008 @ 10:00am

20. "That mask was before the sober, well balanced Sarah appeared on the scene"

    Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 07:47am

    ....Jonesy - I so want whatever it is you're smoking down under....

    Posted by leftofcenter at 09/30/2008 @ 10:25am

21. @ WOLFGANG1: Thanks, man. You made a good point I'd forgotten: the paucity of coverage of Obama speaking his own words. I believe they do that in order to be able to say that he's "vague" on the issues. His actual opinions are only heard and seen in debates. I'm used to specificity because down here there's not much argument on the really big issues. The debate is about very specific and arcane issues of trade, banking and tax law and the economic literacy is very high.

    I also agree with your view of the financial crisis but I move money for a living and I'll get really boring if I go into the specifics of WHY the US deregulation and lack of oversight is bad for the economy, not good for wealthy, and a holocaust for the poor, working and middle-classes.

    @ SKELETONMAN: Bobby Knight is perfect analogy. I also think of 2000 Ryder Cup with Justin Leonard leading the US team onto the green across Olazabal's line screaming "USA-USA-USA" when Olazabal still had a makeable putt to keep it going.

    @ DEXTER666: Another Dexter! With 666 yet! Excellent. My codename comes from the Washington Redskins defensive lineman of the 1980s.

    Posted by DexterManley at 09/30/2008 @ 1:15pm

22. Actually, I read a good analogy to the McCain/Palin combo interview....

    McCain came off as a gruff DAD, trying to muscle a college recruiter, to get his DAUGHTER in a school she really didn't have the grades to get in.

    Posted by Maskdelta at 09/30/2008 @ 2:01pm

23. Actually, I read a good analogy to the McCain/Palin combo interview....

    McCain came off as a gruff DAD, trying to muscle a college recruiter, to get his DAUGHTER in a school she really didn't have the grades to get in.

    Posted by Maskdelta at 09/30/2008 @ 2:01pm

    Exactly what McCain's father did for him. John McCain was completely unqualified for Annapolis.

    Posted by DexterManley at 09/30/2008 @ 2:12pm

24. Qualified, schmalified.

    The divine Sarah is a gift from the electoral gods to the Dems.

    Sit back, relax, enjoy. And vote.

    And, yo, NYers, no 3rd term for Mike Bloomberg. His business partners got us in this mess. Time to go. You can hire Sarah, good GOPer that you are, Mike. She may be needing a job after next year. And if she's not your type, surely your current promoter Ronnie Lauder can snap her up. She can always sell his family's cosmetics. To pitbulls.

    Posted by sloper at 09/30/2008 @ 2:54pm

25. "....I just saw Bill Maher on Conan O'Brien's show and he was asked about Palin. He made a point that I thought was very profound. What if Sarah Palin was president right now. As the Dow fell 800, what would a President Palin do? Would we feel remotely comfortable? It's a terrifying thought...." Oh, my. How are you all able to sleep at night? "What if she were President?! What would she do?! What would we do?! Oh, my!" Somehow the republic survived the lying buffoon in office now. Somehow the republic survived the conniving deceit of the the first couple before him. The republic survived the elder Bush political incompetence; survived Reagan who promised to crush government ('course you should all be cheering because ironically he expanded it); survived the aimlessness of Carter; the paranoid nut Nixon; the warring deceitfulness of Johnson; the brothel Oval Office of Kennedy.... Spend less time cowering in the night, and turn inward, to your colleagues, families, friends, the real ones that ensure a brighter tomorrow. We will survive just fine, Bill. But keep sucking at the teat of the Beltway wonders (be they left or right) because they must have been responsible for preventing the end of the world....

    Regards, FD

    Posted by FranklinD at 09/30/2008 @ 3:00pm

26. Cute back flip LRJONES.

    Try this:

    Left leg on green, right leg on blue, Left arm on "Family Values", right arm around the beauty queen with a thing FOR earmarks, the "Ms congeniality" from the state with the largets per capita federal earmarks, running against the evils of earmarks. The "experienced " governer that said she would cooperate with the investigation into Troopergate, then reneged, running on the ending of corruption in guvt.

    Kind of reminds me of a certain primate that said he would restore credibility to the WH, then hires according to political beliefs, fires according to political beliefs, refuses to cooperate with several investigations into wrongdoing in the WH, and has his VP's chief of staff get convicted of lying under oath.

    but, according to ya'll, he has done nothing wrong.

    BOO!

    Posted by crabwalk at 09/30/2008 @ 3:14pm

27. It's astounding how ridiuclous this all is. Both McCain's hail marys have been mussed up by interceptions. Let's see if he tries again.

    This whole blame the media thing doesn't work anymore for the Republican's sadly. It's been a Republican strategy for a long time to say if someone doesn't agree with you, then they must be liberal run. In the words of Stephen Colbert "Reality has a well known liberal bias."

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/30/2008 @ 3:41pm

28. I am beginning to think anyone -- even Mike Gravel -- on the Democratic ticket could have beaten the World's Oldest Clueless Person with the Personality of a Jar of Mayonnaise and his Pentecostal Barbie.

    On the other hand, who is a bigger twit than the current occupant of the White House? In a sane world, that man would have collected a total of 14 votes in 2000 from some of his family members and the guy who cuts his lawn. In the real world, he actually got elected, albeit with a little help from the Supreme Court.

    Could lightening strike again for the Republicans? Right now, Karl Rove is behind the curtain cranking the thunder and lightening machine.

    And polling numbers do sometimes lie.

    Posted by elcomputo at 09/30/2008 @ 4:37pm

29. If Palin was president right now, she could do exactly what Obama did, vote PRESENT. Doing nothing appears to work very well for him.

    Posted by wredner at 09/30/2008 @ 5:13pm

30. If Palin was president right now, she could do exactly what Obama did, vote PRESENT. Doing nothing appears to work very well for him. Posted by wredner at 09/30/2008 @ 5:13pm

    Or she could just skip doing her duties like McCain is doing.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/30/2008 @ 6:25pm

31. See, it's not even about supporting Palin...it's about trying to blunt the DAMAGE she's doing to McCain. If McCain could win by dumping Palin?....you'd say "Dump the sheila and get a bloke in there, Maverick John!"

    Posted by Maskdelta at 09/30/2008 @ 08:49am

    You wish.

    She's still the best thing gramps has got going for him. Politics is about winning and as some here have commented he's not after locking you incorrigibles in but all those wise evangelicals already in the bag. Thoughts of the unlovely Hillary did flash through my mind as I responded to you but charity prevented me mentioning the context.

    ps. I don't (always) enjoy being a smart arse but I guess you've noticed the big O ( in his lawyers double speak maybe) now agrees with Mac and your Aussie correspondent that the fundamentals of the US economy are sound. If you can't google up, what will now form the basis of some pretty telling GOP ads, I'll be quite happy to oblige.

    Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 7:25pm

32. but, according to ya'll, he has done nothing wrong.

    BOO!

    Posted by crabwalk at 09/30/2008 @ 3:14pm

    We is all sinners and primates (i hope)Crabs.

    Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 7:29pm

33. Cute back flip LRJONES.

    Missed that one Crabs. In our neck of the woods we call that on the job learning. "He who fights and back flips lives to fight another day".

    Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 8:56pm

34. ....Jonesy - I so want whatever it is you're smoking down under....

    Posted by leftofcenter at 09/30/2008 @ 10:25am

    Think you asked for some once before LOC. Answer's the same. Stick with own hallucinogens matey. They're a lot more powerful than anything we've got.

    Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 9:06pm

35. Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 7:25pm

    Same question to the other Palin fans, LR....

    would you want her to be the GOP nominee in 2012, if McCain lost this year???

    Posted by Maskdelta at 09/30/2008 @ 9:21pm

36. would you want her to be the GOP nominee in 2012, if McCain lost this year???

    Posted by Maskdelta at 09/30/2008 @ 9:21pm

    My interest would be the effect US economic policies have on the world economy and Australia in particular. So my choice for 2008 would have been Romney.

    I think Obama's economics, all things being equal, would be bad not only for America, in terms of GDP growth and hence and employment, but also would have a negative effect on other economies.

    McCain, though an economic illiterate, is more in tune than Obama with what makes the US economy and the world economy tick and hasn't got the potential to stuff up the US economy on the same scale as Obama. So Palin, if she can capture the significant religious right vote for McCain, serves a useful purpose in this cycle.

    As far as Palin's future goes I do not think she will be a prospect in 2012 if McCain loses this year.

    Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 10:02pm

37. McCain, though an economic illiterate, is more in tune than Obama with what makes the US economy and the world economy tick and hasn't got the potential to stuff up the US economy on the same scale as Obama.

    Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 10:02pm

    from the gut!

    or should i say "pouch".........

    Posted by frosty zoom at 09/30/2008 @ 11:30pm

38. or should i say "pouch".........

    Posted by frosty zoom at 09/30/2008 @ 11:30pm

    You had me worried for a moment. Then I remembered I'm a boomer but checked just to make sure. It's the flyers that have the pouch in which they keep their joeys.

    Posted by lrjones4 at 10/01/2008 @ 12:32am

39. Sunnybrook researcher Dr. Donald Redelmeier and Stanford University statistician Robert Tibshirani have found an increased risk of fatal motor vehicle crashes on United States (US) presidential election days.

    "We thought efforts that mobilize about 55 per cent of the population to vote, along with US reliance on motor vehicle travel, might result in increased fatal motor vehicle crashes during US presidential elections," says Redelmeier, lead investigator of the study and staff physician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, "indeed, we found a significant increase in traffic deaths on election days."

    Posted by frosty zoom at 10/01/2008 @ 01:35am

40. As far as Palin's future goes I do not think she will be a prospect in 2012 if McCain loses this year.----Posted by lrjones4 at 09/30/2008 @ 10:02pm

    I didn't ask if she WOULD be...

    I asked if you would WANT her to be, if possible?

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/01/2008 @ 10:04pm

41. I didn't ask if she WOULD be...

    I asked if you would WANT her to be, if possible?

    Posted by Maskdelta at 10/01/2008 @ 10:04pm

    Don't get as much time as I would like to follow all the threads so just noticed this one.

    She would probably be wasted on your unappreciative mob, Mask, so maybe she should come over here get naturalised and sort out the mess our "Obama" is currently making of the place. For that I would vote yes.

    On a less serious note and in answer to tour question, we hard-nosed Aussies don't deal in 2012 hypotheticals.

    Posted by lrjones4 at 10/02/2008 @ 01:34am