The Bob Cesca Interview: Tim Eldred and Star Blazers
11 hours ago
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Is Sarah Palin Getting Treated Worse Than Any Newcomer Would Be?
I guess Sarah Palin is as good a place as any to start. Given her record on sex education and related issues, some find it hard to see how the media could ignore her personal situation completely. On the other hand,it's not fair to shed the spotlight on her teenager's life. There are also bigger questions than a knocked -up teenager to pursue when it comes to Palin's fitness for VEEP. But the McCain camapign doesn't seem eager for her to have too many media closeups. The Washington Post reports that the camapign is limiting the number of interviews Palin does with major media until the press starts treating Palin "with some level of respect and deference." Can they demand that, or do they need to meet the press halfway?
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The campaign can demand that, but they might not want to hold their breath. This is a woman who until two weeks ago I didn't know existed. Naturally people want to know more about her in a short time, and that includes all aspects of her background. They can ask for all the positive PR they want, but they can't just expect the media to bow at their feet and report only the positive.
I think that it is perfectly fair to shed the spotlight on her teenage daughter’s pregnancy. First of all, her daughter is 17-years-old. This means that she is still a minor. Minors are still under parental “control” and in most legal cases, the parents of minors can be held responsible for some of their actions. Therefore, if Palin cannot control the actions of her 17-year-old, legally minor, daughter, how will she be able to keep national issues under control? How will she be able to run the country, as President, if the need arises? Can she control a military of adult men and women?
Since Palin has put herself in the public eye, and made herself a public figure, she has opened both herself and her family up, for scruntiny, by both the media and the opposing camp. Shedding the spotlight on her daughter’s pregnancy is “bringing to light” many aspects of this woman’s ability to handle both a “touchy” and a personal issue.
In regard to the comment in The Post, that Palin will do major media interviews when the press starts treating Palin “with some level of respect and deference,” I think that this is a poor statement. Palin is being treating with respect and this comment may make her come off as being too emotional. It may make people think that this “hockey mom” should stay off the ice and keep to providing snacks and hydration, instead of trying to go to the forefront and “coach” the team. Also, deference is a part of campaigning that is unavoidable. “If you can’t stand the heat, back away from the fire,” is what people might think of Palin.
In order to be successful, any candidate needs to satisfy the request of the media, although that may sound a bit harsh, it is true. The press has the ability to make or break any person. If Palin cannot take the pressure from uncomfortable media situations, how will she be able to handle international affairs that have a critical air about them?
Palin, who has seemingly good character, is weakening herself and her positions by sounding like a mom. It comes across as something mom would say about getting what you want from her: “if you aren’t nice to me, I won’t…”
Bottom-line: if you are a public figure, you are deliberately opening up you and your family to both the positives of media exposure, and the negatives of media “mud throwing” and prying. Palin seems fearful of what a major interview would lead to. Does she have anything else to hide?
Huffington Post has interesting take on why ABC got Palin interview.
Sorry, site isn't take my link so you'll have to cut and paste it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/10/palin-why-gibson-got-the_n_125349.html
I don't support the Republican side of the convention at all; frankly for me this just adds to one of the many reasons why I don't. However, Sarah Palin is such a hot topic that I can't stay away! ;]
If Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky was so explicity described in every magazine and newspaper that I, as a ten year old, could understand what happened with that good ol' cigar, why can't we ponder the fact that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant? Yes, a woman who preaches abstinence education in schools obviously should have taken a good look at home first but ultimately what century are we in people? We have 12 year olds getting pregnant, 7 year olds experimenting with sex, and we're going to point fingers at just one of the thousands of teenage pregnancies? I don't think so.
Palin seems to be an empty shell; she's something pretty to look at but there's not much else going on in that well-manicured coif. She hasn't advocated any particular issues but rambled on and regurgitated all the Republican efforts. Her speech writers and the people surrounding her need to back off and let her stand on her own two feet!
The media's job is to supply the public with information about its choices, if she refuses to give interviews then she is refusing to give us information that could potentially lead us to vote for her... or does she not understand that? By taking away our natural right to thought processes, she's inhibiting the democracy that we know and love.
Perhaps Sarah Palin is capable of being a mayor of 9,000 people - but will she hold up if McCain croaks in office and she has to run the entire United States?
If so, she has a long pill-popping future ahead of her.
Yesterday one the celebrity news shows ran stories about McCain's reaction to his interview on The View on Friday and Tina Fey's parody of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live.
On Extra,McCain's advisor, Carly Fiorina, said that the "the portrait was very dismissive of the substance of Sarah Palin" and that they defined Hillary was "substantive" and Palin as "superficial." http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2008/09/mccain_camp_feys_snl_sketch_wa.php
McCain, and especially his wife Cindy, were disappointed with some of the questions he was asked on The View saying that the women were biased. In his defense, he was asked loaded questions. At one point Joy Behar sais something like: Two presidential campaign ads ran that were obviously lies and they showed you at the end saying "I endorse this message." Do you really endorse those messages?
(I searched and searched for the McCain/The View article, but I can't find it. But, I'll keep looking.)
I think that the Palin spoof on SNL was fine. The subject is fair game and should come as no surprise considering the many spoofs that have been done on Palin already.
However, the women on The View should have been more fair with their questions, no matter how opinionated they may be.
Hi Bryan, Just wondering: Why do you feel the people on the show should not have expressed their views. The View isn't a news show. The hosts talk about news of the day, but they make no promises of objectivity. They're there because they all have varying views. Elizabeth is the house conservative and the others show varying degrees of liberalism.
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