McCain Removes Short Leash From Palin, Attaches Shorter Leash.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/29/eveningnews/main4487826.shtml

It was interesting to watch tonight’s interview with Sarah Palin on CBS’ Evening News with Katie Couric. Mere days after CNN’s Campbell Brown blasted McCain’s own campaign for “sexism” charges, noting how they treat Palin as a fragile flower, tonight’s Couric interview saw both John McCain and Palin, with McCain issuing his spin on Palin’s words to a voter (recorded by media video) where she stated she’d be willing to “do whatever it takes” to get to Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

Clearly that’s Barack Obama’s position, contrary to McCain’s counter-charges on Obama. So he sat as the paternal figure, explaining what young Palin was attempting to mean and spinning it as “gotcha!” media questions (even though the question came from non-media, a Temple University grad student). The entire interview he sat, adding gentle prompts and sitting stern watch over his running mate to ensure any “tough” questions by Couric were deflected per the McCain agenda. No more vulnerable openings.

Meanwhile, Palin played the role of the eager progeny, “ready, willing and able” to win approval from voters (McCain) that she was up to the task.

It was a very awkward performance, mostly by McCain. Apparently he’s frightened by Sarah Palin’s candor when allowed to speak on her own, and he’s reeling in the short leash. Even the cameras cut away from Palin while she was in the midst of a response, panning to a shot of grim-faced McCain staring at Couric, before panning back to Palin once they realized he wasn’t cutting in on the answer.

For a campaign that was quick to portray itself as progressive on an issue such as sexist treatment, belitting both the Obama campaign and the media on it, the irony and hyprocrisy of this is astonishing. Here’s the candidate, not able to trust his young, female running mate to adequately hold her own. She needed his guidance.

McCain’s displaying blunt paternalistic sexism of his own, and he could care less who sees. He’ll just spin it away later, saying it never happened.

It’s clear that McCain’s upset with the attention that Palin is getting. Yet it was he himself (or at worst, his campaign with his approval) who approved a running mate that would draw this level of attention. Then after they introduce her to much fanfare, they then turn and teasingly hide her away from the rest of the world.

The McCain has been very aloof with media for some time, causing a lot of consternation from the same folks expected to then get out the GOP message. As a result, the RNC, Karl “Turdblossom” Rove or the McCain Campaign have not only hamstrung themselves, but created the same environment that existed as George W. Bush took presidency: an adversarial approach to the media that demands fealty before they’re allowed to do their job of reporting facts as per their litmus test.

Even worse, they’ve now done likewise with the very person they’ve anointed to draw attention back to their previously anemic campaign.

It’s incredible that the McCain camp seems to be doing everything possible to shoot themselves in the foot. They better be on their knees praying every night that the Democrats don’t wake up and decide to super-glue a flip-flop to that freshly shot foot. We know how Republicans feel about flip-flops.

"Some boys take a beautiful girl and
Hide her away from the rest of the world.
I want to be the one to walk in the sun." — Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Cyndi Lauper