Gotcha Journalism

[The_Lillard_King]

I don't know what kind of vice president or president Palin will make (although I have an idea), but I do like her catchy phrases:

"If that's what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should," Palin told the voter during the exchange, which was captured on video.

Except McCain chided Obama during Friday's presidential debate for saying publicly that he supports striking terrorist targets inside Pakistan if the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to do so.

McCain, who sat with Palin, said in Monday's interview that he understands "the day and age of 'gotcha' journalism. ... In a conversation with someone who you didn't hear the question very well, you don't know the context of the conversation. Grab a phrase. Gov. Palin and I agree that you don't announce that you're going to attack another country."

Palin added that "as Sen. McCain is suggesting here, also, never would our administration get out there and show our cards to terrorists, in this case, to enemies and let them know what the game plan was."

Asked what she learned from the experience, Palin said: "That this is all about "gotcha" journalism. A lot of it is. But that's OK, too."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080930/ap_on_el_pr/palin_pakistan

 

[SodaPopinski]

"As Alaskans, it was our job when we woke up in the morning to look outside and see if we saw any Russians walking around. Then we would go up to 'em and say 'Whatcha doin here?' and if they couldn't answer we would saw 'Shooo, get out of here.' "

-Pop

 

[julius]

I'm not sure how this is a "gotcha" moment. It's more of a "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing" moment.

Sometimes I almost get the idea that the hard-core Republicans want to destroy McCain, and teaming him up with Palin was their way to do it.

There were many better choices for VP that he could have chosen.

 

[maxiep]

She's in over her head right now and the press smells blood in the water, and blood in the water for them means ratings.

Does she have the chops to take advice from experts and arrive at the optimal decision? Perhaps. Does she know much herself? Not really, but she seems to have a good gut for what's right and wrong. Reagan led that way, and it worked. Bush 43 led that way, and the results were mixed.

 

[maxiep]

There were many better choices for VP that he could have chosen.

That's true on both sides.

 

[julius]

That's true on both sides.

that is true, but it's far more true for Palin than it is for Biden.

 

[maxiep]

that is true, but it's far more true for Palin than it is for Biden.

By the same token, the Republicans made a better choice in McCain than Obama if we're talking experience. And isn't the top of the ticket more important?

 

[barfo]

"gotcha journalism"

Sheesh. A voter asked the question, and she answered it.

barfo

 

[maxiep]

"gotcha journalism"

Sheesh. A voter asked the question, and she answered it.

barfo

She scared the crap out of me when she was picked and hasn't done anything yet to change my mind.

 

[julius]

By the same token, the Republicans made a better choice in McCain than Obama if we're talking experience. And isn't the top of the ticket more important?

Did I mention "experience"?

Nope.

 

[maxiep]

Did I mention "experience"?

Nope.

Do you believe Joe Biden is much smarter than Sarah Palin? I think if you put Sarah Palin in the Senate for 36 years she probably is a better candidate than Biden.

 

[barfo]

She scared the crap out of me when she was picked and hasn't done anything yet to change my mind.

She doesn't scare me, but only because I'm firmly convinced she won't be elected. Since I am convinced of that, I find her highly amusing.

barfo

 

[barfo]

Do you believe Joe Biden is much smarter than Sarah Palin? I think if you put Sarah Palin in the Senate for 36 years she probably is a better candidate than Biden.

I don't know, you can put 36 years of experience on a pig, it's still a pig.
Is Biden much smarter? Maybe not much, but I suspect he is smarter.

barfo

 

[maxiep]

I don't know, you can put 36 years of experience on a pig, it's still a pig.
Is Biden much smarter? Maybe not much, but I suspect he is smarter.

barfo

There's a difference between being well-spoken and intelligent. Most people are fooled.

 

[mook]

Keywords that signal you have just screwed up and are trying to hide it:
Gotcha journalism
Blame game
Now is not the time
Mistakes were made

I think Mrs. Palin needs to decide soon that she needs to spend more time with her family. (That, by the way, is my all-time favorite political euphemism. Whenever a politician says that, I always wonder, "How does your family feel about that?")

 

[maxiep]

Keywords that signal you have just screwed up and are trying to hide it:
Gotcha journalism
Blame game
Now is not the time
Mistakes were made

I think Mrs. Palin needs to decide soon that she needs to spend more time with her family. (That, by the way, is my all-time favorite political euphemism. Whenever a politician says that, I always wonder, "How does your family feel about that?")

I don't suspect that's necessary. The die has been struck, and Obama is going to win this election. All he has to do is play defense. He's won the spin game. There is nothing that can be done by McCain to change the dynamic of this election; he lost his last chance when he didn't take posession of solving this crisis.

It will be interesting to see what the populace does in 2010 after two years of a completely aligned Legislative and Executive branch on the Left.

 

[barfo]

There's a difference between being well-spoken and intelligent. Most people are fooled.

That's true. But Biden is not particularly well-spoken, so that isn't the key issue here.

barfo

 

[maxiep]

That's true. But Biden is not particularly well-spoken, so that isn't the key issue here.

barfo

Joe Biden is extremely well-spoken. His errors have to do with his ideas, not his phrasing.

 

[barfo]

I don't suspect that's necessary. The die has been struck, and Obama is going to win this election. All he has to do is play defense. He's won the spin game. There is nothing that can be done by McCain to change the dynamic of this election; he lost his last chance when he didn't take posession of solving this crisis.

It will be interesting to see what the populace does in 2010 after two years of a completely aligned Legislative and Executive branch on the Left.

It will indeed. History says that the R's will make gains in 2010, and I suspect that's correct.

As for ditching Palin, I suspect that would actually hurt McCain even more than keeping her. She's a lose-lose situation for him (as he so richly deserves for picking her).

barfo

 

[Денг Гордон]

Yup, Obama has moved into a position where it looks like we may have an electoral slaughtering of McCain at this point. He's ahead by 5-10 points depending on which tracker you look at. McCain and Palin both have negative favorabilities.

The only problem with Palin dropping out is that it's admitting surrender.

From 538

McCain Is Stuck With Palin

Commentators on the left, right and center, reacting with near-horror to Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric, have each suggested that John McCain ought to put Palin on the next flight to Ketchikan, and replace her with another vice presidential nominee.

Now, none of these folks are necessarily arguing that this would be a good move for McCain electorally. They instead seem to be arguing, in essence, that it would be good for the country (how small-minded of them!).

But could such a move actually help McCain at the ballot box? My feeling is absolutely not, for several reasons:

1. Destroys Base Morale. No matter how well this is spun -- Palin withdrew to tend to her family because the liberal media are big meanies! -- Palin remains a major reason why conservative activists are showing up every day to make phone calls for John McCain. And to remove her from the ticket now would be a slap in the face. Now, I had argued before that McCain essentially ought to call the base's bluff -- nominate someone who appeals to independents, and almost literally dare them to vote for Barack Obama. But that was at least assuming that McCain would have a full two months or so to smooth things over, and convince them that Tom Ridge (or whomever) wasn't such a bad guy. If McCain were to drop Palin now, however, a lot of these folks would be heartbroken -- and a lot of them would not turn out, particularly if an Obama victory appeared inevitable anyway. Not only would this hurt McCain, but it would also harm downballot candidates; the odds of Democrats finishing with 60+ Senate seats or 260+ House seats would increase markedly.

2. No Obvious Alternative. If the Republicans had some obvious next-runner-up like Hillary Clinton sitting on the sidelines, this maneuver might become more viable. However, they do not, which is part of the reason that Palin had been picked in the first place.

With less than zero time for a roll-out of the replacement, he would almost have to be a familiar brand name. Mitt Romney? With the nation's attention focused on the economy, he'd seem to be the most likely choice, but a lot of people don't like him, and "Bain Capital" is not exactly compatible with "Main Street". Besides, would Romney really want to associate himself with what would probably be a losing ticket, when he could instead position himself as Mr. Fix-It in 2012? Rudy Giuliani? He's tested.ready.now but that's moving in the direction of national security credentials at a time the country is interested in other things. And talk radio would revolt. Joe Lieberman? I'm not even sure that McCain could pull that off even if he wanted to; some prominent members of the RNC (who have a veto) might object, happy enough to throw what they'd think to be a losing nominee under the bus for the sake of preserving the conservative movement. Fred Thompson? Actually might be the least-bad alternative, as he rehabilitated his image some with a strong convention speech. But he ran perhaps the most indifferent campaign in modern history, and the last thing the Republicans need is another VP nominee who doesn't seem particularly serious about the office of the Presidency. Which brings us to...

3. McCain Has Overplayed the Game-Changer Card. McCain already runs the risk of his campaign appearing to be something of a three-ring circus, with Britney Spears in one ring, Palin in another, and the "suspension" of his campaign in a third. To replace Palin now might make his campaign seem like a farce. And when was the last time the candidate who was the butt of more jokes won the election? Possibly 1992, but the presence of Ross Perot -- not to mention Dana Carvey's terrific George H.W. Bush -- made the comedy inherent in that election more or less an equal opportunity affair.

Finally, while there isn't much hard evidence to go on, there is this: George McGovern went from 19 points behind Richard Nixon in a Gallup poll taken in mid-July 1972 -- just after Thomas Eagleton had been nominated at the Democratic convention -- to a -26 in early August after he had dumped Eagleton from the ticket.

and

On Dumping Palin

It’s important to reinforce what Nate wrote Sunday night. Not gonna happen. It would be overt surrender. As most of you know, I’ve been on the road for the past three weeks, so far visiting at least a dozen McCain campaign offices in six battleground states as well as Palin’s first solo rally in Carson City, Nevada. If McCain dumps Palin, it is over.

In the Colorado Springs volunteer office, “you could hear a pin drop” in the days before Palin was picked. In Reno, the volunteering had been anemic; the Saturday morning after the Palin pick, organizers arrived to an early morning volunteer line waiting at the door.

Our direct observation shows McCain is being overwhelmingly outworked on the ground as it is; take Palin away and you can add 2-5% to Obama’s total in every close state due to ground game. As Bill Paxton once said, "Game over, man, game over!"

There really isn’t much more to say. It’s already the Obama v. Nobama election – you overhear it in all the volunteer-to-volunteer discussions. “Obama Scares Me” is not just the unofficial motto, it’s actually a button we’ve seen sported.

But that’s not good enough to win. Bush v. Not Bush didn’t turn out well for Democrats, and Obama v. Nobama in a huge partisan ID switching and massive new voter reg year isn’t going to get the job done for Republicans.

Taking away Sarah Palin is not an option – it would be worse than having never put her on the ticket in the first place. This ticket is soldiering on til the bitter end, or else they're giving up.

 

[maxiep]

Yup, Obama has moved into a position where it looks like we may have an electoral slaughtering of McCain at this point. He's ahead by 5-10 points depending on which tracker you look at. McCain and Palin both have negative favorabilities.

The only problem with Palin dropping out is that it's admitting surrender.

From 538



and

Yep. No more excuses. It will be on the far left wing of the political spectrum to solve this country's problems.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I don't suspect that's necessary. The die has been struck, and Obama is going to win this election. All he has to do is play defense. He's won the spin game. There is nothing that can be done by McCain to change the dynamic of this election; he lost his last chance when he didn't take posession of solving this crisis.

It will be interesting to see what the populace does in 2010 after two years of a completely aligned Legislative and Executive branch on the Left.

The crisis hasn't been resolved and I wonder if that is McCain's last grasp attempt to pull off this election. I don't know how or pretend to understand how all of politics work, but if McCain's name is somehow wrapped around the bill passing, that could be huge.

There is another chance for McCain I see here, what if Palin somehow eats up the debate. If she comes across well spoken, erases concerns about her interivews and convinces the American pulic she is Ms. Maverick and just what the people want. Unlikely, but her second biggest stage is coming and I thought she hit a homerun on her biggest stage (the convention).

Personally, if I could be convinced the Palin choice has some rationale behind it besides politics, I would be giving McCain more thought. I know polls say he lost the debate, but my respect for McCain rose after the debate. I don't think he is a Bush clone and he doesn't care who he will piss off to clean up what he sees as problems in Washington. I still think he is all about big business . . . but maybe us small business owners can ride the tails of those tax loopholes.

 

[maxiep]

The crisis hasn't been resolved and I wonder if that is McCain's last grasp attempt to pull off this election. I don't know how or pretend to understand how all of politics work, but if McCain's name is somehow wrapped around the bill passing, that could be huge.

Politics won't allow McCain's name to be attached on this bill to anything but failure. The Democrats control the Congress.

There is another chance for McCain I see here, what if Palin somehow eats up the debate. If she comes across well spoken, erases concerns about her interivews and convinces the American pulic she is Ms. Maverick and just what the people want. Unlikely, but her second biggest stage is coming and I thought she hit a homerun on her biggest stage (the convention).

It doesn't matter. She'll be skewered in the mainstream media regardless of what she does. The press has made their decision on her, and it's all over for her this election. If she's ever interested in national politics again, she'll have to rehabilitate her image, but chances are she'll go down as another Dan Quayle.

Personally, if I could be convinced the Palin choice has some rationale behind it besides politics, I would be giving McCain more thought. I know polls say he lost the debate, but my respect for McCain rose after the debate. I don't think he is a Bush clone and he doesn't care who he will piss off to clean up what he sees as problems in Washington. I still think he is all about big business . . . but maybe us small business owners can ride the tails of those tax loopholes.

Any objective analysis of that debate indicates that McCain won the foreign policy aspect of that debate on substance. However, it just doesn't matter. The country wants a change, and it's going to get it. The country is fed up and disgusted and Obama has marketed himself well to this aspect.

Be careful what you wish for. The next four years are going to make the late 70s look like the mid-90s. He's going to spend his entire presidency complaining that he's shackled by the policies and the deficits of the previous administration. It will be an administration of excuses, even though the Congress will be in his back pocket. I plan to hold him to the vague goals of his Blueprint for Change and see how he does.

 

[Денг Гордон]

I saw a good idea for the debate posted somewhere online. Give each candidate a blank map of the Middle East, and ask them to fill in the names of the countries.

 

[barfo]

Politics won't allow McCain's name to be attached on this bill to anything but failure. The Democrats control the Congress.

That is true, but he might have meant it in a more generic sense (for example, if McCain made a major novel proposal that in fact turned out to be an important part of the final solution, then he could potentially get a lot of mileage out of it even if the bill was named for someone else.

Of course, the problem with that is the extreme unlikelihood of McCain making such a proposal.

It doesn't matter. She'll be skewered in the mainstream media regardless of what she does. The press has made their decision on her, and it's all over for her this election. If she's ever interested in national politics again, she'll have to rehabilitate her image, but chances are she'll go down as another Dan Quayle.

Actually, she has a good shot at exceeding expectations for this debate and thus getting some positive press. The bar is mighty low.

Be careful what you wish for. The next four years are going to make the late 70s look like the mid-90s. He's going to spend his entire presidency complaining that he's shackled by the policies and the deficits of the previous administration. It will be an administration of excuses, even though the Congress will be in his back pocket. I plan to hold him to the vague goals of his Blueprint for Change and see how he does.

Indeed, we should all do that.

barfo

 

[julius]

Do you believe Joe Biden is much smarter than Sarah Palin? I think if you put Sarah Palin in the Senate for 36 years she probably is a better candidate than Biden.

two response came to mind.

1. And if my aunt had a beard, she'd be my uncle.

and

2. Let's have Palin be in the senate for 36 years and find out.

 

[Денг Гордон]

Why does Sarah Palin keep doing interviews with Katie Couric? Now she is in an interview with Couric, and can't name any supreme court cases.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Why does Sarah Palin keep doing interviews with Katie Couric? Now she is in an interview with Couric, and can't name any supreme court cases.

got a link to that by any chance?

 

[Денг Гордон]

got a link to that by any chance?

The videos coming out tomorrow I believe.

Of concern to McCain’s campaign, however, is a remaining and still-undisclosed clip from Palin’s interview with Couric last week that has the political world buzzing.

The Palin aide, after first noting how “infuriating” it was for CBS to purportedly leak word about the gaffe, revealed that it came in response to a question about Supreme Court decisions.

After noting Roe vs. Wade, Palin was apparently unable to discuss any major court cases.

There was no verbal fumbling with this particular question as there was with some others, the aide said, but rather silence.

http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/23083/sarah-palin-20/

Basically, Couric was asking Biden/Palin the same questions as part of her candidates voice segment or whatever it's called. She first asked about abortion and Roe v. Wade, and then she asked, What is one supreme court case (other than Roe v. Wade) that you disagree with and why.

 

[MARIS61]

Do you believe Joe Biden is much smarter than Sarah Palin? I think if you put Sarah Palin in the Senate for 36 years she probably is a better candidate than Biden.

Hilarious.

You can't teach intelligence, and Palin is devoid of intelligence.

She actually appears to be getting dumber each time she opens her mouth to speak.

In my lifetime I have met only a handful of people I would trust less than her in any important capacity where decisions were involved.

The fact that McCain feels it necessary to babysit her and protect her from interviewers "tough" questions only drives home the point that he blew it when he chose her.