Author Topic: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire  (Read 6092 times)

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BT

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ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« on: September 13, 2008, 02:43:09 AM »

ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
By MARTIN SIEFF
Published: Sept. 12, 2008 at 11:47 AM
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- There were no surprises, no knockout zingers, but also no bloopers Thursday night in Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's first TV interview since becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Charles Gibson of ABC News was out for blood and inherently applied a double-standard compared with the kid gloves George Stephanopoulos used on Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois on Sunday night.

Gibson was out to embarrass Palin and expose her presumed ignorance from the word go. By contrast, when Obama referred to his "Muslim faith" on Sunday and did not correct himself, Stephanopoulos rushed in at once to help him and emphasize that the senator had really meant to say his Christian faith.

By contrast, Gibson tried to embarrass Palin by referring to her Christian faith in asking people to pray for U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Palin countered by pointing out she was following the precedent set by Abraham Lincoln.

Palin also expressed her support for Georgia and Ukraine joining the U.S.-led NATO alliance. That statement was predictable and consistent with the current policy of the Bush administration. The policy has dangerously raised tensions with Russia, but Palin is hardly alone in the conservative/Republican consensus in expressing her support for it.

Palin's assessment of foreign policy was competent and not embarrassing. Although she initially exhibited ignorance of the Bush Doctrine on pre-emptive strikes that has been a central pillar of U.S. foreign policy after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, she recovered quickly and then made the case clearly. Tactically, she made the mistake of trying to be friendly and informal with Gibson, who assumed a superior, professorial and critical stance toward her. She would have been far better going on the attack to rattle him.

The double-standard Gibson applied to Palin, compared with the uncritical media platforms repeatedly offered to Obama, who has had zero executive experience running anything, was especially striking. ABC and Gibson focused on Palin as if she were running right now for the presidency rather than the vice presidency. He and other media pundits, by contrast, have never asked the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, if he has ever had to make a decision on anything.

Gibson's aggressive approach appeared to take Palin by surprise: He was clearly attempting to put her on point by presenting her as having extreme religious views. This again, however, appears to be a double-standard, as Palin grew up in the Assemblies of God, one of the largest Christian denominations in America with 16 million members, and is now a member of the Wasilla Bible Church. Even now, Obama has yet to receive any comparable grilling on his 20-year attendance in the congregation of the notoriously racist Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

The focus on Palin's faith and family, as well as the controversy over Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment in Virginia earlier this week, confirmed the swift demise of civility in the 2008 presidential campaign. This is especially ironic, as both Obama and his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, owed their victories over Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York in the Democratic primary race and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the GOP one to their perceived inclusive tolerance, uplift and vision compared with their main opponents.

In the long sweep of U.S. political history, the worst dirt that has been thrown at either of the presidential candidates pales compared with the claims that Thomas Jefferson had fathered a child by a black slave in the 1800 campaign -- the newspaper editor who published the accusations eventually was found dead floating in a canal -- or the false claims by Republicans in the 1944 campaign that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was senile. FDR by that point was indeed a dying man, though he did not know it, but he was mentally as sharp as ever.

The context of the increasingly desperate -- and ugly -- attacks on Palin and her alleged lack of experience is that the Obama bandwagon, which swept all before it from the Iowa caucuses through the end of June, is now stalling badly and, even more worrying for the Democrats, the malaise may be spreading to the congressional races.

The latest USA Today/Gallup poll has the Democrats only 3 points up on the Republicans on the question of which party people would vote for today in their congressional district.

Indeed, the Obama campaign is now saying it is ready to take the gloves off against McCain. They rolled out a new ad Friday mocking McCain as out of touch and old-fashioned, even though it was McCain who picked a young woman as a running mate while Obama opted for an old white guy who's been sitting in the Senate for 36 years. With more than 50 days still to go until the actual election, it appears dangerously early in the campaign for the Obama camp to go negative, especially as so much of his appeal has been based on rising above the old negatives to begin with. Isn't it early in the campaign to resort to that? Is it a sign of panic?

Whatever her inexperience and other shortcomings, Palin did not fall into that trap in her ABC interview. At no point did she appear fearful or threatening. Gibson's aggressive questioning on her religion and her son's coming military service in Iraq, by contrast, runs the risks for the Democrats of strengthening support for Palin among working-class, married women, especially those with husbands or sons serving in the military.

The pattern of previous presidential election interviews and debates has always been that individuals who come across as intellectually superior, arrogant and condescending forfeit support that goes to their perceived victims. This dynamic played a crucial role in propelling George W. Bush into the White House eight years ago. It remains to be seen if Gibson's perceived arrogance and condescension will give Palin another boost. It certainly didn't help the Democrats that ABC's chief political correspondent, Stephanopoulos, who had rushed to Obama's aid only four days before, was wheeled on to discuss her interview with Gibson as soon as it was concluded.

Liberal Democrats predictably will cite the interview as evidence that Palin is not prepared for the vice presidency. Republicans will equally predictably cite it as evidence that she is. How centrist voters will react to it remains to be seen. One thing is clear: This isn't a transformational election on either side. Whoever wins, the ugly old cultural and political divisions in America remain -- and they are deeper than ever.

http://www.upi.com/news/issueoftheday/2008/09/12/ABCs_Gibson_grilled_Palin_hard_but_it_may_backfire/UPI-81241221234472/

Michael Tee

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2008, 10:37:21 AM »
<<In the long sweep of U.S. political history, the worst dirt that has been thrown at either of the presidential candidates pales compared with the claims that Thomas Jefferson had fathered a child by a black slave . . . -- or the false claims by Republicans in the 1944 campaign that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was senile. >>     

Swift-boating a decorated and wounded vet was just a spirited exchange of ideas and spreading rumors that Obama is a Muslim and was not born in the U.S.A. is political dialogue at its purest.

Amianthus

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2008, 10:42:49 AM »
Swift-boating a decorated and wounded vet was just a spirited exchange of ideas and spreading rumors that Obama is a Muslim and was not born in the U.S.A. is political dialogue at its purest.

Swift-boating a decorated, wounded, and tortured vet was just a spirited exchange of ideas and spreading rumors that McCain was not born in the U.S.A. is political dialogue at its purest.
Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight. (Benjamin Franklin)

Michael Tee

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2008, 10:43:58 AM »
"tortured" my ass!

Amianthus

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2008, 10:47:24 AM »
"tortured" my ass!

Thank you for demonstrating.
Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight. (Benjamin Franklin)

sirs

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2008, 11:10:47 AM »
I caught wind of a Gibson interview with Obama.  Powder puff question after poweder puff question.  Not ONE question of if he really felt ready to be president, or experienced enough to be president.  No badgering him on any answers Gibson didn't agree with.  No "testing him" on the definition of any doctrine.  It alsmost could have been assessed as 1 big Obama ad, with the only thing missing was his "I'm Barak Obama, and I approve of this message", at the end of the interview.  Edwards & Hillary apparently had similar softball settings with Gibson

You know, I have no problem when a "reporter/journalist" tries to ask tough questions of a politician.  Tim Russert was a master.  I do have a problem when that said journalist has 2 different sets of questions to ask.  1 set for Republicans/Conservatives, and another set for Democrats/Lierals.  It's no wonder the electorate polling indicates an accurate conclusion of the MSM's bias for Obama, and literal effort to help get him elected
"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal." -- Aristotle

BT

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2008, 12:44:43 PM »
CBSNews.com: Your former colleague Howard Wolfson argued that you all unintentionally paved the way for Palin by exposing some of the unfair media coverage that Hillary Clinton received. And, therefore, a lot of the media may now be treating Sarah Palin with kid gloves. Do you agree with that?

Mark Penn: Well, no, I think the people themselves saw unfair media coverage of Senator Clinton. I think if you go back, the polls reflected very clearly what "Saturday Night Live" crystallized in one of their mock debates about what was happening with the press.

I think here the media is on very dangerous ground. I think that when you see them going through every single expense report that Governor Palin ever filed, if they don't do that for all four of the candidates, they're on very dangerous ground. I think the media so far has been the biggest loser in this race. And they continue to have growing credibility problems.

And I think that that's a real problem growing out of this election. The media now, all of the media ? not just Fox News, that was perceived as highly partisan ? but all of the media is now being viewed as partisan in one way or another. And that is an unfortunate development.

CBSNews.com: So you think the media is being uniquely tough on Palin now?

Mark Penn: Well, I think that the media is doing the kinds of stories on Palin that they're not doing on the other candidates. And that's going to subject them to people concluding that they're giving her a tougher time. Now, the media defense would be, "Yeah, we looked at these other candidates who have been in public life at an earlier time."

What happened here very clearly is that the controversy over Palin led to 37 million Americans tuning into a vice-presidential speech, something that is unprecedented, because they wanted to see for themselves. This is an election in which the voters are going to decide for themselves. The media has lost credibility with them.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/11/politics/politicalplayers/main4442492.shtml

sirs

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #7 on: September 13, 2008, 05:20:25 PM »
CBSNews.com: So you think the media is being uniquely tough on Palin now?

Mark Penn: Well, I think that the media is doing the kinds of stories on Palin that they're not doing on the other candidates. And that's going to subject them to people concluding that they're giving her a tougher time. Now, the media defense would be, "Yeah, we looked at these other candidates who have been in public life at an earlier time."

What happened here very clearly is that the controversy over Palin led to 37 million Americans tuning into a vice-presidential speech, something that is unprecedented, because they wanted to see for themselves. This is an election in which the voters are going to decide for themselves. The media has lost credibility with them
.

No Truer Words
"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal." -- Aristotle

Xavier_Onassis

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2008, 07:50:45 AM »
McCain was not born in the US.

To visit his birthplace, he would require a visa.

To return from his birthplace, he would need a passport.


I defy you to refute this.
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana."

Amianthus

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #9 on: September 14, 2008, 08:42:31 AM »
I defy you to refute this.

He was born at the Coco Solo Naval Air Station, which at the time was legally part of the US. Just because we later returned the land to Panama does not mean that at the time he was born he was not on a part of US soil.
Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight. (Benjamin Franklin)

Christians4LessGvt

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #10 on: September 14, 2008, 12:48:30 PM »




"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" - Ronald Reagan - June 12, 1987

Michael Tee

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #11 on: September 14, 2008, 01:30:57 PM »
<<He was born at the Coco Solo Naval Air Station, which at the time was legally part of the US. >>

Legally how?  Was it ceded by Panama or just leased from Panama?  Probably leased, and if leased, did the terms of the lease say anything about sovereignty over the land leased?

They (the Dems) may have something here.  If they continue to pursue the same kind of half-assed limp-wristed campaign they've been conducting so far, that's probably ANOTHER opportunity they're going to let slip right through their fingers.

Amianthus

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #12 on: September 14, 2008, 01:47:10 PM »
Legally how?  Was it ceded by Panama or just leased from Panama?  Probably leased, and if leased, did the terms of the lease say anything about sovereignty over the land leased?

It was a US Territory. The entire Panama Canal Zone.

They (the Dems) may have something here.

Yeah, they need to keep pushing this issue. Will make them look smart.
Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight. (Benjamin Franklin)

sirs

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #13 on: September 14, 2008, 03:03:34 PM »
<<He was born at the Coco Solo Naval Air Station, which at the time was legally part of the US. >>

They (the Dems) may have something here. 

LOL.....and what the hell do they "have", that is so relevent and pertinent to the Presidential race?
"The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal." -- Aristotle

Xavier_Onassis

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Re: ABC's Gibson grilled Palin hard, but it may backfire
« Reply #14 on: September 14, 2008, 04:29:01 PM »
There has already been a ruling as to McCain's being born in the CZ, so this is not worth disputing with regard to his legal eligibility.

But it is also true that he would need a US passport and a visa to visit the place of his birth, which is simply an interesting fact.
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana."