Palin: Now Afraid to Be in the Same ROOM as a Reporter?

(AP Photo / Henny Ray Abrams)

Remember what I wrote last week about the McCain campaign pulling back the curtain and finally allowing the press and the public to interact, however fleetingly, with its long-sequestered vice-presidential nominee?

Um, nevermind. 

Knowing that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is currently visiting Manhattan, Father of Stumper asked this morning whether I'd be "hanging out" with the Mooseburger Queen of Wasilla. As we speak, she's over at the United Nations General Assembly shindig meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in an attempt to establish international insta-cred. I told him no. The sessions are closed to the public, I said, and I'm not planning on joining her press pool.

Turns out it wouldn't have mattered if I did. Originally, the McCain campaign indicated that two editorial journalists--Elizabeth Holmes of the Wall Street Journal and CNN embed Peter Hamby--would be allowed to attend the so-called “pool sprays” before Palin’s conclaves, which are basically "glorified photo opportunities during which journalists can snap photos and film footage and–if they’re lucky–shout a question or two at Palin and her company before she adjourns for private meetings," as Ken Vogel writes over at Politico. But an hour before the events, the McCain campaign decided to bar both Holmes and Hamby, claiming that the sprays were appropriate only for photographers and videographers because "there were not going to be questions or statements." That's one way to put it. The other? That the campaign would benefit from free pictures of Palin huddling with world leaders without exposing her to the possibility of having to hear--not even answer, but hear--a question from a real journalist.

Ultimately, Team McCain allowed CNN to cover the spray for all of 29 seconds--but only after the cable channel refused to send its cameras. Without CNN in the room, none of the networks would've received video footage, so the McCain campaign had to relent. Otherwise, it would've faced a total TV blackout. As for Holmes, she was out of luck--as was the print pool relying on her report.

I get that Team McCain wants to "protect" Palin from the press. But this is getting ridiculous. Last week, I interpreted Palin's off-the-cuff decision as she was entering a Cleveland diner to respond to a CBS reporter's request for comment on the AIG bailout--her first answer to an impromptu question from the national press since joining the ticket last month--as a sign that McCain's running mate might be opening up. Instead, it seems to have marked the start of a new effort to stifle ALL editorial coverage of the candidate. As the CBS embed reports today, a Palin staffer told him that questions “weren’t allowed” after he had the temerity to approach Palin in Cleveland, and the campaign chose not to notify the pool reporter assigned to be in Palin's motorcade when the candidate departed Sunday for a scheduled stop at an Orlando ice-cream parlor--meaning that "there was no editorial presence at the event."

It's one thing to refuse interview requests, ignore questions, choose rallies over town halls and not even entertain the possibility of press conferences. That's how Palin has managed to interact with only one nonpartisan journalist and one group of voters in her four weeks as a potential vice president. (In contrast, Joe Biden has done more than 80 interviews with local and national media since the Democrats held their national convention late last month.) But it's another thing altogether to systematically avoid situations where a question might even be posed, which is what the McCain camp is doing now. The former is a strategy--an undemocratic strategy, but a strategy all the same--designed to limit the risk of gaffes. The latter is pure, irrational fear.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The media-bashing masses may squeal with vindictive delight. Still, it's worth noting that the political press corps--as despised as it might be, often fairly--is actually important here. Thanks to Palin's relatively skimpy resume, the greatest test of her readiness for office--as it was for the comparably green Obama--will be how well she performs in the campaign pressure-cooker. There's no better measure of her character and convictions than dueling with press and the public on a regular basis. Palin's rise has been remarkable. But until she answers some tough, fair questions, we won't know whether it's prepared her for high office.

So here's hoping we find out before Nov. 4 whether Crystal City's fear is justified. After that it'll be too late.

UPDATE. 4:50 p.m.: Via Jonathan Martin: "Campaign aides, calculating the cost/benefit analysis of such extreme measures, have now decided to allow print reporters into Palin's subsequent meetings this afternoon." He also has Hamby's pool report on Karzai and Holmes' dispatch on Kissinger, if you're interested. As you can see--no questions--the McCain camp was being pretty paranoid. I mean, I know reporters are somewhat disheveled-looking, but really...