NYT
It is well past time for Sarah Palin, Republican running mate, governor of Alaska and self-proclaimed reformer, to fill in for the voting public the gaping blanks about her record and qualifications to be vice president.
The best way to do that would be exactly what the campaign of John McCain is avoiding — an honest news conference. Instead, she has been the bell-jar candidate, barnstorming safe crowds with socko punch lines and plans for a single interview on ABC News built around a visit to Fairbanks, Alaska, and her hometown of Wasilla.
Just in time for that appearance, Ms. Palin, who was proclaiming her family’s privacy a week ago, will make a political event out of her son’s deployment to Iraq. But as for talking to reporters in general, the McCain campaign sniffishly says they must first show “some level of respect and deference.”
That is a peculiar response for someone who is campaigning as one tough, transparent politician who can take the heat. Why not some detailed questioning? With deference, we believe many questions will arise about this largely unknown politician as reporters properly search beyond the wholesome anecdotes.
Ms. Palin is positioning herself as the kind of politician who knows how to manage the people’s money. She got a big cheer from the Republican convention when Mr. McCain said she had put the Alaska governor’s private plane on eBay.
The running mates both failed to mention that it did not sell on eBay and that she unloaded it later to a businessman for a $600,000 loss. The Chicago Tribune reported that the majority of the plane’s time was used to transport prisoners from Alaska’s crowded jails to Arizona, a job now done by federal marshals.......
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