No questions, please; Palin sticks to her script

LEBANON, Ohio - John McCain took a risk in picking little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate, but now the campaign's playing it safer. She's sticking to a greatest hits version of her convention speech on the campaign trail and steering clear of questions until she's comfortable enough for a hand-picked interviewer later this week.

More than 40 million people tuned in last week to listen to the speech from Palin, the 44-year-old first-term governor whom McCain announced as his surprise vice presidential pick just days before. Since then, that basic script is all anyone has heard from her publicly, and her only interaction with the media was a brief conversation with a small group of reporters on her plane Monday - off the record at her handlers' insistence.

Associated Press reporters were not on the plane, but an aide told the journalists on board that all Palin flights would be off the record unless the media were told otherwise. At least one reporter objected. Two people on the flight said the Palins greeted the media and they chatted about who had been to Alaska, but little else was said.

By comparison, her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden, has been campaigning on his own, at times taking questions from audiences. In fact he split off to campaign separately from Barack Obama the day after Obama announced his selection. They rejoined at their party's convention and spent the following weekend campaigning together.

Biden's appearances have touched on a range of issues - in Florida he talked about U.S. support for Israel, in Pennsylvania it was economics and tax policy. He was interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press" last Sunday

Amid growing sniping from Democrats, the McCain campaign announced that Palin would sit down for her first interview this week, with ABC. It will take place over two days at her home in Alaska.

And then?

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis has said that Palin will "agree to an interview when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it."........