Dad Tries to Get Mrs. Couric to Change Sarah’s Grade.

It happened again. This time Katie Couric managed not only to make Sarah Palin look bad, but John McCain look worse! What was her diabolical secret? She used that secret weapon – asking questions. In this one-on-two interview, John McCain showed up to sit with Sarah to make sure she didn’t screw up too badly, and tried to keep that big bad journalist on a short leash. Saturday night in Philadelphia, Palin was questioned by a Temple graduate student about whether the U.S. military should cross the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan. She answered, “If that’s what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should,” Palin said.

That was the subject of Katie Couric’s first question. Palin basically repeated what Barack Obama had said during the Presidential debate, when John McCain scoffed at him and patronizingly admonished him by saying, “You don’t say that out loud.” (subtext: you naive little idiot!)

McCain, in this joint interview, is obviously under stress. He squirms and blinks. You look at him and listen to the tone of his voice, and you know he’s a man on edge. He’s a pressure cooker who’s keeping the lid on with all his might. Palin, comes across as cool and confident (except for that nervous lip lick she does, and the occasional clenched jaw), but with Palin, it’s the transcript that is fascinating. You really have to read the “blizzard of words” to fully appreciate the extent to which she isn’t saying anything.KC: Over the weekend, Governor Palin, you said the US should “absolutely” launch cross-border attacks from Afghanistan to Pakistan to “stop the terrorists from coming any further in” now that’s almost the exact position that Barack Obama has taken and you, Senator McCain, have criticizes as something you do not say out loud. So, Governor Palin, are you two on the same page on this?SP: We had a great discussion with President Zardari as we talked about what it is that America can and should be doing together, to make sure that the terrorists do not cross borders, and do not ultimately put themselves in the position of attacking America again, or her allies. And we will do what we have to do to secure the United States of America and her allies. KC: Is that something you shouldn’t say out loud Senator McCain?JM: Of course not. But look, I understand this day and age “gotcha journalism”. Was that a pizza place? 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. Uh, Governor Palin and I agree you don’t announce that you’re going to attack another country.KC: Are you sorry you said it, Governor?JM: Now wait a minute! Before you say is she sorry she said it, this was a gotcha sound bite.

KC: It wasn’t a gotcha. She was talking to a voter.

JM: She was in a conversation. She was in a conversation with a group of people, and talking back and forth…and I…I don’t…I’ll let Governor Palin speak for herself.

SP: In fact you’re absolutely right on. In the context, this was a voter…a constituents hollerin’ out a question from across an area asking, “What are you gonna do about Pakistan? You better have an answer to Pakistan.” I said, “We’re going to do what we have to do to protect the United States of America.”

KC: You were pretty specific about what you wanted to do – cross border…

SP: (interrupting) As Senator McCain is suggesting here also, never would our administration get out there and show our cards to, uh, terrorists, in this case to enemies, and let them know what the game plan was, not when that could ultimately adversely affect a plan to keep America secure.

KC: What did you learn from that experience?

SP: That this IS all about gotcha journalism. A lot of it is! But that’s OK too.

KC: Governor Palin, since our last interview, you’ve gotten a lot of flack. Some Republicans have said you’re not prepared, you’re not ready for prime time. People have questioned your readiness since that interview, and I’m curious to hear your reaction.

SP: Well, not only am I ready, but willing and able to serve as Vice President with Senator McCain if Americans so bless us and privilege us with the opportunity of serving them. Ready with my executive experience as a city mayor and manager, as a governor, as a commissioner, a regulator of oil and gas.

JM: This is not the first time I’ve seen a governor questioned by some…quote “expert.” I remember that Ronald Reagan was a cowboy. President Clinton was the governor of a very small state that had no experience either. I remember how easy it was going to be for Bush 1 to defeat him. I still recall…whoops…that one. But the point is uh, I’ve seen uh, underestimation before. I’m very proud of the excitement that Gov. Palin has ignited with our party around this country. It is a level of excitement and enthusiasm frankly that I’ haven’t seen before and I’d like to attribute it to me, but the fact is that she has done an incredible job and I’m so proud of the work that she’s doing.

Now, I’m not the one who brought up Bill Clinton, and I wouldn’t have if I were John McCain. BUT….since he did, I thought it would be fun to look at this other governor of a “very small state that had no experience either.” First of all, notice that McCain said “either,” so he is pretty much admitting that Palin has no experience. But lets compare “very small states.”

Alaska: population 626,932. 1.1 people per square mile. Borders a whole lot of empty space in Canada.

Arkansas: population 2,673,400. 51.1 people per square mile. Borders six states.

So John McCain is comparing these two states to justify Palin’s abilities. Arkansas has almost 5 times the population, and 50 times the population density than Alaska. And it has neighbors.

But we won’t quibble. This isn’t a “who’s the smallest” contest. Let’s get to the real meat of McCain’s argument. Let’s compare Bill Clinton’s no experience, with Palin’s “no experience either.”

Clinton: After attending Georgetown on scholarships, he received a B.S. in Foreign Service. After graduation he received a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford where he studied government. He attended and graduated Yale Law School. He was a professor at the University of Arkansas. He was the Attorney General of the State of Arkansas. He was the governor of Arkansas for 10 years. He was the Chair of the National Governor’s Association. He also worked on state and national campaigns.

Palin: One semester at Hawaii Pacific University, two semesters at North Idaho College as a general studies major, two semesters at the University of Idaho, one semester at the Matanuska-Susitna College in Alaska, and three semesters at the Univeristy of Idaho, graduating with a B.S. in communications-journalism. She worked briefly as a sportscaster for an Alaskan TV station and as a sportswriter for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman newspaper. She spent several years as a homemaker, and four years on the Wasilla city council. She served two terms as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (pop. 7000), and twenty months as Governor of the aforementioned state with a little over half a million people in it.

So McCain’s argument is that if Bill Clinton could be a successful president, than surely Sarah Palin could. At least that’s what he’s trying to convince the teacher in this weirdly awkward parent-teacher converence. We all know that Sarah’s been trying really hared, but somehow I don’t think Mrs. Couric is going to change her grade.

To watch the clip from the interview, click HERE.

McCain-Palin – How Low Will They Go?

With every day bringing new cringe-worthy gaffes, inadequacies, and (R)evelations (Biblical and otherwise), the McCain campaign is getting desperate. They’ve tried just about everything to postpone, or lessen the carnage of the looming bloodbath that will be the Vice Presidential debate this Thursday night.Plan A – Change the rules of the debate. Give the candidates less time to talk, and less time to talk TO each other. If Palin has 25% less time to talk, she will embarrass herself and her party…..25% less. That’s the theory anyway. Plan A has been implemented.Plan B – Economic meltdown. Play it so that John McCain is “the only one” who can solve the crisis, and suspend the campaign so he can. Push for the Presidential debate to be moved forward to take the place of…..wait for it…..the Vice Presidential debate! This allows for the VP debate to be postponed indefinitely! It’s so crazy, it just might work… Except it didn’t. Barack Obama called McCain’s bluff, showed for the debate and forced McCain to participate or risk being upstaged by a nationally televised Obama Town Hall meeting. (McCain campaign lifting collective fist to the sky…”Noooooooo!”)Plan C – While looking for another way to stall the debate, giving Palin more time to memorize those index cards of talking points, create a diversion for the press. Because right now, the press is not a friend to the McCain campaign. The Couric interview was an epic disaster. Obama won the first Presidential debate, according to most Americans. McCain is looking dangerously physically run-down. Even Alaskans have had it with their governor, and were out in droves Saturday, protesting the stonewalling of her ethics investigation. Op-ed pieces from the left and from the right have been unflattering to say the least. Hmmm….how to divert all this negative press coverage….*lightbulb*

In an election campaign notable for its surprises, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice- presidential candidate, may be about to spring a new one — the wedding of her pregnant teenage daughter to her ice-hockey-playing fiancé before the November 4 election.

Inside John McCain’s campaign the expectation is growing that there will be a popularity boosting pre-election wedding in Alaska between Bristol Palin, 17, and Levi Johnston, 18, her schoolmate and father of her baby. “It would be fantastic,” said a McCain insider. “You would have every TV camera there. The entire country would be watching. It would shut down the race for a week.”

Because, as we all know, that’s the definition of a “fantastic” wedding.

Awwww…..Don’t they just look so in love….freaked out and miserable? And there’s something about a tattooed engagement ring…

So, if Plan C is indeed a shotgun wedding, what does this mean? Will the press, as the McCain campaign hopes, make this the Alaskan hillbilly version of the Prince Charles/Lady Diana nuptials? Will they have to suspend the campaign so the parents of the bride can participate? Will that shotgun fit under Todd’s tuxedo without looking conspicuous?

But more importantly, if the press does turn its lascivious, million-eyed focus on the young lovers, will this actually be a good thing for McCain and Palin? Or, will the nation have its head held, and be forced to watch as these two young people, who never asked for this kind of attention, become a sideshow attraction as they are paraded in front of cameras, and become political pawns in a chess game they don’t want to play? This plan may backfire.

How does the proud papa-to-be, Levi Johnston, feel about the situation?

The ice-hockey player wrote on his MySpace page he was a “f***ing redneck” and stated, “I don’t want kids.” But a McCain insider predicted he would marry Bristol whenever his future mother-in-law wanted. “It’s a shotgun wedding. She kills things,” the source joked.

Ha ha. Let the marital bliss begin.

Although several sources are already reporting on this, no one has speculated yet about where this wedding might take place. We all recall how Sarah, wile pregnant and in labor with her infant son Trig, admitted that she hopped two commercial airline flights, and bypassed hospitals in Dallas, Seattle, and even in Anchorage, so she could deliver the high-risk baby in her home town of Wasilla, Alaska. “First Dude” Todd Palin explained jeapordizing his wife and unborn child’s safety by stating, “You can’t have a fish-picker from Texas.”

So where do we suppose the wedding will be? Todd? Can you have a shotgun wedding in D.C.? Can we Alaskans expect yet another media circus for the “Bristol ‘n Levi” wedding? Join me as we spiral our way down into further depths of the painfully tacky, brutally opportunistic, Machiavellian nausea that is the McCain campaign.

*h/t to Crooks and Liars for the photo.