It Is The Journalists Who Have Failed

If the truth is that Palin is a powerhouse and a political star, then any interviewer who fails to bring this out is the one who is incompetent, completely failing to coever the story.

American Spectator:

Palin did well in last night's debate. It is because of three things. One is that the scrutiny of moderator Gwen Ifill's ethics forced her to blunt any harder questions. I'd be curious to see what got scrapped. Two is that Joe Biden had to be careful what he said to a woman. He handled that well. Third is most important: expectations were low, thanks to a condescending Charlie Gibson interview, and most definitely thanks to a condescending Katie Couric interview. This last is most interesting, because it points to a larger failure of Couric and other reporters to "get the story." So Katie Couric deserves gratitude for allowing her own airs to win a debate for the GOP.

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NOW, DEBATES don't decide anything, especially the vice presidential debate. They're not even real debates. From the first primary debate onward, these spectacles have only been opportunities for candidates to expand on the slogans they bandy about on the campaign trail. Strangely, these may well be a better method of getting to know candidates than sit-down interviews with candidates. I have in mind Katie Couric's interview which has been hailed by both sides as an embarrassment for Palin. That could be true, but the debate performance makes me only think that it was more a failure of Couric.

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I'm no big fan of Katie Couric (see my article of one year ago, "Katie Couric At One Year; Somebody Fire Her" for a nuanced perspective), but I'm especially not a fan when I see someone who has an upside-down journalistic sensibility. You're supposed to question authority and get an understanding of the common life. A side by side comparison of these interviews shows quite a bit of respect for authority, and a bucket of contempt for common life.

One could not glean from the questions Couric offers that she has any sense of perspective. Citizen-politicians' stock in trade is more character and aptitude than expertise and political clout. Couric's used to establishment types. But they're different animals that should be handled differently, just as it would be strange to ask a man what it's like to be a woman.

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It's puzzling to see, however, that the moment a person does walk onto the stage with that genuine, down-to-earth flair, she's dismissed as gimmicky and stupid. This is probably because those speaking to her haven't really tried to talk to someone like her in years. Katie Couric, who is a sort of common fun girly-girl caught up in this thing called a news show, reveals that sensibility when she shrinks from every opportunity to challenge Joe Biden.

When you interview such a person, obviously you don't do so with a feather duster for a microphone. But if you're really after the measure of the man (so to speak), you don't look to nail her on foreign policy stuff that no reasonable person would expect her to know as an Alaskan governor. Would you do that with Bill Clinton in 1992? Would you flunk him if he didn't have as firm a grasp? One looking for a better sense would ask about past experiences, and allow the audience to glean from the candidate's past judgment what that candidate might do in the future. Interviews have become an absurd exercise in careerist gotcha moments -- they serve more of a political purpose than they do give voters an opportunity to flesh out the views of a candidate.

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That would be silly, of course, because as it is, she's barely qualified to be the anchor on CBS. Heck, look at this:

[Youtube video]

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the dispatch from Iraq of a person following in the footsteps of Walter Cronkite. Say what you will about that man's objectivity, but I'll understand if you weep softly.

The facts themselves show that Governor Palin has acquired a certain amount of experience that rises to a level a touch higher than host of a morning talk show. To wake up in the morning and pursue an agenda that involves the business of the largest state in the United States is something worth talking about. Oddly, it didn't really come up in that interview. Maybe it's on the cutting room floor.

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Whatever it is, I'll have a hard time buying the line that Palin's a disaster until someone qualified enough to interview her does so. Last night's debate showed that McCain made a solid choice, one who shares a characteristic of his. She's at her most interesting when she's in a fight.