News today is dominated by the financial bailout talks in Washington and John McCain's hamfisted attempt to hijack them for political gain in the run up to  his debate tonight with Barack Obama. Nonetheless, negative commentary abounds also on Sarah Palin's interview Wednesday and Thursday with Katie Couric of CBS. Excerpts from Palin's interview with Couric that didn't go so well for her include the following:

*Palin's inability to recall even a single example of McCain's "maverick reform efforts" from his 26 years in the US Senate: "I'll try to find ya some and I'll bring them to ya."

*A repeat of her claim that Alaska's proximity to Russia should be counted as foreign affairs experience, combined with the highly provocative suggestion that Russia represents a direct military threat to the United States: "...As Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where, where do they go? It's Alaska...." (In fact, the shortest route from Moscow to anywhere in the continental US is over the Atlantic, and in any case Putin would have nothing to gain by directly threatening or provoking the US).

*A call for an impossible "surge" in Afghanistan: Defense officials including Secretary Gates have made it clear that as long as current troop levels remain in Iraq no such "surge" is possible for Afghanistan.

*Following her meeting with Henry Kissinger in New York, an insistence that direct, unconditional talks with Iran would be "naive" in obvious ignorance of the fact that Kissinger himself has advocated such talks.

*Evasion on McCain campaign manager Rick Davis' relationship with Freddie Mac, mouthing the same McCain talking points on Davis that have already been discredited.

*A suggestion that Barack Obama turns as political winds blow, licking her finger and dismissively sticking it in the air, that was simply tacky (and I mean trailer-park tacky).

Palin's performance with Couric is being panned by conservative as well as liberal commentators, who appear to agree that this was worse than her previous interview with Charlie Gibson: unprepared, incoherent, and utterly lacking in specifics. Palin should "bow out" of the race, conservative columnist Kathleen Parker argues at the National Review: "Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there." Conservative blogger Rod Dreher writes of Palin: "She makes George W. Bush sound like Cicero." Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that "Sarah Palin is a bad joke." Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times writes that Palin's remarks seem "like an outboard motor loosened from the stern."

Meanwhile, John McCain's role in the bailout flap is being seen by many as disruptive and even damaging. Democrats have pounced on McCain for charging into Washington as he did, assuming the role of savior while doing little to save anything but his own flagging campaign. Many in the press, likewise, hold McCain responsible for stalling a deal on the bailout that was well on its way to being done: ABC News suggests the "Pottery Barn Rule" applies to McCain on his role in the stalled bailout deal: "You broke it, you own it." E.J. Dionne writes in The New Republic that "McCain's boisterous intervention - and particularly his grandstanding on the debate - was less a presidential act than the tactical ploy of a man worried that his chances of becoming president might be slipping away."

Like his selection of Sarah Palin as vice-presidential running mate, McCain's actions in the bailout talks appear to be just one more silly political stunt that, ultimately, may cost far more more than it benefits him. 

Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com

Since Sarah Palin's pick as John McCain's vice-presidential running mate, details of her years as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, have included revelations that under her watch the town charged women for rape exams. This story was given a new pair of wings today by a written report and video at CNN confirming that when Palin was mayor Wasilla did indeed cling stubbornly to the practice of charging for rape exams, even in the face of state efforts to halt the practice.

As CNN reports, former state representative Eric Croft sponsored a state law requiring cities to provide free rape exams to victims. Croft told CNN that the only ongoing resistance he met was from Wasilla, where Palin was mayor from 1996 to 2002. "It was one of those things everyone could agree on except Wasilla...," Croft told CNN, "...We couldn't convince the chief of police to stop charging them."  While some of Palin's supporters say they believe she had no knowledge of the practice, critics call the suggestion "outrageous" and question Palin's commitment to helping women who are victims of violence. As Croft told CNN, "I find it hard to believe that for six months a small town, a police chief, would lead the fight against a statewide piece of legislation receiving unanimous support and the mayor not know about it."

Forensic nurse Tara Henry confirmed Croft's comments on Wasilla's intransigence in the matter of rape exams, telling CNN that while several local law enforcement agencies expressed difficulty paying for the exams, Wasilla was the most vocal in its opposition to paying. Charging victims for exams "retraumatizes them," according to Henry: "Asking them to pay for something law enforcement needs in order to investigate their case, it's almost like blaming them for getting sexually assaulted."

With a rape rate 2.5 times the national average, as CNN observes, Alaska has the worst record of any state in rape and murder of women by men.

American women and all Americans should know about Palin's history of opposing fair treatment for rape victims.

While presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain will thrice face a no-holds-barred debate format for adults, Republicans have insisted on and won a far more tightly-controlled format for the single vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. In effect - and over objections from the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which sponsors the events - the Republicans have demanded and won a lightweight debate format for Palin in hopes of protecting her from being directly challenged by her opponent, as the New York Times observes:

At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.... McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive.... The wrangling was chiefly between the McCain-Palin camp and the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which is sponsoring the forums.... Commission members wanted a relaxed format that included time for unpredictable questioning and challenges between the two vice-presidential candidates. On Wednesday, the commission unanimously rejected a proposal sought by advisers to Ms. Palin and Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee, to have the moderator ask questions and the candidates answer, with no time for unfettered exchanges. Advisers to Mr. Biden say they were comfortable with either format

The Oct. 2 vice-presidential debate will be moderated by Gwen Ifill of PBS, a fact which should make for a tougher, more substantive, and more penetrating debate than what we might expect with moderators from commercial cable or network news. Nonetheless, the GOP should not get a pass on this sad attempt to protect Palin from precisely the kind of direct challenge these debates are supposed to be. Expressions of concern or protest may be addressed to CPD director Janet Brown (jb@debates.org), to Gwen Ifill via Washington Week in Review and/or Newshour, and to PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler.