Good Ol' Charlie Gibson

So, Palin’s finally going to be interviewed. I really don’t think this is going to be a winner. It obviously has to happen at some point, but I think it will extend to this interview with Gibson, a few with Fox and no further. Palin’s going to do fine taking on Gibson’s cowed, softball questions and she’ll be fantastic taking on Fox’s fat, slow lobs over home plate. She’s photogenic and she can read a speech someone else has written for her or questions she’s been coached on extensively. It’s not like we’re going to have Helen Thomas sitting on the loveseat of Sarah Palin's living room in Alaska to ask the follow-ups that Gibson will leave hanging.

I agree with Josh Marshall here:

Political interviews are never done like this. Because it makes the questioning entirely at the discretion of the person being interviewed and their handlers. The interviewer has to be on their best behavior, at least until the last of the 'multiple interviews' because otherwise the subsequent sittings just won't happen. For a political journalist to agree to such terms amounts to a form of self-gelding. The only interviews that are done this way are lifestyle and celebrity interviews. And it's pretty clear that that is what this will be.

How hardball can you be when you’re in somebody’s house? I mean, if she doesn’t want to answer a question, she can simply throw them out. ABC has already conceded before the game even starts – and now the McCain campaign can say Palin has already talked to the media. Even though I understand why it happened (corporate media willing to beggar any journalistic integrity for ratings bonanza), it is still as sad sight to watch unfold.