Palin Press Pass

It is now day 24 since John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate and she has given only two interviews (one of which revealed her lack of knowledge of basic foreign policy matters while the other was a partisan softball fest conducted by an anti-intellectual hack) and zero press conferences. This kind of press blackout by a presidential campaign is completely unprecedented in modern America and should be a major concern even for those who support her; if she's really that great of a candidate and is so qualified to be in line for the job of most powerful person on the planet, the McCain campaign should be clamoring for her to appear on every media outlet they can get. And then of course there's this gem:

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.

That's right, they insisted that the format of the debate be changed because they were afraid that it would be too hard for her to handle otherwise. I guess what really boggles my mind about the choice of Palin as a running mate is not McCain's irresponsibility in choosing her or her complete lack of substantive qualifications so much as the fact that millions of Republicans love her and are genuinely excited that she's a part of their ticket. I mean, I understand drinking the party's Kool-Aid and all but are that many Americans really this fucking dumb? Really!?