Political Quote of the Day

Brit Hume's response to a question from Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace, asking what the reaction will be if Sarah Palin doesn't soon start doing interviews with Washington journalists:

Hume (paraphrased): "I don't think the voters give a fig whether Sarah Palin takes questions from the liberal media."

I suspect he's right. I'll try to get the exact quote when a transcript is available.

The more the media complains that Palin isn't being offered to them for grilling, the more they set themselves up for a situation in which their future interviews (and there will be interviews) may be deemed unfair. You just know the press is working on questions like this:

Liberal Journalist: "Tell me Governor Palin, who is the third deputy prime minister in Donkeystan, and how will his policies affect the political stability of neighboring Oxcartistan?"

You just know that's gonna happen, if not in an interview, in the Vice Presidential debate. Since Joe Biden hasn't had to actually run anything for the last 35 years, he'll probably know all those arcane answers, but Palin may not.

The blowback against that kind of journalism will be swift and fearsome. We all saw what happened when the liberal media tried to make Palin into some type of caricature in the days between the announcement and her speech and how that resulted in the most-watched political convention in history. If the press wants a McCain landslide, they should just keep making unfair and sexist attacks on Palin.

UPDATE: For all those wringing their hands that Sarah Palin isn't doing the Sunday talk shows this weekend and is "hiding" from the national media, take this:

(CNN) – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain’s surprise pick for the VP spot on the Republican ticket, has agreed to her first television interview with a national media outlet since being named as McCain’s running mate.

CNN confirms that Palin will sit down with Charles Gibson of ABC News later this week; the exact date has yet to be announced.

According to the McCain campaign, Palin will stay on the campaign trail through this Wednesday and then return home to Alaska where she will speak at a ceremony marking the deployment of her eldest son’s Army unit to Iraq on September 11. Palin’s interview with Gibson will be conducted near the end of the week.

Since the McCain campaign picked Palin as the Arizona senator’s running mate, the media has delved into her background and criticized Palin and the McCain camp for not making her more available to the media. Before Palin’s selection, she was a virtual unknown on the national political scene while one of McCain’s trademarks since mounting his first run for the White House eight years ago has been accessibility to the press.

UPDATE, 3:15 p.m.: CNN Correspondent Dana Bash has confirmed additional details about the upcoming interview: According to a McCain aide, the plan is for Gibson to have time with Palin over two days — Thursday and Friday of this coming week. The interview will be part sit-down, part walk-and-talk at various locations in Alaska.

For the record, how many national media interviews did Joe Biden do his first week as the nominee? Zero. Where are the complaints about "Hiden' Biden"?