Is Silence Golden?

The election is just around the corner. Campaign ads monopolize the airwaves. I expected to see the news filled with candidate interviews and photo ops, but this year the McCain team has taken a quieter approach.  

They aren't talking. Really.

And reporters are getting frustrated. Reminds me of the Wizard of Oz. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."

Check out the YouTube video of frustrated reporters. Thanks for the tip from The Huffington Post.

McCain's not talking. And Sarah Palin has ruffled more than a few feathers by refusing to talk to reporters too. The campaign has restricted journalist access to her meetings and events. Makes me wonder just what is going on. At the United Nations conference, journalists threatened to boycott her events unless they're allowed more access. What is the McCain team hiding? Are they worried what she might say? Does she need more time to prepare for it? Ask any high schooler and they could tell Palin just how to cram for a test like the UN meeting.

Palin, the small-town mayor turned governor, has accomplished a great deal recently.  She seems like she would be able to handle herself just fine. All the secrecy just seems plain odd. What exactly does the McCain team think reporters would witness?

Oh yeah... She does need to brush up on her American History trivia. Shouldn't be too tough. Even my kids can do it. I think you can even quiz yourself online. (I suppose this cram session would work, that is unless you expect a VP to know more than a typical high school student. I'm thinking I have slightly higher expectations--our Prez and VP should be able to hold forth free form and discuss almost any question intelligently.)

But back to the issue at hand: Meeting foreign leaders. We all know Palin has never met a foreign head of state before. This fact didn't seem to bother her, in fact she told ABC news recently that although had never met another foreign leader, "I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer I just gave you.

Hmmm. Sure sounds believable, but it's not! In fact, Spiro Agnew (former governor of Maryland) who served as VP under Nixon (1969-1973) is the most recent VP with no experieince meeting a foreign head of state before taking office.

The McCain campaign gave in and finally agreed to let a CNN reporter in the UN meetings. And at the UN on Tuesday Palin met two foreign heads of state. 

What was all the fuss about?