Can Dick Polman Interview Palin?

For those of your unfamiliar with his work, I encourage you to check out Dick Polman, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and one of the sharpest political writers in America today. On Monday, Polman wrote nine detailed and outstanding questions that he would ask Sarah Palin if given the chance. I strongly encourage that you take a look at them: they are precisely they type of things Palin should be asked, that is, if she is ever truly made available to the media (something I am not anticipating).

Alas, Dick Polman is not interviewing Sarah Palin this week, but rather that "honor" went to ABC News anchor Charles Gibson. While I have nothing against Gibson personally, though I think he is a pretty bland and unspectacular newsman, I would be floored if he gave Palin a tough interview. I am fully expecting a cupcake session with Palin when the interview ultimately airs.

Here too, I see a win-win for McCain-Palin. If she can compose herself enough to regurgitate the absurdly general stock-line answers that her handlers have hammered into her brain in intense "training sessions" like desperate law students studying for the bar exams -- assuredly gems like "America has no greater friend in the Middle East than Israel," and "we will not tolerate Iran getting its hands on a nuclear weapon" and "Russia's actions in Georgia are unacceptable -- and therefore appear sharp and knowledgeable, it will be a win. Palin will again by the victor via the avenue of floor-low expectations. And if she messes up on a hard question, rest assured that within 15 minutes of the interview airing, Gibson and ABC will be savagely assailed by Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt as liberal agents of the un-American Obama campaign. Win-win!

With the media seemly cowed into only reporting sweet stories about Palin, something tells me that Gibson is not going to be that tough. Maybe I'm wrong, and if so, I will readily acknowledge my mistake. I hope I am incorrect.

You know, I was just thinking today: how good would it be if Tim Russert were still around? No doubt, I miss the guy as he was one of a kind. More importantly, there was a newsman who would ask tough questions and not be terrified of being attacked by second rate campaign staffers. Sadly, something tells me that if Tim invited Palin onto Meet the Press, she would never appear (for obvious reasons).