# Ladies & gentlemen, your future vice president! (Palin interview by Katie Couric) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 25, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174 "2008-09-25T17:05:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/41 "2008-09-25T20:05:13Z")
And this just in… [http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/25/palin-near-russia/](http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/25/palin-near-russia/) (Tighty righty advisory! Lefty site! Proceed "Shields Up’ and with maximum cooty protocols! You have been warned!) > [@](#): > > During the second half of her interview with Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), Katie Couric gave Palin a chance to defend her previous claims that Alaska’s proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience. Palin lamented the fact that the press had “mocked” the notion, adding, “Our next door neighbors are foreign countries — they’re in the state that I am the executive of.” … Video clip available at site. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/42 "2008-09-25T20:05:34Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > If it’s not clear, in the cited case I don’t have any particular reason to think that **Stephe96** might be stupid, just poorly informed. Or deliberately disingenuous. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/43 "2008-09-25T20:23:45Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > I’m simply providing examples of Biden’s stupidity. Your concern is touching. Here, let me show you on the doll where it touches me. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/44 "2008-09-25T20:27:52Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Since this is GD, Stephe96, I offer the following link in a warm gesture of kind assistance: > > [definition of Tu quoque fallacy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_quoque) As I understand tu quoque, Stephe96 would have to be trying defend Palin from accusastions of stupidity, not by providing examples of her intelligence, but by showing examples of Biden’s stupidity instead, turning the attack to Biden. But that is not what Stephe96 did. The OP asked if anyone ever looked worse in a shorter amount of time than Palin, and Stephe96 simply provided examples to show that Biden has looked worse. In other words, the line of question, if you will, didn’t go, “Sarah Palin looks horrible as a VP candidate.” “You thing she looks bad, here’s all the ridiculous and stupid things Biden has done”. But like this: “Sarah Palin looks horrible as a VP candidate. Has anyone ever looked worse?” “Yes, Biden has looked worse, and here’s how: …” Please explain my misunderstanding. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/45 "2008-09-25T20:28:48Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Your concern is touching. Here, let me show you on the doll where it touches me. [/QUOTE] Did you learn that in kindergarten? Did that nasty Mr Obama teach you that? He’s not a nice man, stay away from him. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/46 "2008-09-25T20:32:30Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Your concern is touching. Here, let me show you on the doll where it touches me. OK YOU! Now my colleagues are looking at me oddly, as I try to stifle my laughter! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/47 "2008-09-25T20:34:47Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Please explain my misunderstanding. Actually, you have a good point here, well explained. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/48 "2008-09-25T20:35:07Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > …Now my colleagues are looking at me oddly…! I should think you’d be used to that, by now. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/49 "2008-09-25T20:35:16Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > …I looked at the link and Palin was flat, not outright bad… She was confused and it showed. Once she got past her canned response her brain failed to process any information and, like a broken record, returned to her canned response. I would be winning to bet she’s going to require medical attention before (and after) upcoming interviews. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/50 "2008-09-25T20:45:05Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Your concern is touching. Here, let me show you on the doll where it touches me. BRAVO. I just laughed out loud at work. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/51 "2008-09-25T20:46:23Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > As I understand tu quoque, Stephe96 would have to be trying defend Palin from accusastions of stupidity, not by providing examples of her intelligence, but by showing examples of Biden’s stupidity instead, turning the attack to Biden. But that is not what Stephe96 did. **The OP asked if anyone ever looked worse in a shorter amount of time than Palin** , and Stephe96 simply provided examples to show that Biden has looked worse. In other words, the line of question, if you will, didn’t go, > > “Sarah Palin looks horrible as a VP candidate.” > > “You thing she looks bad, here’s all the ridiculous and stupid things Biden has done”. > > But like this: > > “Sarah Palin looks horrible as a VP candidate. Has anyone ever looked worse?” > > “Yes, Biden has looked worse, and here’s how: …” > Please explain my misunderstanding. You misrepresented the question asked in the OP, which was not “Has anyone ever looked worse?”. Some might say that you did this deliberately, in order to promote your POV, since you correctly quoted the OP’s question in your first paragraph (see bolding). Your misunderstanding seems disingenuous, and not too artfully contrived. > [@HoboStew](#): > > So here’s the debate: has any politician ever looked worse in a shorter amount of time than Palin does here? Since Sen. Biden has been on the national stage since 1972, and Gov. Palin has only been on the national stage for a matter of weeks, some might say that Stephe96 is employing fallacious arguments. He has not answered the OP’s question, only argued that “the other guy says dumb stuff too” while ignoring that Sen. Biden has been saying things on the national public record for 36 years, compared to Gov. Palin saying things on the national public record for 36 _days._ Were I a Republican, I would be ashamed that my VP candidate had, in just 4 weeks, already equaled the number of stupid things a Democratic senator had said in over 36 years. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/52 "2008-09-25T20:46:38Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Are interviews really as hard as Palin is showing them to be? I’ve never been interviewed on TV, but it seems like lots of people make it look so much easier than Palin is making it look. FWIW - I can’t remember what the issue was, but a reporter stopped my wife and I on the steps of a building in DC (one of the Smithsonians), asked our permission, the Cameraman hoisted up his camera and the reporter asked a question. I answered as best I could and then what the reporter did was take my answer, re-word it so it fit into one of the points of view of the day, then fed it back to me “so \?..”. And in my mind I was like “hmmm…that’s not really what I said…is that really his hair?..” but by then the reporter was thanking me the space cadet and moving on. Total deer-in-the-headlights moment. Anyway, what I got out of it was that if you’re not careful, you can be led into saying something you really didn’t intend on saying, on camera, in front of everybody, for posterity. You can’t just go along with whatever the interviewer is saying or else you’ll get screwed. Even with Frodo’s little snippet you can see Couric putting a word (“Mock?”) in Palin’s mouth and Palin goes along with it and ends up looking like a fool. She needs to not let people do that if she’s going be any good at this. Watch some interviews and see how the reporter repeats back the answer to the interviewee. Sometimes it’s not the same thing. It’s what the reporter wants it to be. It’s very subtle. Guys like Joe Biden who make it look easy (whether you like him or not) will treat a host’s question like “well, since you brought that issue up, let me tell you what I think about it rather than answer your question directly”. He’s a master at it and gets away with it a lot of the time. I imagine Palin is struggling with what she really wants to say vs. what she’s been briefed to say vs. ‘no that’s not what I said _Oh Fuck!!_’ while the lights are on and the cameras are rolling. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/53 "2008-09-25T20:49:32Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Ho do you say “Verguenza Ajena”(feeling ashamed for other people’s actions like it was you who did them) in english?, That is exactly what I thought. Like watching Borat. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/54 "2008-09-25T20:51:49Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > That is exactly what I thought. Like watching Borat. Or _The Office_. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/55 "2008-09-25T21:08:31Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > No, the standard politician clearly understands the question, but steers the answer to a talking point. You might get frustrated at the answer, but I never get the impression they don’t understand. With Palin, I do. Your standard politician would never give the same answer twice, or if he did, would preface the repeat with mock frustration at the questioner for being too dumb to get the wonderful answer the first time. > > Did anyone else notice that her accent got thicker as she got in deeper? i noticed this in the gibson interview. she get more nasal and twangy when she is nervous, annoyed, or angry. nice to have a loud “tell”. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/56 "2008-09-25T21:19:10Z")
To use Dave Letterman’s analogy, Palin is McCain’s back-up quarterback, and should be ready to step in at a moment’s notice. But good lord! The woman is ready to step in as president the way a junior college qb is ready to start the Superbowl. (_"Heck, she’s got the plays written on her arm and we’ll be telling her what to call. She’ll be fine. Good aggressive attitude, and not an ounce of quit in her.”_) Or… If someone comes to work at your office with no relevant education and no knowledge of the firm’s history, you don’t want her leading the board meetings or addressing the shareholders. No matter what you think about her beliefs or basic competence, she should not be a candidate for VP. In the Couric interview, all she had was a handful of memorized talking points, and several of them were nonsense (People look to McCain rather than Obama for economic leadership?). Couric’s questions were reasonable things to ask someone auditioning to run America. I couldn’t have handled them myself, but I’m not running for VP. McCain-Palin _Unsteady & Unready_ ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/57 "2008-09-25T21:19:43Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > How did this woman get to be a governor?! She’s dumb as a box of rocks! I don’t think she’s unintelligent. I strongly disagree with her on pretty much every policy issue, and I think she is horrendously unqualified to be the VP, but that’s because I think she has nowhere near the experience or the knowledge of national politics to effectively govern the country. I am quite a smart individual, but I’d get creamed in interviews if I were running for president or VP right now, because I don’t know nearly as much as a president needs to know about the current state of affairs of our country (though I’m more knowledgeable than Joe Schmoe off the street.) Of course, that’s one of the reasons I’m not running for president (well, I’m 4 years too young to be running for president, but it’s the reason I’m also not running for congress or for the senate). This DOES show that she really is unqualified for VP, though. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/58 "2008-09-25T21:32:36Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > COURIC: You’ve cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that? > > PALIN: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land-- boundary that we have with-- Canada. It-- it’s funny that a comment like that was-- kind of made to-- cari-- I don’t know, you know? Reporters– > > COURIC: Mock? > > PALIN: Yeah, mocked, I guess that’s the word, yeah. > > COURIC: Explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials. > > PALIN: Well, it certainly does because our-- our next door neighbors are foreign countries. They’re in the state that I am the executive of. Palin should now tout herself as an expert on nuclear power - because her comments on the subject of Russia are _radioactively_ stupid. The G.O.P. should bring back that Kenyan guy who saved Palin from the menace of witchcraft, only this time he could pray for her not to be so colossally dumb. I don’t know, you know? Say no more. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/59 "2008-09-25T22:08:22Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Your concern is touching. Here, let me show you on the doll where it touches me. Cervaise, I love you more and more every day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174/60 "2008-09-25T22:23:44Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Or _The Office_. Or Police Squad. Vice President Sarah Drebbin, that’s the ticket. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ladies-gentlemen-your-future-vice-president-palin-interview-by-katie-couric/465174.md?page=4)