Sarah Palin in New York: Tightly under wraps, meets with two foreign leaders

John McCain's presidential campaign has exerted tight control over reporters' access to Sarah Palin ever since he announced her as his surprise running-mate pick Aug. 29. But their efforts reached a new level today.

Campaign aides excluded any representative for print and wire service outlets from the pool of reporters who would briefly accompany Palin to her much-touted meetings in New York with Afghan President Hamid Karzai (at left), Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (who serves as a foreign policy advisor to McCain).

The foreign leaders are in the U.S. for the General Assembly meeting at the United Nations.

The campaign also initially announced that even the day's designated pool television producer, who is charged with capturing whatever editorial content emerges from this type of photo op for the five networks, would not be permitted into the meeting.

That was going too far -- the networks threatened to pull their cameras from Palin's events. Ultimately the campaign relented and allowed a CNN producer into the room for the meetings (the first of which, with Karzai, began at noon EDT).

Campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt later said the flap was just a "mix-up, a miscommunication among staff."

Our colleague Mark Silva has more on the back and forth over coverage of Palin's big day in New York at the Swamp blog.

Palin has not held a news conference since she was transformed from the relatively unknown governor of Alaska to a major player on the national political scene.

She made a brief statement to a pool of reporters about her ...

... background and experience during the Republican National Convention on Sept. 4 after attending a lunch of the Republican Governors Assn. at a museum in Minneapolis. But for the most part she ignored questions from reporters. The one exception -- she responded to a query from an Alaska news crew about how she would continue her duties as governor while campaigning on McCain's ticket.

During a visit to a Cleveland diner Sept. 17, she answered one question about the bailout of AIG.

She has done three sit-down interviews -- with ABC's Charlie Gibson, Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity and, joined by McCain, with People magazine on the day she was named as his running mate.

She is expected to take questions later this week with CBS News anchor Katie Couric.

-- Maeve Reston

Photo: Getty Images

Comments

[Larry in NC]

Hey...I've taken the UN tour. Maybe I'm qualified now to be VP. I've even lived in a household with real people from Italy and learned all kinds of Italian slang words. Maybe I'm qualified to be Secretary of State or at least, Ambassador to Italy. Lord knows, I love pizza, hot sausage and pepper sandwiches, Italian wedding soup and pasta. I've actually been to Europe a few times as well. C'mon, John, ask me to be your foreign policy guru. If you think Sarah is qualified, then you have to look at me as well.

[Larry Clifton]

this is good. palin needs to let these declining newspapers and audienless liberal media outlets srew in their juices four more weeks and then blitz them up until election day and back off while america votes.
this is the year that americans are waking up to and standing up to a out-of-touch democratic party media that has for decades manipulated our elections.
the liberal media will need a melt-down on a scale with fannie-mae before they suffer necessary final corrections. hopefully sooner, not later....
http://americanpoliticalblog.wordpress.com/

[cta]

My, they must really be afraid of what she might say.

Do they think she is that bad?

[L.Freeman]

This is ridiculous!!!

There needs to be a media blackout of Palin AND McCain. They are not banning the so-called 'liberal media', they are impeding the right of Americans to make an informed choice and be at ease with the results of the election.

Why is the media tolerating this?! Why are you wasting time trying to cover her, when she and her running mate have clearly declared you obsolete and irrelevant?

I am about to be begin my own media blackout, with the sole exception of MSNBC. The rest of you are clearly a bunch of pansies, and not the good kind.

[Captbilly]

Look we all know she isn't even remotely qualified to be VP or President. The fact that she got Alaska to vote for her doesn't mean she was qualified for that job either. We have seen pleanty of unqualified people get elected in America, even our President. The problem is that this election America is in deep trouble, and McCain Palin aren't going to get us out of this trouble. McCain can't do it because he doesn't believe in the action it would take to get control over our economy, and also because he is realy old and tired. Palin can't do it because of the same reasons as McCain, plus she has no notion of any of the issues, countries, cultures involved.

I voted for Bush in 2000, so I am not some liberal just spitting back talking points here. McCain was a great guy back in 2000. If he were that same guy and he hadn't picked Palin, I would vote for him. But he's not that same guy, he has changed so completely that I don't even recognize the old McCain anymore. Among other things, the old McCain would never have picked that silly bit of fluff (Palin) as VP. The really sad thing is that McCain could have won, or lost this election with dignity, but he is going to loss the election and his dignity completely destroyed. Nobody is going to remember him for as the non-partisan no nonsense guy he used to be, they are going to remember him as the guy who seemed to stand for nothing, would do anything to win, but lost in 2008.

[secrets]

Great. Another "secret" administration that holds itself accountable to no one and shuts the door on the PEOPLE it's supposed to represent. The press should have stuck to their principles and stopped covering anything Palin does.

When Obama went out to meet foreign leaders, he was called an upstart and you, the press, told us all about the Republican's comments on how pretentious and premature he was. As a serving US Senator, it could at least be considered that he had reasonable duties and standing to meet with US allies.

Now that Palin is overstretching all reason and eschewing any shred of propriety, no one dares so much as whisper how improper these meetings are lest they be derided as sexist or biased.

How many other governors are at the UN this week holding private secret meetings with international leaders? Where are their pictures?

My, what a double-standard you have!

[Trick or Treat]

That is just sooo cute.

[coolrepublica]

I love reporters. I really do. I don't remember any complaints when Obama during his European tour did not have any reporters in on the meetings he held. Now the same reporters want to be there so they can hear what Sarah is discussing when she meets these world leaders.

Well let me feel you in. They are discussing world leader stuff. If it's good enough for Obama than it's good enough for Sarah Palin.

[CRIBBFAN]

AND THIS IS A PERSON WHO WOULD BE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?

[Larry Clifton]

mccain/palin are smart to let liberal media stew in their juices. She should give them just enough to "arouse" them and let leave craving more. Than, hit them all palin all the time for the last 2 weeks of campaign. the american people know that the old, liberal main-stream media is broken. We need to boycott more media advertisers and bring these election manipulators to their financial knees, not unlike fannie-mae has done to our economy while these mouthy gotchas in the press stood stupidly by, oblivious to the developing crisis....
obama is a "civil rights" atorney and a really bad professor, that's all. as a senator, he doesn't have a sthttp://www.examiner.com/x-852-Atlanta-Civics-Examinerory except that he is an extremely liberal activist....

[FedUp MA]

What are they trying to hide from the American public on this woman? This is typical of the Bush-McCain political style that has run our country into the gutter. Keep everything secret from the people.

[captbilly]

Those poor heads of state having to suffer the indignity of a meeting with Palin. How did they talk them into doing it in the first place. Did Palin promise some BJ or to flash them some booty, I can't imagine why else anyone whould want to talk to her. Look I'm sorry for the disrespectful comments but I just can;t believe this is happening. How could the America I love have sunk so low that they don't see the difference between Palin and someone who deserves to be VP. I could see myself voting to keep Palin on the island on Survivor, or some such reality show, but this isn't a game.

We are talking about a woman who has a better than even chance of becomming President if McCain is elected. Is there any sane person who really believes that she is up to the job? I suppose if you thought Reagan was a good President then Palin might do. Reagan did what his advisors and handlers told him to do. He appeared Presidential and could even take some decent swipes in a debates. Perhaps Palin could do the same thing, but the question is who would be her handlers and advisors. I would assume they would be the same guys who have run this country for the past 15 years, how'ed that work out for us?

[Scott]

When Ahmadinejad visited the city he gave a speech with a Q and A session at Columbia University. The speech was open to the public and the media.

http://www.bluetidalwave.com/2008/09/sarah-palins-escape-from-new-york.html

[Jerry/Orlando]

Palin's photo ops with various world leaders is akin to having a photo taken next to a cardboard cutout, or one of those scenes with a hole cut in it.

Her presence at a meeting does nothing to illustrate her value in being there.

It is what she said during the meeting that is crucial to our judgment. Did she ask questions? Did they have any relevance? Did she state any positions? Did she listen?

Or did she just sit there looking pretty.

[Obama - the left wing socialist puppet]

Funny how the liberal media didn't say a word for the 3+ weeks Biden disappeared after the convention.

Considering that Obama is now wanting Hilary and that Biden sticks his foot so far in his mouth it comes out his butt I can understand; but aren’t you folks SUPPOSED to at least appear impartial?

[Margaret]

She only went the UN to have her picture taken with all those Presidents, that's pretty obvious, that woman cannot answer a question to save her life

[Crystal]

Having Henry Kissinger as the foreign policy advisor is enough for me NOT to vote for McCain......3rd Party for me....

[John]

Something is very wrong when the McCain campaign feels like they have to hide this lady and only bring her out for scripted showings. She must be even more unqualified than previously thought.

[KK]

Right, so she gets to speak to world leaders about the weather? and that's foreign polciy experience?

If the discussions were about substance the GOP should be all over the idea of putting in cameras....however, she'd be pretty useless, so they are not.

[steve]

Man, doesn't McCain tactics of keeping the press in the dark unless you need them for your propaganda sound familiar. Bush did it ... it looks more and more like McCain will use the same type of secretive tactics and cover up to distort the truth. Look out...I don't know which is more disgusting...Palin coverup from reporters or the resources they used to cover up troopergate. McCain wants transparency in the white house...you go to be kidding.

[beevee]

Why is the media so shameless and spineless and scrambling to cover Palin who is imprisoned in a cone of silence. Republicans need media coverage and not the otherwayround. Boycott her.

[Pete]

Why is the press covering her if she won't answer questions. The meetings at the UN are only providing images for use in future ads. It appears to me that the press is more of a paparazzi corp than the press corp

[Kathy]

Liberals are like children-OOhOOhOOhIjust loveObamaOOHOOHOOH. Letusatsarahoohoohoohwe'llgethergoodoohoohooh Oh, wait- Obama did what? Oh Oh Oh

[Joseph Wilson]

Let's not confuse "word leaders" with "American puppets," Sarah. Why is the pit bull afraid of the press?

[VB]

They have picked a tool as a VP, now, they are hiding her so the press does not get a chance to shine some light on her intelligence