Opinion: Sarah Palin meets the press, en masse, briefly

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In the midst of John McCain’s ‘suspended’ presidential campaign, his running mate did what the travling press corps has been clamoring for -- Sarah Palin recognized their existence and took questions (four) from some of them.

Two focused on foreign policy (she supports President Bush’s policy of ‘taking the fight to the terrorists and stopping them’ overseas), another on the push for massive federal intervention in the nation’s financial crisis (she’ll back it if and when McCain’s proposals are incorporated into it).

The other query concerned a more parochial matter -- whether she supports the reelection bids of the two men who, until not quite a month ago, were Alaska’s best-known politicians, Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens.

Both were charter members of the state’s ‘good ‘ol boys’ club that Palin overcame in becoming its governor and both long have been among Capitol Hill’s most active ‘special project’ advocates who McCain rails against. But Young and Stevens are both fellow Republicans.

Palin ducked on the question. Noting that Stevens’ corruption-related trial is underway in Washington, she said: ‘We’ll see where that goes.’

Our colleague Mark Silva at the Swamp has more on Palin’s interaction with the reporters, which occurred as she visited ground zero in New York.

-- Don Frederick