Why Couric was more aggressive against Palin?
Posted by tennisplanet on October 3, 2008
The interviewer is as much under pressure to deliver as the one interviewed at such high profile shows. But the tone of the interview, the questions, the outcome is still predicated on how the interviewee performs.
If the interviewee fails to take charge, the interviewer gets emboldened and ramps up the line of questioning to feed the perceived notion that he /she is somehow superior than the interviewee. You think Couric would have asked the same questions if Bill Clinton was in that chair with similar infractions? Maybe. But the tone and the body language would have been a lot tamer and timid because Clinton would have dominated the interview no matter what subject the questions were on – yes, even about Monica.
Did being of the same sex add fuel to that fire? Sure. It’s inbuilt in us. We don’t want any of our own kind to prosper. Was that one of the reasons women did not support Hilary? You bet!!!
Was it because Couric likes Obama? Sure. But as a professional you keep your interests and leanings to yourself in these settings. But when the above two rules are compromised, this one inadvertently and subconsciously gets out of the bag to further inflict the pain and suffering.
Classic example of this is when Couric had the courage to ask the same question twice to get a specific answer with “Not to belabor the question”. Clinton would have not answered it either but his reply would have been strong enough to deter Couric from coming back to it for specifics.
If you are not getting any one of this, you need to go drown yourself in the kitchen sink first before reading again. Either that or it’s time for my medication.
Tennis Planet 
Deep South Girl said
I thought Couric’s interview with
drill ‘n kill Palin was very gently done but with the steely determination of a good interviewer. I think Palin showed her true self in that interview.
Last night’s debate was a stunner for me. I expected Palin to give the same inane answers she had given to Couric,but, having been holed up out of the public light so she could receive a crammed course in International Affairs, Economy, Energy, she did all right. But a crammed course for a test as important as the presidency seems somehow INAPPROPRIATE.
All of her “Gosh, darns” and winks of the eye made her look as though she were running for class president in HIGH SCHOOL.
I thot Biden was much more effective–he was presidential, at ease, diplomatic, and didn’t waver on his questions.
django rhinehart said
Women are tougher on women. Jealousy also could play a part. They didn’t get their dem woman Hillary so they don’t want this repub woman in there first.
Carolee said
Couric is jealous of Sarah Palin. It was obvious during the interview. Even with Palin as a subject, Couric’s ratings were dreadful! What a hag.
Rick said
More aggressive than what, or against whom? A hypothetical interview with Bill Clinton? Before, during, or after he was president?
All right, let’s put this in perspective. The McCain campaign chose this strategy of largely shielding Palin from the media and only letting her do one-on-one interviews. No one forced them to do the Charlie Gibson, Katie Couric, and Carl Cameron (Fox News) interviews. If they shield her from those, the only public exposure she has left is in-person campaign rally appearances. If she really wants to be “unfiltered” by the mainstream media (please note that these complaints are registered over — surprise — the mainstream media), then that’s probably what she should do. She is not holding any press conferences, and she is to my knowledge the only national candidate for executive office not being sent out to face the Sunday morning talking heads. The reason? She is out of her depth and on thin ice when she cannot control the questions asked; if she can, then she can give scripted sound bite answers, which she is very good at delivering (with or without winks). How this gets turned into an argument that she is experienced and ready to go come January remains a mystery to me. In the debate, even though she couldn’t control the questions asked, she was successfully coached to control the answers that she gave (often irrelevant to the question). This is a common ploy in academia (I’ve used it myself), and more power to her for getting away with it on national TV. But, as for me personally, I’ve had eight years of people in power avoiding giving answers to obvious questions, so I’m probably not in the market for any more of that.
Asking her to explain how the fact that Russia can be seen from Alaska by the under 150 inhabitants of Little Diomede in the middle of the Bering Strait translates into substantial foreign policy experience doesn’t seem like an unfair question to me, because that’s the argument the McCain campaign has chosen to make. Asking her what newspapers she reads doesn’t strike me as going for the jugular either; she has in fact since decided (or been told) that it’s OK to say that she reads the New York Times (surprise again) and The Economist. Was that so hard?
My parting perverse, partisan thought: Palin makes a guest appearance on The View. If you think Katie Couric was mean, TP….
OK, I fell for the bait….
jennifur said
Palin is utterly moronic: an absolute caricature that SNL got right. Someone said it looks like she’s running for high school vice president – yah! No kiddin. Hence!
Django – go back to playing guitar; you never have been good with women.
django rhinehart said
an absolute caricature that SNL got right.
JeniFUR, except Palin is a babe compared to younger, thin-lipped, Fey.
you never have been good with women
that’s not what my women say, wanna try?
jennifur said
well, according to the lore of Django, you know, the jazz guitarist? he had some troubles. maybe you’re a different Django? babe-Palin-magnet extraordinaire! but can you play a tune?
Deep South Girl said
Babe??? Jealous??? Your woman??? I don’t know who you are but where do you live? Never mind. I think I know.
BTW, Rick I think you’re spot on.
Mordecai said
Because Couric is a bleeding liberal, just like every other mainstream media person. Just contrast Palin’s tough interview with the fawning that Biden got from Couric. One journalist did a side-by-side comparison of the Couric interview for both VP on the campaign trail last week.
# Hail her outspokenness: (“You say what’s on your mind and I think people appreciate that.”) COURIC WITH PALIN: No such praise.
# Ignore obvious factual/historical flubs: (Biden: “When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on television…”) FDR was not in office at the time of the 1929 crash and his “fireside chats” were on the radio. COURIC WITH PALIN: She corrected Palin on the supposed payoff to off-shore drilling and repeatedly followed up when she didn’t get the answer she wanted.
# Relay as reality positive campaign spin about her attributes: (“Relating to the fears of the average American is one of Biden’s strong suits.”) COURIC WITH PALIN: No such equivalent connection made to the concerns of average Americans as Couric, instead, pushed Palin to espouse her presumed less-popular social views.
# Cue up campaign rally attendees to praise her: (“What was it about what he said that really resonated with you in particular?” Answers: “I think he expressed what most working Americans feel at the moment. He seems to relate to our pain.” and “I want him in office because I believe he will do things for women.”)
COURIC WITH PALIN: In about the only positive portion of the fairly lengthy eight-minute-plus story, Couric touted: “Speaking of energy, Palin has brought plenty of it to the campaign trail, attracting huge, enthusiastic crowds, like this one at Capital University.” Viewers then heard from an excited woman in the crowd: “I strongly support McCain, but I love Governor Palin!” Even here however, Biden made out better: He got three glowing soundbites from attendees in the crowd which Couric set up: “What was it about what he said that really resonated with you in particular?”
Couric also cited how “her trademark feistiness is on display as she delivers a punchy soundbite about her rival, Joe Biden” (“I’ve been hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in, like, second grade”), but Couric turned that into a negative: “You have a 72-year-old running mate, is that kind of a risky thing to say, insinuating that Joe Biden’s been around a while?”
# Empathize with the challenge she faces at the upcoming debate: (“Are you worried you’re going to have to pull your punches a bit because of her gender and you don’t want to seem like you’re bullying her? It’s a different dynamic when it’s a male/female thing, isn’t it?”) COURIC WITH PALIN: Didn’t empathize with Palin’s debate challenge.
# Not apply any ideological label: (“We decided to take a closer look at the 65-year-old Senator from Delaware.”) COURIC WITH PALIN: Here Couric was balanced as she did not apply an ideological tag to Palin.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2008/09/30/couric-patronizingly-challenges-lectures-palin-had-coddled-biden
Deep South Girl said
Mordecai–
I finally see the light!!!!
Palin is AWESOME!!!!!
Mordecai said
That wasn’t about Palin, DSG. It’s about Couric and the liberal media, biased journalism must be exposed whether the target is republican or democrat.
Deep South Girl said
Hey Mordecai–I now really see the light you have been desperately trying to show me!! How, oh how, could I not see that the media have been planning all these attacks on Palin for months. I know the address (it is secret, but you seem to be genuine) where the planning meetings take place. You ought to go as I think it would be right up your alley.You can be anonymous as they give out robes and cute little hats!
Yes!! Yes!! It IS about Comrade Couric and the LIES the media and people like Couric and Charles Gibson have been saying.
How could I have been so STUPID??
Palin is a BABE—as I said you shown me the light. She’s AWESOME!!!!!