Can She Walk the Walk?

The strongest argument that Palin is unprepared for international diplomacy is her own campaign's refusal to admit reporters to her first big interviews with international leaders at the UN yesterday. The McCain/Palin campaign originally insisted that only photographers would be allowed in the room, but when the news agencies protested the campaign agreed to allow some reporters in, too--for less than a minute. The journalists got to hear Palin and Afghan President Hamid Karzai exchange pleasantries about Karzai's young son, then all members of the press were escorted out before anything else was discussed.

The McCain camp is nothing if not shrewd. If Palin was going to shine in these interviews, if she was going to impress the world with her diplomatic prowess and summarily lay to rest any doubts about her abilities, they would have invited every reporter on the planet to be there to witness it. The fact that they wanted cameras to show her looking diplomatic but no journalists to report whether she lived up to that image convinces me that her own campaign believes she isn't up to the task yet. They insist she's ready to lead this country in a very complex global community, but actions speak louder than words. Or photo ops.