Luke Frazza/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images, left; Mary Ellen Matthews/NBC, right
Last Thursday morning I spoke to my good friend Mark Leibovich of The New York Times. Mark’s question was whether or not I had any advice for Governor Palin as she prepared to debate Joe Biden in the Vice Presidential debates.
Of course I did.
I always have an opinion!
My opinion was that she needed to be herself, because if she wasn’t, people would see through it.
Mark was particularly interested in how someone overcomes the late night comics, their jokes, the template the mainstream media sticks you in once it’s decided that there’s blood in the water. The proof is simply this: be yourself, make certain of the positions you take and you’ll be fine.
After all, even after all the late night jokes, the mainstream media has apologized to me in one way or another. Chris Matthews of MSNBC, Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, Wolf Blitzer of CNN, Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News and others.
But most importantly of all in this age when the under-thirties get most of their news from Comic Central or other similar outlets, the most significant apology of all came from none other than Bill Mahr of HBO.
So Governor Palin, just be yourself, be comfortable with who you are. People will either love you or hate you, and you won’t change their minds.
Unless, of course, the Associated Press releases a videotape of you briefing President Bush, Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin about the potential breach of levees in New Orleans, or the stupidity of using the New Orleans Superdome as a “refuge of last resort.”
For those of you who haven’t seen that videotape which led to the apologies in the media, you can find it on YouTube: Bush Warned About Katrina.
You can also read Mark’s story in The New York Times
So, without that videotape, good luck, Governor!
