Blog: Dermot Cole
Washington columnist contrasts low-key Alaska campaign with intense scrutiny of national effort
Published Wednesday, September 3, 2008
David Broder of the Washington Post writes today of the big difference between campaigning in Alaska and the national effort facing Gov. Sarah Palin:
Over the next few weeks, starting this evening with her acceptance speech, then with her first solo campaign trips, her first news conferences and interviews, and finally her Oct. 2 debate with Democrat Joe Biden, Palin will be tested as never before. Nothing she has experienced in her home town of Wasilla, where she was mayor, or her state capital can really prepare her for this.
I know little of the dynamics of Alaskan politics. I have covered only one campaign in that state, a distant contest where another feisty female Republican, Arliss Sturgulewski, lost the governorship to a transplanted North Carolinian named Steve Cowper. One of the striking things about that week, in which we traveled from Anchorage to Nome and back, was the fact that during the whole run, the candidates and I never ran into another reporter.
Now, Palin won't be able to blink without having a camera in her face. Her words and actions will be scrutinized as never before— as reporters and voters alike try to determine if she's ready to step into the presidency.
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