Palin Barred From Answering Questions

Not only is the press not allowed to ask questions of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, it appears Palin is apparently not allowed to answer questions either. From Politico’s Jonathan Martin:

This is what happens when campaigns let reporters into photo ops. They get all uppity and ask questions.

From the pool report account of what happened after McCain and Palin’s meeting with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvilli and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko:

McCain then looked around the room and gestured as if to welcome questions. The AP reporter shouted a question at Gov. Palin (“Governor, what have you learned from your meetings?”) but McCain aide Brooke Buchanan intervened and shepherded everybody out of the room.

Palin looked surprised, leaned over to McCain and asked him a question, to which your pooler thinks he shook his head as if to say “No.”

TPM’s Greg Sargent suggests the McCain campaign’s coddling of Palin indicates it really doesn’t have any confidence in her ability to handle even simple questions.

What’s really sobering is that the McCain campaign continues to block Palin from answering questions even though it’s now resulting in reams and reams of bad press for the McCain-Palin ticket. That suggests McCain advisers know that letting her answer even the most elementary questions in an uncontrolled environment is so dangerous that it’s worth weathering the current media drubbing they’re taking in order to prevent it from happening at all costs.

So basically, we’re supposed to trust that Palin has all the knowledge and experience to lead the free world, but the few opportunities we’ve seen her attempt to demonstrate her abilities have been less-than-reassuring. If the McCain campaign can’t trust Palin to safely answer a super-softball like “What have you learned?” — should the American people really feel comfortable with the possibility of her being in charge in the near future?