What a bunch of crybabies

They can blame the media all they want, but the way Sarah Palin is dodging reporters, questions and interviews is proof that she was not and is not ready for the job.

Josh Marshall:

Not Training Wheels We Can Believe In
"Davis says Palin won't give any interviews until she feels "comfortable" giving one. And this morning he added that she wouldn't give any "until the point in time when she'll be treated with respect and deference."
Sarah Palin could be the President of the United States in four and a half months. We tend to think of this as an abstraction; but it's true. And yet today she's so unprepared and knows so little about the challenges and tasks facing the country that she can't even give a softball interview.
That's really all we need to know. Yes, she's off being prepped at some undisclosed location. And I've little doubt that by the time her debate rolls around she'll be sufficiently pumped full of slogans and bromides to make a show of it. But now, this moment, is the one that tells us all we need to know.
As is so often the case, Palin is the incarnation of the Republican slurs. The darling of the hard-right; she gives stem-winding speeches. She pushes all their buttons. But she's such a lightweight, they can't risk letting her answer a few questions. Not even on Fox. They know she's not ready and probably never will be. But they think the politics might work for them."

And Andrew Sullivan documents the media and press conference history of past vice presidential candidates.

Here:

Ferraro was being interviewed within four days of being announced. Dan Quayle gave an interview one day after being selected. We are now on Day Nine for Palin and are told to expect another thirteen before she's ready.
This is a pitbull with lipstick?
More like a cowering chihuahua.

Here:

Thomas Eagleton was selected on July 15, 1972. His first press conference was July 25, 1972. So ten days is the maximum delay in recent history so far. ... Lloyd Bentsen gave a press conference one day after being selected. ... When Eagleton was selected, there were a little under four months left till election day. Now there's less than two
months. And they say the public has no right to know who could be their next president.

Here:

In fact, Eagleton may not have given a press conference until July 25, but he was interviewed on television on July 14, the day of his selection, and on July 16, on Face The Nation. So Eagleton was available to some press one day after he was announced. ... Notice that most campaigns actually believe that it is good for them to get press interest in their vice-presidential pick. Normally, they can't wait to get him or her in front of the cameras. It's important to realize that, whatever the intimidation from the GOP, what is happening with Palin is without historical precedent.
The question we have every right to ask is: why?

And here:

He was giving press conferences one day after the convention. Of course. He was a serious pick. Can you imagine George H. W. Bush runing off to Kennebunkport to cram for three weeks in September 1980?

A Sullivan reader adds:

Three Weeks "Training" To Be President?

Assuming Gov. Palin is entitled to time to "prepare" for her new job, could you or I learn what we need to know in 3 weeks? Can she? I'm a lawyer, a political/news freak, and work in gov't, and I don't think I could do it.

She. Is. Not. Ready. For. Primetime.
.