No Joe Six-Pack for You

I’ve heard of free speech zones, but I guess the McCain-Palin campaign is now setting up free listen zones:

Constantly under the watchful eyes of security, the media wasn’t permitted to wander around inside Coachman Park to talk to Sarah Palin supporters. When reporters tried to leave the designated press area and head toward the bleachers where the crowd was seated, an escort would dart out of nowhere and confront him or her and say, “Can I help you?’’ and turn the person around.

When one reporter asked an escort, who would not give her name, why the press wasn’t allowed to mingle, she said that in the past, negative things had been written. The campaign wanted to avoid that possibility Monday.

I hope the press could have at least enjoyed this spectacle from their holding pen:

A few minutes before Palin arrived, a disembodied voice instructed the several thousand supporters to turn to the right and “direct your attention” to a bridge spanning the Intracoastal Waterway because Palin’s motorcade was approaching.

On cue, organizers cut loose with a soaring overture, pumping it through the speakers placed around Coachman Park in downtown Clearwater. True to Palin’s frontier persona, it had sort of an Aaron Copeland vibe to it. Very stirring. Very mavericky.

[First story via our pal Ripley]

IN ADDITION: They were expecting 20,000 to turn out to see Palin today. Oops. Only 4500 attended.

Posted by Kevin K. on 10/06/08 at 12:15 PM • Permalink

First!  (Oh wait, that’s the PUMA thing, confused for a minute).  I thought the campaign was so thrilled with Sarah now getting all her lines right that they would let her actually talk to reporters.  Guess not.  That “privilege” of free speech and all doesn’t exist when you’re “mean” to Sarah.  Speaking of McCain (weren’t we?) since when do you announce to the media that you have irrevocably sold your soul, you don’t want to talk about the real issues (economy, economy, economy) anymore and you’re just going to start slinging shit as hard and fast as you can?  And rewriting history too.  I do believe the American public can see through all of this. And I don’t even think it’s sad anymore that McCain has totally ditched any sense of honor or decency that he used to have.  If he did. Ask me, I think he’s been faking it all along.

Betty, yeah, you didn’t need a ticket.  This Obama supporter just walked in.

I’d think she was a pretty advanced student already.  From what I’ve read about her career in Alaska, she was pretty good at backstabbing her rivals and obviously didn’t see anything wrong with firing people and replacing them with her friends and relatives.  And then there is this unbelievable crap being reported at TPM and elsewhere.  Somebody high up in the Repub party needs to stand up and say “ENOUGH!”  I wonder if anyone will have the guts.

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