Does anyone else think it's sort of hilarious that Katie Couric won a Walter Cronkite Excellence in TV Political Journalism award for her interviews with Sarah Palin? The award was in the "Special Achievement for National Impact on the 2008 Campaign" category and is described as follows by ReliableSources.org:

Katie Couric, the anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News, was honored for her extraordinary, persistent and detailed multi-part interviews with Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin which judges called a "defining moment in the 2008 presidential campaign."

I'm sorry, not to take anything away from the impact of these interviews, because I agree they were devastating and the decision to roll them out in little bytes over a period of weeks was ingenious, but really, watch this and tell me who deserves the award here:

And looking back at this gem, unless "what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read?" really is a gotcha question, didn't this award sort of land in Katie's lap? I mean, credit where credit is due, where the hell is Palin's Crazy Ass Answers to Mundane Questions award? That's one thing I'd vote for Palin to win.

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On MSNBC this afternoon, Andrea Mitchell was interviewing someone (I missed her name) from the McCain campaign.

Essentially, the question was, "Why bring up Ayers when people are more concerned about the economy?" The answer?  "We didn't bring up Ayers, Hillary did.

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The bar was set so low on the vice presidential debate that all Sarah Palin had to do to score points was not to shoot a moose in the TV studio.

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(Cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama)

Katie Couric interviewed Joe Biden to get his take on Roe v. Wade and the issue of privacy in the Constitution.  Privacy, of course, is a touchy subject with conservatives.  The Constitution does not by name grant a right to it, but liberals cite the 9th Amendment, which reserves rights not named in the Constitution to the states and the people, and the 14th Amendment's liberty clause as sources that found an argument for an inherent privacy right.  The right to privacy was a fundamental legal argument in the decision of Roe v. Wade.  Anyway, Couric contrasted Palin's whacky and adorable answers with Couric's interview with the lucid and commanding Joe Biden.  This is the result; here is a video from TPMtv:

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The Katie Couric interview you've been dreading waiting for.

Couric Why, in your view, is Roe v. Wade a bad decision?

Sarah Palin: I think it should be a states' issue not a federal government-mandated, mandating yes or no on such an important issue. I'm, in that sense, a federalist, where I believe that states should have more say in the laws of their lands and individual areas. Now, foundationally, also, though, it's no secret that I'm pro-life that I believe in a culture of life is very important for this country. Personally that's what I would like to see, um, further embraced by America.

Couric: Do you think there's an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution?

Palin: I do. Yeah, I do.

Couric: The cornerstone of Roe v. Wade.

Palin: I do. And I believe that individual states can best handle what the people within the different constituencies in the 50 states would like to see their will ushered in an issue like that.

Couric: What other Supreme Court decisions do you disagree with?

Palin: Well, let's see. There's, of course in the great history of America there have been rulings, that's never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you know, going through the history of America, there would be others but ...

Couric: Can you think of any?

Palin: Well, I could think of ... any again, that could be best dealt with on a more local level. Maybe I would take issue with. But, you know, as mayor, and then as governor and even as a vice president, if I'm so privileged to serve, wouldn't be in a position of changing those things but in supporting the law of the land as it reads today.

Make it stop.

Update [2008-10-1 19:46:26 by Todd Beeton]:Here's the video. It starts with Joe Biden's interview and then continues with Palin's. The contrast is, to say the least, stark. The part where she's struggling to name another Supreme Court case is unwatchable, far exceeding in my mind, her Bush Doctrine moment. Moose in the headlights indeed.

Update [2008-10-1 20:5:44 by Todd Beeton]:The fine folks at the Courage Campaign, for whom I also work, are collecting suggestions for a banner to fly over Sarah Palin's L.A. event on Saturday. You can submit your own banner ideas HERE (must be 50 characters or fewer.)

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