[Don]

Source: USA Today Editorial Monday Sept 15th:

" What next for Palin?

So now that Sarah Palin has done her first extensive national TV interview, how much more do we know about her? Not all that much.

Watching the Republican vice presidential nominee's performance was a bit like watching a gymnast navigate the balance beam. Under persistent questioning by ABC's Charlie Gibson, Palin teetered at times but never fell to the mat.

As expected for a candidate new to the national stage, she showed no particular savvy or insight on many of the issues Gibson probed. And, as many reviews have noted, her responses often came across as limited and rehearsed, particularly on foreign policy questions.

One might hope for more from someone who could potentially be president of the United States in a few months. But sound-bite responses are the norm for many candidates, and if Palin didn't turn in an Olympian performance, she nevertheless showed herself to be unflappable and made her points clearly.

The guess here is that few voters' minds were changed. Her supporters will cheer her personal qualities and positions they support; her opponents will focus on her inexperience and issues they oppose. The more important question is, now what?

Will the McCain campaign carefully script her appearances and limit access to her, or will it allow her to engage in the kind of free-wheeling give-and-take with reporters that McCain used to build his reputation?

There might be no better measure of her readiness for office than that judgment. Dribbling her access out in a controlled fashion invites the question that if McCain can't trust her enough to expose her to the rough-and-tumble news media exposure that running mates normally receive, how can Americans trust her?

To expect journalists to treat her with "deference," as one McCain aide absurdly demanded, is to misunderstand not just the role of a free press but also the American character.

Candidates are supposed to be tested and to weather the invasive vetting process — not just campaign in a bubble, protected by squadrons of spin meisters.

The focus of the campaign should soon begin shifting back to where it belongs: onto McCain and Barack Obama (remember them?). But in the 50 days remaining before the election, Palin plainly needs to be challenged further. She passed her first test, but there's plenty of room to improve her grades. "