Sarah Palin didn't cause the demise of candidate McCain, but she could have been a stronger spokesman.

In retrospect, Palin should have taken the following tact with CBS reporter Katie Couric in that pivotal interview that made Sarah look like a Klondike kook. In the following "Shoulda' Woulda' " interview, C stands for reporter Couric and P for candidate Palin. Here is how the interview should have gone:
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C: What do you read?

P: Everything they put in front of me, but I have an affinity for Abraham Lincoln speeches and writings,  history in general and historical novels. But Katie, I don't recall you asking that of Joe [Biden]. In fact, until you deal with me and Joe equally and fairly and ask him what he reads, I refuse to have you or any of the media zero in on this or any other purely esoteric subject. For the benefits of our viewers, "esoteric subject' means a question designed for just me alone or understood by the specially initiated alone. How does that smack you?
C: I don't know how to respond.

P: Of course not. But until you ask Joe and get what he reads I refuse to be party to this, or to have you or other reporters zero in on me alone on this subject. Oh, I have a large library at home in Wassila, and I have read most of the books. It's known as the public library. Now that we're through with that, what books have you read, Katie?
C: No, this is an interview where I get to ask the questions.

P: No, it isn't. You've set me up, Katie, to look bad but I won't play your game. Until you ask all the candidates what they read--and that includes Senators Obama and Biden--you have no right asking me because it smacks of a direct attack by Katie Couric and CBS against my character, intellect, judgment, understanding, and capability to lead.
C: But what if I promise to ask this question of the others, is that good enough?

P:Yes, I'll take you at your word. But my answer is for you to go to my web site, SarahPalin.com. It has a long list of what I have read, am reading, and will read--together with the articles and essays I have written. Had you been better prepared, you wouldn't be wasting my time and that of our viewers with this.
C: I apologize, but I didn't . . .

P: Course not. You didn't prepare as well as a reporter should.
C: You're embarrassing me in front of the camera and all those people at home.

P: No, you knew full well what you were trying to do to me and my candidacy. Who put you up to this?
C: Why, no one. I prepared the question myself.

P: My writings are available on line, as are McCain's, so voters can read and see exactly how we feel on the issues. There is nothing hidden. Have you read all of Obama's writings?
C: Yes, I have. . .I stay on top. . .

P: No, you haven't. How about those that he wrote in college at Columbia and Harvard?
C: No, They're not available.

P: And why are his writings not available?
C: Obama has sealed them.

P: Why would he do that?
C: I don't know.

P: Do you think that is fair to the American public?
C: I don't know what to say.

P: Is it fair for a presidential candidate to hide his past, or any part thereof, his essays and other writings from the public?
C: No, it isn't, but . . .

P: (Being stern with direct eye-to-eye contact) Two things: This interview is over. You may reschedule when you receive these documents from the Obama campaign and make them available to all news outlets and to the Republican Party, John McCain, and myself--and I mean all of his writings from college, regardless of whether or not anyone believes they leave him in a bad light, plus a list of all the reports and books that he reads or has read. If he wrote it, we deserve to have it.
C: Okay, if you wish. . .

P: I not only wish, Katie, I demand! Let me be very clear bout this, Ms. Couric. I am dead serious about fair treatment in this campaign. And since you brought up the subject, I will hold you directly responsible for getting these documents from Obama, even if you must go on national TV and demand them. A terrible injustice is being perpetrated upon the American taxpayer and voter so long as Obama is not forthcoming. Please let him know how much in earnest we are in this demand.
C: I think this TV report will get his full attention, Governor Palin.

P: Senator Obama wrote a book called The Audacity of Hope. But the biggest audacity comes from Obama, himself, and from the Democratic campaign for asking the American voter to choose Obama, someone they don't fully know. For the record, the word "audacity" means arrogant disregard of normal restraints--like to defy your boss. In this case it means that Obama is terribly bold by trying to defy the voters--his prospective boss--when he fails to be upfront and produce his writings from college which must be quite something, wouldn't you say, Ms. Couric? What on earth do you think he's hiding?
C: I don't know.


Editor's note: An estimated 130 million Americans voted in the recent elections. Unfortunately, some 49 percent of those able to vote did not. Obama took 52% and McCain 48%, meaning Obama won by a 5 million plurality in the largest turnout of U.S. voters in history. That means 67.6 percent of the voters selected Obama without knowing all of his views. We can only surmise that part of it was hidden to purposely confuse and mislead the American electorate. This is damning evidence against Obama who--because of this intelligence gap which could involve national security--will become a somewhat mysterious President Obama on January 20th. It isn't American and it isn't fair not to know one of the candidates for president of the United States before the election. It is possible that the information Obama concealed was crucial to his victory and may become extremely damaging to our country if and when it is later revealed. Yet, Barak Obama is willing to let 300 million Americans pay the price he has foisted upon all of us--this ongoing lie about who he is, what he wants, what voices he will listen to, and which dogma and teachings will inform his day-to-day decisions and, ultimately, which views he will represent.

God help us!