Today and yesterday, there have been confrontations between the press and the McCain campaign. Today’s problem was that Gov. Palin wanted to meet Kissinger and Karzai (and others) with only a press photographer present and no pool news people. Yesterday, McCain campaign guru Steve Schmidt excoriated the New York Times as no longer meeting acceptable journalistic standards for publishing a story about campaign manager Rick Davis getting paid $250,000 for providing access to McCain for Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac (a story they don’t yet deny).

O.K, I get that Republicans have been running against the “liberal media” since before they started up Fox News.

But Gov. Palin has yet to have a news conference and answer unscripted questions and its been three weeks since her nomination. I’d like to say they’re asking us to buy a pig in a poke, but I don’t want to be accused of sexism for using a common phrase for trying to disguise a substandard product from a buyer.

I no longer care about any of the questions “about her family”. That can be off limits as far as I’m concerned.

I want to know:

1. Does she believe that the Earth is only 6,000 years old and that creationism is a science that should be taught in schools?

2. Not as a matter of personal belief but as a matter of a political position, would she use the law to force young girls to have the children of rape and incest?

3. Should America use waterboarding on prisoners?

4. Is global warming a fact or a hoax and what, if anything, should be done about it?

5. What policies would she pursue with Pakistan regarding Taliban and Al Qaeda strongholds in that country?

6. Should there be a tax cut for those making less than $250,000 per year and a tax increase on those making more than a quarter million a year or should taxes remain the same on those making less than $250,000/year while tax cuts are given to those making above that amount? Why or why not?

7. What policy would she pursue, if any, with respect to the rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast?

8. North Korea says it will now reopen its nuclear reactors; what action should the United States take with respect to North Korea, if any, in light of this announcement?

9. What should the United States do, if anything, if Israel bombs Iran?

10. You can see Russia from Alaska; what would she say to Vladimir Putin about Georgia, S. Ossetia and other Black Sea states?

Please notice that there are no “gotcha” questions about the name of the Thai foreign minister or Trooper-gate or the Bridge to Nowhere. Unfortunately, I’m not so sure I know McCain’s answers to these questions. Then, it’s been 40 days since he’s held a press conference, but at least we’ve got 26 years of his record to go on, it’s just that he keeps changing his mind.

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