be sure to read kurtz’ writeup below the video.  that is truly odd that she couldn’t call to mind such an obvious & recent example from her own experience.  kurtz writes that she sided against exxon, but doesn’t say how she sided against them, other than to say she was “heavily involved.”  is it possible that she was heavily involved in advocating for one side in a supreme court case without realizing it was a supreme court case?  probably not, but somehow, wherever her mind stores that experience, she didn’t call it up as she considered couric’s question.  maybe she so discounts the possibility that she might have a substantive point to make — based not on talking points she’s been fed, but her actual experience in Alaska — that she wasn’t searching her mind for real examples, but rather for the least worst talking point from her weeks of recent cramming.  imagine how strong an answer it would have been if she had mentioned her siding with the plaintiffs against exxon.  bizarre.

it’s farfetched, but I have wondered several times if there may be a slight chance that she is intentionally doing badly in these interviews with the idea of dramatically redeeming herself at the debate with a solid performance.  I’m not talking about the usual game of people in the campaign “lowering expectations” by talking about how much she’s up against and how it’s all brand new, etc.  I’m instead referring to the possibility that she would actually do badly in interviews on purpose to try to swing the narrative a certain way.  to make herself into the ultimate underdog, with even some conservatives saying she doesn’t cut it, and then miraculously become articulate at the debates.  not saying I believe that’s a real possibility… when I consider the degree of difficulty and risk.  but I clearly remember how republicans baited kerry into mentioning cheney’s daughter in response to a debate question about whether homosexuals are born homosexual.  edwards had given an identical answer to an identical question in the vp debate, and cheney thanked him on camera for what he said.  but when kerry said the exact same thing — almost verbatim — cheney was indignant in the interviews immediately following the presidential debate, and uttered the should-be-famous line, “I am an angry father.”  that sentence is probably the best piece of speech writing in the history of american politics, and very likely gave bush his margin of victory.