Mediaite.com:
Despite not being among the network personalities Fox News suspended due to exploring presidential runs, Sarah Palin hasn’t been heard from much on TV lately. Tonight, she changed that with an O’Reilly Factor appearance. Did she celebrate her return with an explosive stance on a hotly debated topic? If by “hotly debated topic” you mean “entitlement programs” and by “explosive stance” you mean “they must be reformed,” then yes!I've noticed this several times with Palin, esp. when she's on The O'Reilly Factor: when asked to go beyond her standard points she gets pissed. We saw it first with Katie Couric (granted The Perky One is an overrated and overpaid smug, liberal elitist, but still how hard can it be to respond to someone questioning you on what you read?) and you see it a lot with O'Reilly, who challenges her every time she comes on there which in turn often flusters Palin.
O’Reilly agreed that changes must be made, but when he tried to push Palin for specifics on what she’d do, he was met with limited success. She praised Rep. Paul Ryan’s Roadmap for America’s Future as having good ideas on the subject – specifically, it sounded, that Social Security benefits should remain the same for those 55 and older, while creating “personal accounts” for younger enrollees (lest we trust the government more than individuals to plan their futures).
When O’Reilly questioned her on whether poor people would be hurt by Medicare and Medicaid reform, though, he got…jabs at Michael Moore, Hollywood, and Washington. After multiple attempts to turn the conversation back to “the poor people,” he was able to finagle something out of Palin about the need for a “safety net” (coupled with her chiding the federal government for not letting Alaska tap further into its natural resources).
So what does she do when made to feel uncomfortable? Resort to a mood of crabbiness, condensation and oftentimes a defensive attack mode when repeatedly asked questions she should be more prepared for if you're going to be on the national stage (much less, a possible candidate for President). All this isn't to say Palin's stupid (far from it), but when it comes to smarts she's no Ann Coulter either. Really now if a little bit of constructive criticism is something that Palin can't handle, don't make it to be about your gender (as she's done before) when it really just might have to do with your own elitist attitude (or what Chris Christie said) displayed when challenged to go beyond your talking points.



