The latest Daily Caller report by Jonathan Strong on the JournoList focuses on the reaction to John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin. The piece is worth reading in full, but I found the most interesting part to be the response from Time magazine columnist Joe Klein:
Time’s Joe Klein then linked to his own piece, parts of which he acknowledged came from strategy sessions on Journolist. “Here’s my attempt to incorporate the accumulated wisdom of this august list-serve community,” he wrote. And indeed Klein’s article contained arguments developed by his fellow Journolisters. Klein praised Palin personally, calling her “fresh” and “delightful,” but questioned her “militant” ideology. He noted Palin had endorsed parts of Obama’s energy proposal.
In a long post today, Klein's defense is that he was just being "ironic":
Today, the Daily Caller has printed one of my Journolist emails, in which I share my latest published thinking about the just-announced Republican vice presidential candidate and thank the group--in an ironic, overblown tone--for the conversation we'd been having on the subject. When seen through the lens of witless right-wing conspiracy mongering, this seems embarrassing. But there was no conspiracy afoot. I didn't need the folks on Journolist to figure out how to react to Sarah Palin: her lack of qualifications for the vice presidency--and her spectacular abilities as a stand-up politician--represented a fecund gusher of material that made even the most mediocre of columnists seem like geniuses. Writing about Palin was not hard work; it still isn't; it will never be.
I'm sure Joe Klein would didn't need the advice from one Journolist member
"militant pro-lifer"
Palin was an active supporter of Pat Buchanan for president. Does that mean she's against free trade? No friend of Israel?
Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2008/08/29/palindrone/#ixzz0uRl4nepS
She inititially supported it, but was ultimately responsible for killing it.
"The criticism of her really, really needs to be ideological, not just about experience," wrote Ed Kilgore of the Democratic Strategist blog.
--Does the McCain campaign actually think that Hillary supporters will be lured to the ticket by a militant pro-lifer who also believes in the teaching of intelligent design?
--Palin exploded her state's coffers by imposing a windfall profits tax on the oil companies...sort of--no, exactly--like the proposal Barack Obama has made and John McCain has attacked. Apparently, she also supported the Bridge to Nowhere, despite her disclaimer at today's event. So how does McCain explain putting a tax-raising porker on his ticket?
--Palin was an active supporter of Pat Buchanan for president. Does that mean she's against free trade? No friend of Israel? (If you really want to have some fun, go over to the Commentary blog and watch the neoconservatives squirm.)
--Most of all, I wonder what Republican foreign policy and national security experts think of this--people like Dick Lugar, Brent Scowcroft, James Baker, Colin Powell, Chuck Hagel, George H.W. Bush?
The consensus of the group was that they needed to paint Palin as a
reaction
http://www.thenation.com/blog/sarah-palin-buchananite
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/08/mccain-camp-den.html
--Does the McCain campaign actually think that Hillary supporters will be lured to the ticket by a militant pro-lifer who also believes in the teaching of intelligent design?
--Palin exploded her state's coffers by imposing a windfall profits tax on the oil companies...sort of--no, exactly--like the proposal Barack Obama has made and John McCain has attacked. Apparently, she also supported the Bridge to Nowhere, despite her disclaimer at today's event. So how does McCain explain putting a tax-raising porker on his ticket?
--Palin was an active supporter of Pat Buchanan for president. Does that mean she's against free trade? No friend of Israel? (If you really want to have some fun, go over to the Commentary blog and watch the neoconservatives squirm.)
--Most of all, I wonder what Republican foreign policy and national security experts think of this--people like Dick Lugar, Brent Scowcroft, James Baker, Colin Powell, Chuck Hagel, George H.W. Bush?
Read more: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2008/08/29/palindrone/#ixzz0uRifhKp7
The only joint actions that worked, to my recollection, involved meeting up at some bar. Journalists don't do joint actions; opinion journalists like me are paid to have our own thoughts--we hoard them jealously until we publish them. Today, the Daily Caller has printed one of my Journolist emails, in which I share my latest published thinking about the just-announced Republican vice presidential candidate and thank the group--in an ironic, overblown tone--for the conversation we'd been having on the subject. When seen through the lens of witless right-wing conspiracy mongering, this seems embarrassing. But there was no conspiracy afoot. I didn't need the folks on Journolist to figure out how to react to Sarah Palin: her lack of qualifications for the vice presidency--and her spectacular abilities as a stand-up politician--represented a fecund gusher of material that made even the most mediocre of columnists seem like geniuses. Writing about Palin was not hard work; it still isn't; it will never be.