Palin Supporter Grilled By MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell Responds

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by Steve Krakauer | 9:38 am, November 20th, 2009

» 20 comments

In this new age of media, a person who was on TV for approximately 90 seconds can make such an impact that he or she can extend their brief fame far beyond just 15 minutes (Joe the Plumber turned 15 seconds into a book deal).

The teenage Sarah Palin fan who Norah O’Donnell asked (or, grilled) about bailouts on Wednesday has responded in a lengthy blog after her story was picked up all over TV and the web.

During a live hit on MSNBC from a book signing line for “Going Rogue,” O’Donnell asked a girl to read her t-shirt, which was a joke about bailouts, before following up with a question. “Did you know that Sarah Palin supported the bailout?” she said, and read from her notes to get the exact language. She summed up the report saying of the supporters, “They can’t be specific in some cases about the issues, but they feel a connection.”

Depending on your point of view, what happened here was either “Badgers Teenage Girl About Sarah Palin” or “Stumps Palin Supporter“. But now, the girl who was asked the question is responding on her blog (perfectly titled “Red White and Conservative”), and “Jackie” sheds some light on how everything went down:

She told us she’d be walking up to us. You know like she just stumbled upon us. The shot began… I kept telling myself answer her question well, don’t freak out. Well, I thought she’d ask me the same question. She asked the man beside me (who by the way is NOT my dad) the same question she had before we went on air. Myself on the other hand, not the same story. She had me read my shirt and then proceeded to ask me “Did you know Sarah Palin supported the bailout” to be 100% honest I was like, are you kidding me? She is trying to use my shirt against me. I was so shocked by the craftiness she had that I was truly stumped.

O’Donnell responded on Twitter to some “lies” out there:

Hey want to respond re lies out there … 1) Palin fan was not 13. She’d voted in 2008 2) The man was not her father ..

3) I walked the line and asked who wanted to talk on camera. They volunteered.

But Jackie disputes a key point. “Norah also claims I told her I voted (on her twitter),” she writes. “That is not true. She never asked my age or if I voted. I’m 17 I couldn’t have voted…and I don’t live in an ACORN district so I didn’t have a chance to even register illegally.” (Nice ACORN shot in there…)

No matter your political beliefs, this feels like a borderline-ambush interview. With the widely-held view of MSNBC as a liberal network (based on its prime time programming), this tone and style seeping into news coverage mirrors what many on the left claim Fox News is guilty of. This will provide more fodder to those who feel MSNBC is unfair to conservatives – and in a week where we’ve seen more Sarah Palin coverage than possibly even Barack Obama coverage last year this time, this short exchange will be part of the overall takeaway.

Here’s the MSNBC segment:

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15 minutes of fame, Going Rogue, Norah O'Donnell, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin Week

http://glassbead.info Magister

I’ll leave whether or not, she used her Blackberry to google the stump to others, but…

Norah O’Donnell is MSNBC’s “Chief Washington Correspondent”?
I thought she just co-hosted an unwatchable program in the afternoon…
Zakk

So O’Donnell can’t ask politicians tough questions but she has no problem going after a young woman in line. Hey, MSNBC, how those ratings? How’s the public reacting to your version of the news?

What a hack!
Jim R

Norah probably should have gone easier on the grilling, whether it was a teenager or an adult subject. Let them have their day and report on it.

It’s not like we don’t have ample opportunity to query Herbert Hoover Republican politicians on their lack of understanding of the most basic macro economics, actual history and the Constitution. Leave the dutiful hoi polloi alone that regurgitate all those great sounding platitudes of failed conservative thinking.

Especially when the forty-year conservative jihad against “the media” and “the elites” is obviously bearing such faux populist fruit.
Pat Doherty

Jim R,
Are you referencing the Herbert Hoover that increased government spending by 50 percent during his presidency, the man who was criticized by FDR for overspending and not balancing the budget, established the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and passed the Emergency Relief and Construction Act?

P.S. Macroeconomics is one word.
ImNotBlue

Didn’t Susan Roesgen lose her job for essentially doing the same thing?

Looks like O’Donnell was doing an impression… nice.

But some of the REALLY crazy stuff came after the attack… er… “interview.” That was when Chris Matthews felt the need (and O’Donnell joined in), on how “white” the crowd was. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” says Matthews… just wanted to point it out. Apparently, this form of racist attack (implying that because the crowd was majority white, that’s good or bad) is also acceptable on MSNBC. Wow…

As I said last week… MSNBC will attack Democrats for not being “Liberal enough,” but they have a lot of more “fun” when they get to attack Republicans/Conservatives/right-of-center folks.
Ted

White, angry and dumb as soap dish. This is the Palin fan profile and “Sarah” is all for profiling. It’s a fact, ask anyone. I wish that the msm would stop with the ambush questions which seemed to be aimed only at conservatives. For instance, what color is your shirt? What do you read? What day of the week is it? SHAME ON YOU MSM!!!
TfT

Yes INB, I also think she pulled a Susan Roesgyn and NOrah made a fool of herself. The young girl was much more professional than Norah, who had to read from her blackberry whatever little factoid that her producer/cohort (Schuster)/or Team Obama sent to her. Much like Katie conferred with Team Obama before she interviewed Palin, looks like Norah had to get her questions/point from her TeamObama individual as well.
.
I saw the segment on Bill O’Reilly’s show last night; haha. I wonder how many people watched Norah on MSNBC as opposed to how many watched her on FNC.

Rush had a field day with this story today also.

MSNBC — the place for liberal propaganda and ambush interviews with teenagers.
TfT

Correction: Actually, NOrah read from her notes, not her blackberry.
Ted

Tft – Actually it’s the Palin crowd that on a regular basis makes fools of itself…which isn’t the most difficult thing for them to do and isn’t exactly news…but its fun. You’re just pissed because they prove it over and over and over again. And frankly, I love em.
MartiniShark

It’s an ambush because you have a professional journalist challenging an obviously younger girl – with the help of notes, no less. You see Nora is lost without her crib sheet when the girl mentions she favors Palin for Constitutional reasons and makes O’Donnell silent because she had no stats at her disposal.

I bet if O’Donnell saw a reporter ask Obama or Biden questions this challenging she would label it as an attack.
shootfromthehip

She had notes because she wanted to read the exact quote that John McCain said directly regarding bailouts. Do you have a problem with that (or facts)? Notice how still this young lady still didn’t “believe” that Palin or McCain supported the 2008 bailouts. That gives you a window into how these people think, which is a bigger story than anything being reported here.
MartiniShark

You have a point Shoot — it would almost be like those voters who declared that if Obama was elected he would make their car payments and their house payments for them. Of course, those were adults, not high-schoolers. And of course there were no reporters challenging their viewpoints either.
brigante133

Man, it’s a good thing that dude in line with her isn’t her father or it would be totally wrong when they leave that rally and have hot passionate sex. Also, if that girl was wearing such a ridiculous shirt, she should be able to talk about the subject, it wasn’t an ambush. It’s like someone wearing a t shirt for a slayer concert and someone getting angry because you ask them how good slayer is live. She’s a poser. It’s not THAT horrible of O’donnel to ask what these people like about Sarah Palin, they are in a line to see Sarah Palin holding two of Sarah Palin’s books and wearing shirts that say Sarah Palin. It’s not O’donnel’s fault that they are inarticulate morons.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Chuck-Steele/1147844375 Chuck Steele

I thought the kid did a fine job of standing up to an aggressive newser. Nora snuck up on her with the question she put out and the kid answered as best she could.
In the mean while, Nora got the best exposure that she has had in years, being rebroadcast by Beck, O’Reilly and the rest of the adults on FNC. Too bad Ms O’Donnell was looking the part of a mega jerk in the process. Yep she is a skilled journalist in her ability to sneak up on a high school kid in a live interview on national tv. I am certain that the hundreds of people that saw it live wet themselves over the victory.
I think that it is time for O’Donnell to move on to The Naked News where she can be seen for the dolt that she is. (I mean that respectfully of course. I am certain that the Naked News journalists have moderately functioning brains)
Jim R

Pat Doherty,

Woops, macroeconomics – thanks!
Pat Doherty

You’re welcome
Sunnyr

Norah O’Donnell is a dyed-in-the-wool Obama groupie and has lost her journalistic credibility. IF she ever had any to begin with. I refuse to watch this dingbat any longer.
ImNotBlue

shootfromthehip says:
November 20, 2009 at 2:28 pm

The “younger lady,” is a minor… not even able to vote.

And as for not believing Nora… well, I’m not sure I’d believe someone from MSNBC either. They do have a history of “getting things wrong,” when it comes to Palin and Republicans. I wonder, would you take the word for a FOX reporter? Hmmm…?

brigante133 says:
November 20, 2009 at 2:54 pm

Disgusting.

_________

Just remember folks… when O’Reilly and FOX “ambush” an elected official, and ask questions about what they’ve done… that’s wrong. But confronting a teenager, live on television, and accosting her… as long as she supports a Republican… that’s great! It’s hypocrisy we can believe in…
Ted

ImNotBlue -

You really are a first class boob.
ImNotBlue

Ted says:
November 21, 2009 at 6:59 pm

Thanks. Your well thought out, highly intellectual responses, show the level with which I should value your criticisms.

*Yawn*