The XX Factor: Slate women blog about politics, etc...

Sarah and Dick

With today's dust-up over blocking press access to her meet-and-greet with foreign dignitaries, Sarah Palin reminds me ever-more of the vice president she is absolutely not meant to invoke ... Dick Cheney. She assumes the press has base motives and scorns its watchdog function--today's lesson was that print reporters and TV producers can't even be trusted with the handshake pleasantries. As governor, she prizes secrecy and loyalty among her aides. She hides her e-mails in a private Yahoo account. Palin's rationale may be different than Cheney's, especially when it comes to her treatment of the press. She has skated on thin talking points when trying to discuss foreign and domestic policy in the few interviews she's granted since McCain chose her, and that's not Cheney's problem. But if she makes it to the office of the vice president, might she prefer that it remain a closed box? It looks like the answer is yes. Even if that's not the fresh look the McCain campaign wants to promise.