Couric says Sarah Palin annoyed during interview
Within a day of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s announcement that she won’t seek the presidency in 2012, former “CBS Evening News” host Katie Couric reflected on her viral 2008 interview with the conservative politician.
Speaking about the highly publicized discussion at the Thursday Atlantic/Aspen Institute Ideas Forum, Ms. Couric said it’s bothersome when others only seem to remember that the 54-year-old asked Mrs. Palin what sort of newspapers and sources she read, according to FishbowlDC. When prompted with that question, Mrs. Palin could not name a specific source or newspaper she’d read and was disparaged worldwide as a result.
“It does kind of bug me when people only remember that question,” said Ms. Couric, who conducted the interview during the 2008 election cycle and said there was much more to that discussion than many are willing to admit and that Mrs. Palin had appeared annoyed during the chat.
“I spent 45 minutes talking to Palin about foreign policy issues,” Ms. Couric said. “We talked about nation building, Iran, a surge and how it might be effective. It was at the height of the fiscal crisis. It’s funny to me that that one question got so much attention. She was so annoyed with me at that point and just wanted me to be gone. What can I say?”
Ms. Couric asserted that she was genuinely interested in what Mrs. Palin read, given the Republican powerhouse’s “strong” beliefs.
“When I asked the question about what do you read, I was curious,” Ms. Couric went on. “It was just kind of a spontaneous question. I thought, ’gee I’m interested.’ She has such strong political views. Her ideology is so … specific. I wanted to know what she read on a regular basis that helped shape her world view.”
The interview, which some have argued cost Mrs. Palin and former presidential candidate John McCain the election, involved Ms. Couric repeatedly asking the “Going Rogue” author what she read.
“And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this - to stay informed and to understand the world?” Ms. Couric asked.
“I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media,” Mrs. Palin said.
Project yields rumors of Eastwood acting again
Following his award-winning performance in “Gran Torino,” Clint Eastwood announced to his fans that his acting career was done. But now rumors of his return to the screen are swirling around Hollywood.
“They’re not writing a lot of really great material for guys my age,” Mr. Eastwood told Entertainment Weekly in August. “In lieu of that, I would just prefer to stay behind the camera. But if a great role came along, yeah, I would do that.”
That role might be the lead in the baseball drama “Trouble With the Curve,” a script about a veteran baseball scout with failing eyesight who talks his daughter into going on a road trip with him.
Talks of film production include Robert Lorenz, Mr. Eastwood’s longtime producing partner at Malpaso Productions. Mr. Lorenz and Mr. Eastwood have been working together for nine years - their first project together was “Blood Work” in 2002. Their most recent collaboration was the biopic “J. Edgar.”
“Trouble With the Curve” would also be Mr. Lorenz’s directorial debut.
’Obama Girl’ says her man still has ’a lot of work to do’
Amber Lee Ettinger found fame as the online sensation “Obama Girl,” starring in a music video so popular that even the Hillary Rodham Clinton camp tried to horn in on the action and steal her away.
“I’ll always feel a tie, and a special connection [with] him,” Ms. Ettinger told The Daily Caller last week. “He does have a special place in my heart.”
But all is not well in Obama Girl-land. Like many Americans, Ms. Ettinger isn’t quite ready to call the Obama presidency a slam-dunk success.
“Well, he had a lot of work to do,” she told TheDC. “He was brought into a situation that was very hard, not a lot of people would be able to deal with that situation. But yeah, he’s got a lot of work to do.”
She also has a soft place in her heart for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who she calls “the nicest guy I have ever met in my entire life.” Ms. Ettinger appeared twice on Mr. Huckabee’s Fox News Channel show.
Ms. Ettinger received a crush of responses to her “Crush on Obama” video in 2007.
“The amount of positive response I received was truly inspiring. I had a lot of people tell me that they went out and voted because of me. It was really cool to see such a great response like that.”
But not everyone was encouraging: “For every positive response there was a negative one, too. I just tell myself that you can’t please everyone, and try to focus on the positive.”
Ms. Ettinger also catches blame from some Americans for giving Mr. Obama the broad appeal that made him electable in 2008. But she’s not buying it. “I feel like people are mad at me for that,” she said. “It’s like - don’t hold it against me. I just was in a video.”
• Compiled by Laura Donovan and Betsi Fores 2011 The Daily Caller.
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