Is Andrew Sullivan Over Doing It? A Quote from Tim Russert

I don't think Sullivan is over doing it. In The Daily Dish, Sullivan offers us this important quote from Tim Russert:

"[After] all my discussions with presidents, both while in office and after they left, and their advisors, while in office and after they left, and in my reading of history, particularly presidential history, I am ever more convinced that a leader cannot make tough decisions unless he or she is asked tough questions.  It is the only vehicle that brings them to closure, that forces any sense of intellectual rigor, that forces them to find a way to reconcile the political advice or the political pressures brought to bear. It will not be enough in a democratic society to simply have those on the left or right who are the pamphleteers and unwilling to challenge the views of people they support.  Tough questions need not be the loudest or most sensational or the most theatrical, but rather probing and, hopefully, incisive."

Sullivan then goes on to say:

Until Sarah Palin agrees to a full and open press conference, she should not even be considered as a possible vice-president of the United States. What has been going on with her and access to her is an outrage to democratic discourse and the entire electoral system.

I agree with Sullivan. What in the world is going on with the press? Why are they not making this into a bigger issue?  Why are they not demanding, really demanding, a press conference and making those demands public? Some pundits in defense of Palin are saying that if we saw the real Palin, not protected by the McCain campaign, we would be impressed. Maybe. But is it even about being impressed? What are her answers to "tough questions . . . probing and, hopefully, incisive."