Media kept away from Palin at Florida rally

The media was kept far away from Palin and the crowd at a rally this morning in Clearwater, Florida. Picking up on a theme she started over the weekend, Palin tried to falsely tie Obama to former 60s radical William Ayers and regurgitated worn-out stories of his former pastor, Rev. Wright.

During a rally in California yesterday, she accused Obama of "paling around with terrorists." The mainstream media blasted her and pointed out that Obama was eight years old when Ayers was involved in radical activities. This morning, Palin toned down her remark slightly saying:

"[Obama} is someone who sees America as 'imperfect enough' to work with a former domestic terrorist who targeted his own country."

By "working" with him, Palin is referring to the fact that Ayers and Obama sat on the same board for a non-profit organization attempting to raise money for education projects in Chicago. Of course Obama didn't appoint Ayers to the board and had no control over who else was on the board.

Besides Palin's scathing, patently untrue statements, what's stunning about the Florida rally today is how tightly the campaign is controlling media access. The St. Petersburg Times said reporters weren't permitted to come inside the venue to to talk to Palin's audience. When reporters tried to leave the designated press area, someone from the campaign would escort them out. St. Petersburg Times staff writer Eileen Schulte wrote that one reporter asked an escort why the press wasn't allowed to mingle and she responded that in the past, negative things had been written about the campaign.

What does the McCain campaign think this is - the former Soviet Union? We have something here called the Freedom of the Press, it's covered by the Constitution. McCain's desperate attempts to control every aspect of media coverage is evidence of how perverted his campaign has gotten.