And how will we know those troublemakers? They will be the ones unwilling to treat the governor of Alaska with what campaign manager Rick Davis called “some level of respect and deference.”

Deference?

The dictionary definitions I find begin with “respectful submission” and “yielding.”
But it would be wrong — and, dare I say it, even sexist — to suggest that Sarah Barracuda is too meek for a little back-and-forth with the denizens of the Fourth Estate.

Early this year, voters (and a certain “Saturday Night Live” skit) rightly smacked news outlets for falling captive to the Barack Obama “rock star” narrative. They demanded to know more about the Democrat than that he had a knack for drawing big crowds and delivering inspiring speeches.

Those complaints and a time-honored primary season tradition — reporters boring in on candidates after they become front-runners — helped spur a tougher look at Obama. Stories examined his fundraising, picking over his ties to shady fundraiser Antoin Rezko; detailed his apparent comfort in the bare-knuckle world of Chicago politics; and described his awkward attempts to downplay his opposition to the military “surge” in Iraq, even as it appeared to be having some success.
Even without that flimsy standard, Gibson should have no trouble finding the justification to ask Palin a few of these questions:

* You have been skeptical that global warming is caused by humans. On what basis do you reject the scientific consensus that fossil fuels and human activity have contributed to climate change?

* You asked the librarian in your town about the policy for banning books. Are there books you think should be kept from the public?

* You have claimed credit for killing the “bridge to nowhere,” the $398-million link between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. Didn’t you support it until it was clear Congress was not willing to pay for the much-ridiculed project?

* You have said students should be allowed to “debate both sides” of evolution. Should creationism be taught alongside evolution in the public schools? Do you believe in evolution?

* What’s at the root of the terrorist problem in Pakistan? And how would you make progress, which has eluded the Bush administration, in that dangerous country?

* Your opponents claim you and McCain would just extend the Bush administration for another four years. Cite three instances in which you have differed with the president.

These comments were written int LA Times