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Tues, Part II: Palin Fallout
posted at 2008-09-03 00:10 | Last modified 2008-09-03 00:40
ABC’s Political Radar reports VP nominee Sarah Palin was a no-show for an event honoring her in St. Paul this afternoon.
The Republican National Coalition for Life reception was expected to attract 800 attendees, mostly delegates. Event organizer Phyllis Schlafly blamed the top of the ticket.
“I think this is clearly somebody in the McCain campaign who doesn't understand where the votes are coming from," Schlafly told ABC News. "They only told me this at 10 o'clock last night, and it was a call from somebody down-the-line in the McCain campaign.
"The pro-lifers who paid $95 to come to this event because of Sarah Palin are going to be very unhappy," she added.
McCain campaign officials said Palin was busy practicing her convention speech. She’s expected to deliver it Wednesday night, though that hasn't been officially confirmed at this hour.
Vet school
The traditional media, back from a leisurely holiday weekend, got down to work today on vetting Sarah Palin.
- WaPo reports the “anti-corruption” Palin headed up a 527 for embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.
- The AP reports Palin took money from the same fundraising scheme that bankrolled Stevens, too.
- ABC’s Jake Tapper says she backed a fringe party pushing for Alaska’s secession from the US. McCain folks say it ain’t so.
- The Weekly Standard’s John McCormick points out a 2006 ADN article in which Palin says she’s pro-contraception – for adults, anyway. (BTW, she also admits to smoking pot and having gay friends.)
McCain vs. the Press, Part 1
The NYT Elisabeth Bumiller says the GOP only started vetting Palin the day McCain invited her to be VP. McCain's campaign strenuously disputes this. The Senator himself told the AP today he knew about all Palin’s issues before asking her to be his VP. Meantime, his campaign staffers bashed Bumiller for seeking information about the campaign from someone who isn’t on its payroll. Multiple sourcing? The nerve!
McCain vs. the Press, Part 2
You can add CNN to the blacklist, too. The McCain campaign's on the warpath against CNN after anchor Campbell Brown put too much pressure on campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds to answer her questions about Sarah Palin’s qualifications to be President. Quel unfair.
I caught the segment live Monday night, and it wasn't pretty watching Bounds get schooled. But he brought it on himself by being under-prepared. Brown did her job, which is to ask questions. Bounds just couldn’t answer them. Watch it here.
Anyway, the campaign retaliated by pulling McCain out of a prime interview spot on Larry King tonight. McCain's known for his tendency to hold a grudge, but this doesn't seem like the best time for a fit of pique, given his campaign's complaints today that the Senator isn't getting enough TV time. (Larry King, BTW, had no problem filling McCain's segment.)
Spin Cycle
- McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis says this election is not about issues – it’s about personalities.
- Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder has a copy of the GOP’s Sarah Palin talking points.
- Brave New Pac (Who are these people?) swiftboats McCain – and I don’t use that term lightly.
- The MySpace page of Bristol Palin’s “baby daddy” (thanks, Fox) makes headlines in the foreign press.
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