http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080903/pl_politico/13111Mike Allen
Wed Sep 3, 8:21 AM ET
Mounting a ferocious defense of his embattled running mate, John McCain said he is buying a TV ad arguing that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has more experience than the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama.
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In an effort to rev up conservatives, a campaign statement issued a list of critical media mentions that it called “smears” of Palin, who speaks in primetime at the convention on Wednesday night.
The campaign announced: “The McCain campaign will launch a television ad directly comparing Gov. Palin’s executive experience as a governor who oversees 24,000 state employees, 14 statewide cabinet agencies and a $ 10 billion budget to Barack Obama’s experience as a one-term junior senator from Illinois.”
The ad is what the campaign calls “a forward-leaning effort to counter the shameless smears that have prevailed during Gov. Palin’s introduction to the American voter.”
Senior adviser Steve Schmidt gave Politico a statement saying the campaign will have no more comment about the vetting process, which was the subject of more critical coverage in Wednesday morning’s papers:
“Gov. Sarah Palin is an exceptional governor with a record of accomplishment that exceeds, by far, the governing accomplishments of Sen. Obama. Her selection came after a six-month long rigorous vetting process where her extraordinary credentials and exceptionalism became clear. This vetting controversy is a faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee for vice president of the United States who has never been a part of the old boys' network that has come to dominate the news establishment in this country. Sen. McCain picked his governing partner after a long and thorough search. Gov. Palin looks forward to addressing the nation and laying out the fundamental choice this election represents for the American people.
"The McCain campaign will have no further comment about our long and thorough process. This nonsense is over. It is time to begin the debate about how to win the two wars this country is engaged in,how to make this country energy independent and how to create jobs for American families that are hurting. The American people get to do the vetting now on Election Day — Nov. 4."
Here is a document the McCain campaign sent to reporters this morning:
MCCAIN ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR TODAY:
• Mayor Rudy Giuliani will be on all three network and cable television stations defending Gov. Palin’s family and her historic candidacy.
• The McCain campaign will launch a television ad directly comparing Gov. Palin’s executive experience as a governor who oversees 24,000 state employees, 14 statewide cabinet agencies and a $10 billion budget to Barack Obama’s experience as a one-term junior senator from Illinois.
• Former Democratic vice presidential nominee and current U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman and Congressman Eric Cantor will hold a press conference calling on Barack Obama to condemn and/or dismiss his official campaign spokesman who implied Gov. Sarah Palin supported Nazi sympathy because she wore a Pat Buchanan pin on one single occasion.
• McCain-Palin surrogates Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, former Ebay CEO Meg Whitman, McCain senior adviser Nicolle Wallace, McCain communications director Jill Hazelbaker and McCain senior adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer will do television and radio interviews to demand better treatment for Gov. Palin’s family.
REPORTED FALSEHOODS AND SMEARS AGAINST GOV. PALIN’S FAMILY AND HISTORIC CANDIDACY: The lies against Sarah Palin
• Liberal Bloggers Questioned Whether Gov. Palin's Fifth Child Was Actually Bristol Palin's Child.
"'Where has Bristol Palin (far right, holding Trig, with a ring on her wedding finger) been for the past year? Has she been attending high school? Or was she absent because of infectious mononucleosis for between five and eight months, as is now being reported on the Internet? Why would a 43-year-old woman, on her fifth pregnancy, with a Down syndrome child, after her amniotic fluid has started to leak, not go to the nearest hospital immediately, even if she was in Texas for a speech? Why would she not only not go to the hospital in Texas, but take an eight-hour plane flight to Seattle and then Anchorage? Why would she choose to deliver the baby not in the nearest major facility in Anchorage but at a much smaller hospital near her home town? Why did the flight attendants on the trip home say she bore no signs of being pregnant?' It strikes me as likely that there are reasonable answers to these questions — more reasonable than the only one given so far" (Andrew Sullivan, "Things That Make You Go Hmmm," The Atlantic's "The Daily Dish" Blog, Posted 8/31/08)
• CNN's John Roberts Questioned Whether Governor Palin Would Be Able To Care For A Child With Down Syndrome As Vice President.
CNN's JOHN ROBERTS: "There's also this issue that on April 18, she gave birth to a baby with Down syndrome. The baby is just slightly more than 4 months old now. Children with Down Syndrome require an awful lot of attention. The role of vice president, it seems to me, would take up an awful lot of her time, and it raises the issue of, how much time will she have to dedicate to her newborn child?" BASH: "That's a very good question, and I guess my guess is that perhaps the line inside the McCain campaign would be, if it were a man being picked who also had a baby 4 months ago with Down syndrome, would you ask the same question? And that might be another way to kind of, you know, close the gender gap in trying to make the point that, yes, she not only has unfortunately a baby with Down syndrome, but she has five children, the oldest of whom is apparently in the Army and is apparently going to head off to Iraq in the fall." (CNN's "Newsroom," 8/29/08)
• The Washington Post's Sally Quinn Questioned Whether A Woman With Five Children And One Having Down Syndrome Would Be Able To Make Her Family A Priority If She Were Vice President.
SALLY QUINN: "And I do think, too, that you have to weigh the situation. It's one thing to have one or two or three children, especially if they are healthy children. And everyone knows that women and men are different and that moms and dads are different and that women — the burden of child care almost always falls on the woman. But I think, when you have five children, one a 4-month-old Down syndrome baby, and a daughter who is 17, who is also a child and who is going to need her mother very much in the next few months and years with her own baby coming, that I don't see how you cannot make your family your first priority. And I think if you are going to be president of the United States, which she may well be, I think that's going to be a real stretch for her." (CNN's "Newsroom," 9/2/08)
• On MSNBC, Headlines Beneath The Live Coverage Included "SOME WORKING MOTHERS WORRY THAT PALIN IS TAKING ON TOO MUCH" And "SOME VOTERS CONCERNED IF PALIN, A MOTHER OF FIVE, HAS TIME TO BE VP."
"Two recent headlines underneath the talking heads at MSNBC: 'SOME WORKING MOTHERS WORRY THAT PALIN IS TAKING ON TOO MUCH.' Moments later, it changed to, 'SOME VOTERS CONCERNED IF PALIN, A MOTHER OF FIVE HAS TIME TO BE VP.' So good of them to express the concern in headline form." ("MSNBC Worries About Sarah Palin's Time Management," National Review's "Campaign Spot" Blog, Posted 9/2/08)
• Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) Said That Gov. Palin Was A Supporter Of Pat Buchanan Who He Called A "Nazi Sympathizer."
"Here's Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida: John McCain's decision to select a vice presidential running mate that endorsed Pat Buchanan for president in 2000 is a direct affront to all Jewish Americans. Pat Buchanan is a Nazi sympathizer with a uniquely atrocious record on Israel, even going as far as to denounce bringing former Nazi soldiers to justice and praising Adolf Hilter for his 'great courage.'" (Ben Smith, "Palin On Israel," Politico, Posted 8/29/08)
• The Obama Campaign Linked Gov. Palin As A Supporter Of Pat Buchanan Who They Called A "Nazi Sympathizer."
"'Palin was a supporter of [MSNBC analyst] Pat Buchanan, a right-winger or as many Jews call him: a Nazi sympathizer,' Obama spokesman Mark Bubriski wrote in an e-mail." (Marc Caputo, "Obama Camp Connects The Dots For Jews: McCain ... Palin ... Buchanan ... Nazis," The Miami Herald's "Naked Politics" Blog, Posted 8/30/08)
• James Carville Claimed That Because Gove. Palin Was A Supporter Of Pat Buchanan She Would Not Be Attractive To Democrats.
CARVILLE: "Again, when they find out, when they find out — I man, when people find out that Sarah Palin supported Pat Buchanan, that she supports teaching creationism, they're not — she's not a person that's going to be very attractive to Democrats." (CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees," 8/29/08)
• James Carville Said That Gov. Palin Would Appeal To "Pat Buchanan Kind Of Republicans."
CARVILLE: "I think, among social conservatives, she's going to be fine. She endorsed Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. And he's a hero to social conservatives. She's for teaching creationism in the public schools in Alaska, something that is sort of No. 1 on the social conservative agenda. So, yes, I think, to the kind of Pat Buchanan kind of Republicans, she's going to have some appeal." (CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees," 8/29/08)
• In Toledo, Ohio, Sen. Joe Biden Said One Of The Differences Between Him And Gov. Palin Was "She's Good-Looking."
"In his introduction of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., just now on the rooftop of the Toldeo Public Library, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., commented on the pulchritude of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain's newly-named running mate. … 'From our perspective the whole deal is how does the government help you get back up without getting in the way?' Biden asked. 'There's a gigantic — gigantic — difference between John McCain and Barack Obama, and between me and I suspect my vice presidential opponent. And that is that — ' The crowd laughed. 'Well there's obvious differences,' Biden said, beginning to ham it up. 'She's good-looking,' he said, laughing. 'You know there's obvious differences. But there's a whole lot — '" (Jake Tapper and Matt Jaffe, "Oh, That Joe! (Number 4 in a Series) — Biden on Difference Between Him And Palin: 'She's Good Looking'," ABC News' "Political Punch" Blog, Posted 8/31/08)
• CNN's James Carville Said That Gov. Palin Is "Almost Absent Qualifications For The Job."
JAMES CARVILLE: "I just would make the point, is my family — I had five sisters. They're all pro-life to the core. And they all would act in exactly the same way. That's not the question. The question is, why would she be running for vice president? I mean this woman is almost absent qualifications for the job. I mean this is — she is — I'm willing to concede to the whole world that she's a very committed pro-life person, that she's an honorable person, that she's a good mother. But that's not the issue before the American people right now." (CNN's "Larry King Live," 9/1/08)
• Liberal Radio Host Ed Schultz Said That Gov. Palin Was An "Empty Pantsuit" Who Had Started A "Bimbo Alert."
"Liberal radio host Ed Schultz was telling listeners Monday that Palin was an 'empty pantsuit' who had set off a 'bimbo alert.'" (Howard Kurtz, "A Blogger, A Baby, A Cry Of Concern," The Washington Post, 9/2/08)
• Sherrod Brown Criticized Gov. Palin For Being Mayor Of A Small Town.
"U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown urged the pro-Democratic crowd at the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Council’s annual Labor Day Picnic today not to be shy about promoting the Barack Obama-Joe Biden presidential ticket in their personal sphere of contacts. … 'She’s been mayor of a city half the size of Blue Ash and governor of a state with half the population of Hamilton County,' Brown said. 'John McCain failed in his first big decision as a potential president. He chose somebody with no experience to be a heartbeat away from being the U.S. president.'" (Steve Kemme, "At Picnic, Brown Slams Palin," Cincinnati Enquirer, 9/2/08)
• ABC's Jake Tapper Reported That Gov. Palin Was Once A Member Of The Alaskan Independence Party, Which Wanted To Secede From The United States.
"The campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., likes to herald the independence of its new running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States." (Jake Tapper, "Members Of 'Fringe' Alaskan Independence Party Say Palin Was A Member In 90s," ABC's "Political Punch" Blog, Posted 9/1/08)
• The Washington Post's Richard Cohen Said That Gov. Palin Was A "Sitcom" Candidate And Would Be A "Disaster Movie" If She Became President.
"One of the great sights of American political life — a YouTube moment if ever there was one — was to see the doughboy face of Newt Gingrich as he extolled the virtues of Sarah Palin, a sitcom of a vice presidential choice and a disaster movie if she moves up to the presidency." (Richard Cohen, op-ed, "Republicans Rush In," The Washington Post, 9/2/08)
• Tom Daschle Attacked Palin As Having “Absolutely No Experience” And Being “Extreme Right Wing.”
Daschle: “Three questions: With absolutely no experience, are we ready, if necessary, to place our future in her hands as commander in chief and our premier negotiator with other world leaders? Are we comfortable in having a VP who represents the extreme right wing, including the advocacy of creationism and a denial of any human responsibility in climate change? What happens if Gov. Palin is found to have abused her office in the firing of a police officer?” (“Politico Arena — Palin Edition,” The Politico, 8/31/08)
Topic: MCCain to lauch full court press in defense of Sarah (Read 607 times)