by Rick Pearson
MINNEAPOLIS---Frank Donatelli, the John McCain ally who is deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee, urged Illinois delegates to the GOP's national convention today to prepare to "defend" McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Despite questions about how well the McCain campaign vetted Palin before selecting her last Friday---and revelations on Monday that her 17-year-old daughter was five-months pregnant---Donatelli said the reviews of the running mate choice were overwhelmingly positive.
Yet Donatelli also sounded a cautious note, indicating more revelations about the largely unknown Palin are likely to continue to surface for some time.
"Ladies and gentleman, we have to stand by her and we have to defend her," said Donatelli, a former lobbyist and member of the Reagan administration who has advised several Republican presidential candidates.
"There's going to be a lot of stuff thrown out there by anonymous bloggers and so forth and so on. But this is a fine woman. This is a woman with a loving family. This is a woman with a great record. And she's going to make a terrific partner for John McCain," he said.
Donatelli said despite a difference in backgrounds, geography and gender, the two are united in the cause for reform and have "absolute integrity."
"She's the perfect compliment for John McCain and if there's a message coming out of this convention, it's this: change is coming to Washington, D.C.," Donatelli said.
Still, Donatelli belittled the mantra of change being pushed by Democratic nominee Barack Obama, though without mentioning the Illinois senator's name.
"The key point in John McCain's public service, in addition to serving a cause greater than himself, is one word: Reform," Donatelli said. "That's a different, I would argue, a different concept than change. What does that mean? Change from what to what? It's just a word that you throw out. Reform is a much meatier topic."
Donatelli was apparently unaware of the sign on the lectern from which he addressed the Illinois Republican delegation. The sign read: "Change for Illinois."
• 
• 
• 
Post a comment
(Anonymous comments will not be posted. Comments aren't posted immediately. They're screened for relevance to the topic, obscenity, spam and over-the-top personal attacks. We can't always get them up as soon as we'd like so please be patient. Thanks for visiting The Swamp.)