by Mark Silva
Todd Purdum's piece about Sarah Palin in Vanity Fair has ripped a Band-Aid off the wounds of the McCain-Palin campaign, and it's not a pretty sight:
Politico tells the McCainPalin-camp in-and-out-flighting tale:
William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard and an informal adviser to Palin, complained publicly about a Purdum passage in Vanity Fair's August issue about "some top aides" who had worrie about the Alaska governor's "mental state" during the 2008 campaign, suggesting the Alaska governor may be suffering from post-partum depression following the birth of her son Trig. "In fact, one aide who raised this possibility in the course of trashing Palin's mental state to others in the McCain-Palin campaign was Steve Schmidt," Kristol wrote.
Schmidt's reply, via Politico: "I'm sure John McCain would be president today if only Bill Kristol had been in charge of the campaign...
"Categorically false,'' Schmidt added: "His allegation that I was defaming Palin by alleging post-partum depression at the campaign headquarters is categorically untrue. In fact, I think it rises to the level of a slander because it's about the worst thing you can say about somebody who does what I do for a living."
But wait: Randy Scheunemann, a longtime foreign policy adviser to McCain and close Kristol, tells Politico:
"Steve Schmidt has a congenital aversion to the truth, On two separate and distinct occasions, he speculated about about Gov. Palin having post-partum depression, and on the second he threatened that if more negative publicity about the handling of Gov. Palin emerged that he would leak his speculation [about post-partum depression] to the press. It was like meeting Tony Soprano."
Schmidt on Scheunemann: "Categorically untrue.
"It is inappropriate for me to discuss personnel issues from the campaign," Schmidt added. "But suffice it to say Randy is saying these things not because they're true but because he wants to damage my reputation because of consequences he faced for actions he took."
This is an allusion to stories that Scheunemann had been fired by the campaign. To which Scheunemann said they had tried to fire him but: ""I've got a pay stub through Nov.15th."
Comments
I'm guessing that Team McCain knew they needed something (Palin) to rally what's left of the GOP base, especially the angry white male / Joe the Dumber / Dittohead contingent. And on paper, she did. Gun loving, fundy Christian speaking, relatable etc.
Problem was they thought Palin was malleable and they grossly "misunderestimated" the power of her over inflated ego. Once she was no longer a paper doll, too late.
How can anyone pretend McCain has an ounce of judgment--or at least, sufficient judgment to overcome his massive narcissism--after that decision?
Posted by: Ming the Merciless | July 1, 2009 2:26 PM
It seems that many people underestimated Palin. They continue to trash her because they are afraid of her ability to reach ordinary citizens.
If they didn't fear her so, they wouldn't bother.
Posted by: K | July 1, 2009 2:55 PM
Nobody in the GOP could care less what Colin Powell says, Meghan McCain, anonymous sources in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, repulsive "humor" from David Letterman, et al... their statements aren't news, and not relevant in any way. Obama and the MSM/left are simply exploiting them to create their own stories and manufactured GOP "scandals", the goal being the appearance of a opposition in dissarray.
Now we again have yet another crude attack on Sarah Palin, factually inaccurate and mostly unsubstantiated by Vanity Fair to stir the pot, so then the press can descend upon various Republicans to try and quote them in contradiction to one another... same underhanded crap for months now.
And it’s not difficult to see why the Democrats might prefer to banter playfully about made-up GOP “scandals” and irrelevancies like Meghan McCain’s latest drivel than debate Obama’s ongoing destruction of the country.
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com
Posted by: Reaganite Republican | July 1, 2009 4:44 PM
It seems that many people underestimated Palin. They continue to trash her because they are afraid of her ability to reach ordinary citizens.If they didn't fear her so, they wouldn't bother.
Posted by: K | July 1, 2009 2:55 PM
----------------------------------------
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Ha Ha Ha!!!
Yeah right!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbEwKcs-7Hc
Posted by: Democratic National Committee | July 1, 2009 7:05 PM
"They continue to trash her because they are afraid of her ability to reach ordinary citizens." Posted by: K
Funny stuff, K. She only reaches ordinary right wing "religious" conservatives. Like Mark Sanford.....
Posted by: gladys | July 1, 2009 9:07 PM