Top Aide Says News Organizations Are 'on a Mission to Destroy' Palin

[audtatious]

McCain Strategist Blasts MediaTop Aide Says News Organizations Are 'on a Mission to Destroy' Palin

By Howard KurtzWashington Post Staff WriterWednesday, September 3, 2008; A17

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 2 -- Sen. John McCain's top campaign strategist accused the news media Tuesday of being "on a mission to destroy" Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by displaying "a level of viciousness and scurrilousness" in pursuing questions about her personal life.

In an extraordinary and emotional interview, Steve Schmidt said his campaign feels "under siege" by wave after wave of news inquiries that have questioned whether Palin is really the mother of a 4-month-old baby, whether her amniotic fluid had been tested and whether she would submit to a DNA test to establish the child's parentage.

Arguing that the media queries are being fueled by "every rumor and smear" posted on left-wing Web sites, Schmidt said mainstream journalists are giving "closer scrutiny" to McCain's little-known running mate than to Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

The McCain camp has been unusually aggressive in pushing back against the media, and it seems to hope to persuade journalists to back off in their scrutiny of Palin. Obama campaign officials have complained to news organizations that their man has been subjected to considerably more investigative reporting than McCain has, but they have done so in more low-key fashion.

By contrast, Schmidt spoke on the record in denouncing as "an absolute work of fiction" a New York Times account of the process by which the McCain campaign vetted Palin. He also charged that Newsweek columnist Howard Fineman was predicting that the governor might have to step down as McCain's vice presidential choice.

Fineman said that he has "never, ever said that," and that he has pointed out positive aspects of Palin's candidacy. "They decided a long time ago that they were going to work the refs," he said.

Elisabeth Bumiller, the lead author of the Times report, said she is "completely confident about the story." As for the campaign's criticism, she said: "This is what they do. It's part of their operation."

McCain also canceled a scheduled appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Tuesday in retaliation for an interview a day earlier in which prime-time host Campbell Brown repeatedly pressed campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds to provide one example of a decision that Palin had made as commander of the Alaska National Guard.

"The interview was totally fair," Brown said. "I was trying to get an answer. I was persistent, but I was respectful. That's my job. Experience is a legitimate issue when John McCain raises it about Obama, and it's also legitimate for us to raise it about Palin."

Schmidt, a former spokesman for President Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, talked openly about his frustrations in an interview with The Washington Post. He said the McCain camp is in the middle of the worst media "feeding frenzy" he has ever seen.

The fact that unsubstantiated allegations appear on the Internet "is not a license for smearing" Palin, he said. "The campaign has been inundated by hundreds and hundreds of calls from some of the most respected reporters and news organizations. Many reporters have called the campaign and have apologized for asking the questions and said, 'Our editors are making us do this, and I am ashamed.' "

The intensity of media inquiries hit a new level after an anonymous blogger on the liberal Web site Daily Kos last weekend charged that McCain's running mate is actually the grandmother of Trig Palin, the 4-month-old baby born with Down syndrome, and that the real mother is her daughter, 17-year-old Bristol Palin. That led to mainstream media inquiries, which prompted the McCain camp to disclose in a statement Monday that Bristol is five months pregnant and plans to have the baby and marry the teenage father.

Markos Moulitsas, the site's founder, said he did not know the contributor's identity but thought that the admittedly "weird" pregnancy questions were a legitimate line of inquiry that he should not suppress.

Some journalists, Schmidt said, have demanded to see Trig's birth certificate, or have asked when Palin went into labor and whether her contractions increased or decreased as she traveled from Texas to an Alaskan hospital in her home town, Wasilla. Others, he said, have asked whether Palin's eldest son, Track, who serves in the Army and is deploying to Iraq, is a drug addict. "Categorically false," Schmidt said, adding: "This is crazy."

News organizations routinely ask questions about allegations in an attempt to determine their veracity, and Schmidt did not contend that they were publishing or broadcasting false information about Palin and her family. But he said the media is asking more questions about Palin's pregnant daughter than about Obama's real estate deal with fundraiser Tony Rezko, who recently was convicted on corruption charges. Obama has called that transaction a "boneheaded mistake."

Bloggers on the left and right increasingly drive media coverage by turning up the volume on questions until they are difficult to ignore. Sometimes they are right, as when they questioned what CBS's Dan Rather said were National Guard documents in a 2004 report on President Bush's military service that led to Rather's ouster as the network's anchor. And sometimes they are wrong. Last year, the New Republic retracted a soldier's dispatch on petty wartime cruelty in Iraq, and National Review Online acknowledged that two blog postings by a former Marine about military movements in Lebanon were misleading.

Major newspapers, magazines and networks no longer play their traditional gatekeeper role in the digital age, as was evident during the eight-month period when the National Enquirer was charging former senator John Edwards with fathering an out-of-wedlock baby. Most national news outlets did not report the allegations until last month, when Edwards acknowledged an affair with a former campaign aide but denied being her child's father.

Still, traditional media outlets can amplify and legitimize such reports, which may be why the McCain campaign is fighting so hard to keep the Palin allegations confined to the Internet. Denouncing the news media as biased also plays well with many Republican voters.

Palin has been unavailable to the media since she became McCain's surprise choice Friday, adding to the difficulties for news organizations pursuing stories about her life and career. Campaign manager Rick Davis said it would be unrealistic for her to grant interviews as she prepares for "the most important speech of her life," her acceptance address at the convention here. Schmidt said she will be made available for interviews after the convention, a similar timetable followed by Obama's running mate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.).

Perhaps the greatest concern to the McCain campaign is that the constant inquiries, amplified by cable television debates over whether a mother with a pregnant daughter and four other children can effectively function as vice president, will create a perception that her nomination is in trouble. "We are being bombarded by e-mails and phone calls from journalists asking when she will be dropping out of the race," Schmidt said.

[rn79870]

With the wealth of intelligent, well behaved and well liked options available to McCain as his VP choice, the better question might be what they didn't investigate her more carefully.

I agree that certain questions, IE, her 17 year old daughter should not be fair game, other questions about her abuse of power and ineptitude in office are fair questions.

Seriously, McCain's campaign chose her to woo a class of voters that they underestimated. It backfired big time and they are complaining about it? The smart thing would be to beg Palin to resign and let Romney, or Lieberman assume the spot.

[audtatious]

Wow Bob, you are as bad as those in MN tearing up the town and spraying bleach on RNC people and the police. To you everything is OK as long as Obama wins. The actions of YOUR party and the liberal media are justified in your mind.

You did a good job initially disguising your left-wing stances but you've let the robes slip and are showing your true colors.

[rn79870]

I would love to discuss the difference between Obama and McCain, or even Biden and Lieberman/Romney. I'm sorry, but I see absolutely no up side to her appointment, (from the republican side that is). And I've tried to be impartial.

Once she resigns and we can focus on the real issues we'll all be better off.

[Cold_Zero]

Apparently Geraldine Ferraro was on NPR this weekend and left open the option to vote for McCain/Palin depending on the treatment of Sarah Palin in the National Press.

[Soravia]

I would love to discuss the difference between Obama and McCain, or even Biden and Lieberman/Romney. I'm sorry, but I see absolutely no up side to her appointment, (from the republican side that is). And I've tried to be impartial.

Once she resigns and we can focus on the real issues we'll all be better off.

I see that you believe baseless internet rumors, 5 children, pregnant daughter, husband with DUI ticket and child with down syndrome disqualifies her from running for the office.

Nice.

[AZhitman]

Once she resigns and we can focus on the real issues we'll all be better off.

Really? Is her existence really impacting you that much?

Is she prohibiting you from "focusing on the real issues"?

What ARE the "real issues" for a VP?

Mmhmmm.

No one's forcing you to defend the notion that she can't function as VP because she has kids.

Move on the the "real issues", by all means.

[Cold_Zero]

Greg,It does show how much the Dems are pissing their pants with Sarah Palin as the pick of VP Candidate. I guess they dont want her to even have the chance of 'charging up the base.'

[AZhitman]

Yep.

They all have a hardon for her, and not the kind that Mike and I are experiencing.



It's really very interesting that they even care. I could give a damn who BO chose as his running mate. I'm not voting for a VP.

[szh]

Greg,It does show how much the Dems are pissing their pants with Sarah Palin as the pick of VP Candidate. I guess they dont want her to even have the chance of 'charging up the base.'

They are indeed running scared!

Instead of focusing on the positives on their own candidates, they are attempting to drag down the opposite side with negatives. Typically disgusting!

It will be in vain!

Z

[rn79870]

Z, Cold_Zero, Greg, trust me when I say this... there isn't a Democrat in the US who isn't ecstatic about her selection. Running scared? If you say so...but I call it doing the happy dance.

[wingFeather]

This is not a surprise. Obama's cronies are crybabies who, if they can't get their way, throw bleach & spit at old people.

[rn79870]

I always look forward to your well thought out and brilliant prose, then I give it all the attention it deserves.

[themadscientist]

Yep.

They all have a hardon for her, and not the kind that Mike and I are experiencing.



It's really very interesting that they even care. I could give a damn who BO chose as his running mate. I'm not voting for a VP.

I would totally "serve under her".

I hope all politically active women are watching closely as the dems show what the really think of women. I don't want the McCain camp to get upset The more the left hammers her the more you talk about issues. When the ask about a college party she attended in her youth you just look disdainfully at them and say what I find myself saying to Bob a lot recently. "grow up".

Food for thought. If she is such a terrible choice why are the dems attacking her so hard? Wouldn't it be better to encourage the GOP to keep her around if it truly weakens the ticket? I guess critical thinking escapes them and they just base actions on fear and jealousy.

[srellim234]

I think the Democrats are panicking because they thought they had the swimsuit part of the competition already won....

[rn79870]

Food for thought. If she is such a terrible choice why are the dems attacking her so hard? Wouldn't it be better to encourage the GOP to keep her around if it truly weakens the ticket? I guess critical thinking escapes them and they just base actions on fear and jealousy.

Hint: it's not the dems. It's the press who does it because it sells papers and gains a tv audience. The dems have said...

Obama's campaign does not plan to go directly after Palin in the days ahead. Instead, it is planning to increase its attacks on McCain for his opposition to pay equity legislation and abortion rights — two issues of paramount concern to many women

The dems couldn't be happier with her selection, and they don't want her to resign.

[wingFeather]

I always look forward to your well thought out and brilliant prose, then I give it all the attention it deserves.

Prose? Is that your idea of a perfect post? Perhaps I should write an excessively long rant like you? We all know that quantity is better than quality and truth.

[szh]

Z, Cold_Zero, Greg, trust me when I say this... there isn't a Democrat in the US who isn't ecstatic about her selection. Running scared? If you say so...but I call it doing the happy dance.

They must be dancing in mud ... it keeps coming up and being flung by their happy feet, I guess!

Z

[AZhitman]

Hint: it's not the dems. It's the press who does it because it sells papers and gains a tv audience. The dems have said...

I'll agree that most of this is the libby media.

It's the dumbing-down of America, the "Entertainment Tonight" / "People Magazine" / "Jerry Springer" voyeuristic obsession, desperate need for instant gratification and "reality tv" mindset that's to blame.

If you're one of those, you're to blame.

[ishkabibble]

Wow Bob, you are as bad as those in MN tearing up the town and spraying bleach on RNC people and the police. To you everything is OK as long as Obama wins. The actions of YOUR party and the liberal media are justified in your mind.

You did a good job initially disguising your left-wing stances but you've let the robes slip and are showing your true colors.

Wah. You have a right-wing bias. So what?

[themadscientist]

I think the Democrats are panicking because they thought they had the swimsuit part of the competition already won....

Ewww! Can you Imagine Biden and McCain in speedos? The liverspots the loose skin, the pastiness! Ick. At least sarah is in decent shape and Obam looks like he at least does cardio.

[ishkabibble]

I think I'd rather see Cindy in a swimsuit than any of the rest of them.

[themadscientist]

She is a little skeletal for my tastes. Still better than the scarecrow Maria Shriver.

[skylndrftr]

can we just stop talking about this supposed 'media bias'

Lets take a look at what the right wing has to say on the things that Palin is being 'attacked' with. I'm gonna leave it up to a nice string of quotes and clips from The Daily Show last night did a far better job of discounting this entire point of view...

http://www.thedailyshow.com/vi...-card

[Cold_Zero]

OMFG,The only thing you can come up with is the Daily Show? Might as well quote from the Colbert Report, how can you take either show seriously. I guess this is journalistic exellence at its finest. Now we look to Blogs and Comedy shows for our 'news.'Great.

I have three words for what the National Media and the jack booted bloggers have done to Sarah Palin. "MISOGYNISTIC HIT JOB."

[AZhitman]

Someone is clearly outgunned in this forum.

Resorting to a comedic satirical spoof for your political news?

Let's face it, BO got pumelled on several issues last night. Like it or not, they were good points. Zero executive experience. The man has never even owned a company.

Hell, *I* have more managerial and executive experience than he does, and almost as many years in an academic setting!

So, The Daily Show doesn't impress me. I'm sure next we'll hear what Hannah Montana thinks.

[srellim234]

Ewww! Can you Imagine Biden and McCain in speedos? The liverspots the loose skin, the pastiness! Ick. At least sarah is in decent shape and Obam looks like he at least does cardio.

It could have been even worse. What if McCain had picked Lieberman?

[skylndrftr]

the only reason I cited it is to save myself the time and trouble of the republicans saying the EXACT OPPOSITE of everythign they are saying now...but I'll bet you didn't even watch it.

You can call anyone you want biased and simply discount their facts and opinions (eg: all your arguements) but its much harder to discount your own puppets saying that a candidate with more experience governing a state and more experience running a city (Richmond VA >>> Podunk AK) is underqualified.

[skylndrftr]

Zero executive experience.

your VP pick has more executive experience than your P pick (aka: none)

Quote »Hell, *I* have more managerial and executive experience than he does, and almost as many years in an academic setting![/quote] have we ever elected a bald president?

Quote »So, The Daily Show doesn't impress me. I'm sure next we'll hear what Hannah Montana thinks.[/quote] Sadly the Jonas brothers have more credibility than the McSame Palidin warrior ticket.

[telcoman]

Someone is clearly outgunned in this forum.

Resorting to a comedic satirical spoof for your political news?

Let's face it, BO got pumelled on several issues last night. Like it or not, they were good points. Zero executive experience. The man has never even owned a company.

Hell, *I* have more managerial and executive experience than he does, and almost as many years in an academic setting!

So, The Daily Show doesn't impress me. I'm sure next we'll hear what Hannah Montana thinks.

The Daily Show is where many of the young start to hear about what is in the news. Many of them start reading the MSM when some of the jokes go over their head.

Many candidates are now willing to make appearances with Jon Stewart along with Saturday Night Live

Humor does bring people together

Telcoman