McCain camp trying to scapegoat Palin

But I imagine all of you McCain canvassers will blame the media instead. :roll:

Roger Simon Roger Simon, Politico Thu Oct 30, 5:43 am ET

John McCain’s campaign is looking for a scapegoat. It is looking for someone to blame if McCain loses on Tuesday.

And it has decided on Sarah Palin.

In recent days, a McCain “adviser” told Dana Bash of CNN: “She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone.”

Imagine not taking advice from the geniuses at the McCain campaign. What could Palin be thinking?

Also, a “top McCain adviser” told Mike Allen of Politico that Palin is “a whack job.”

Maybe she is. But who chose to put this “whack job” on the ticket? Wasn’t it John McCain? And wasn’t it his first presidential-level decision?

                      And if you are a 72-year-old presidential candidate, wouldn’t you expect that your running mate’s fitness for high office would come under a little extra scrutiny? And, therefore, wouldn’t you make your selection with care? (To say nothing about caring about the future of the nation?)

                      McCain didn’t seem to care that much. McCain admitted recently on national TV that he “didn’t know her well at all” before he chose Palin.
                      But why not? Why didn’t he get to know her better before he made his choice?

It’s not like he was rushed. McCain wrapped up the Republican nomination in early March. He didn’t announce his choice for a running mate until late August.

Wasn’t that enough time for McCain to get to know Palin? Wasn’t that enough time for his crackerjack “vetters” to investigate Palin’s strengths and weaknesses, check through records and published accounts, talk to a few people, and learn that she was not only a diva but a whack job diva?
But McCain picked her anyway. He wanted to close the “enthusiasm gap” between himself and Barack Obama. He wanted to inject a little adrenaline into the Republican National Convention. He wanted to goose up the Republican base.

And so he chose Palin. Is she really a diva and a whack job? Could be. There are quite a few in politics. (And a few in journalism, too, though in journalism they are called “columnists.”)

As proof that she is, McCain aides now say Palin is “going rogue” and straying from their script. Wow. What a condemnation. McCain sticks to the script. How well is he doing?

In truth, Palin’s real problem is not her personality or whether she takes orders well. Her real problem is that neither she nor McCain can make a credible case that Palin is ready to assume the presidency should she need to.

And that undercuts McCain’s entire campaign.

This was the deal McCain made with the devil. In exchange for energizing his base by picking Palin, he surrendered his chief selling point: that he was better prepared to run the nation in time of crisis, whether it be economic, an attack by terrorists or, as he has been talking about in recent days, fending off a nuclear war.

“The next president won’t have time to get used to the office,” McCain told a crowd in Miami on Wednesday. “I’ve been tested, my friends, I’ve been tested.”

But has Sarah Palin?

I don’t believe running mates win or lose elections, though some believe they can be a drag on the ticket. Lee Atwater, who was George H.W. Bush’s campaign manager in 1988, told me that Dan Quayle cost the ticket 2 to 3 percentage points. But Bush won the election by 7.8 percentage points.

So, in Atwater’s opinion, Bush survived his bad choice by winning the election on his own.

McCain could do the same thing. But his campaign’s bad decisions have not stopped with Sarah Palin. It has made a series of questionable calls, including making Joe the Plumber the embodiment of the campaign.

Are voters really expected to warmly embrace an (unlicensed) plumber who owes back taxes and complains about the possibility of making a quarter million dollars a year?

And did McCain’s aides really believe so little in John McCain’s own likability that they thought Joe the Plumber would be more likable?
Apparently so. Which is sad.

We in the press make too much of running mates and staff and talking points and all the rest of the hubbub that accompanies a campaign.

In the end, it comes down to two candidates slugging it out.

Either McCain pulls off a victory in the last round or he doesn’t.

And if he doesn’t, he has nobody to blame but himself.

Absolutely correct Nick, I do blame the media.

If anything this year, its been shown that the MSM media are true left leaning,
without any shred of independance.
Journalism as we used to know it in the media is dead.
There are no real journalists anymore who dig deep enough on a story, and are given latitude to expose the truth, especially for the Obama camp.
They certainly go ape**** to jump all over the right wing camp though.
If they (the MSM media) did as much digging, exposing the truth and front paging/TV news coverage of Obama, investigating his background, connections, priors, etc. as much as they have on Sarah Palin,
The American public would be thinking quite differently in voting in a democrat,
just because they want “change”.

I, for one, am shocked, at how stupidly transparent all these promises are that Obama is selling to everyone, especially when it comes to their tax situation.

Here’s a list the likes of which you won’t see on any MSM media outlet news coverage:
I got this as an email, and SNOPEd it, before posting.

"An editorial from Michael Masters,

I know that many of you are sick and tired of all this political BS
(me too) but if you read just one more thing between now and the
election, I urge you to read the following editorial. I don’t know who
‘Michael Masters’ is or what he does, but he does write cogently and well. A
Google search turns up a Michael Masters who is a lawyer in Philadelphia,
but I don’t believe that he is the author of this open letter. There is a
‘Michael C. Masters’ who lives in McLean, VA - I presume, but do not know,
for sure, that he is the author. However, he didn’t show up in any Google
searches that I conducted, so I guess he isn’t ‘notorious’ enough to be
found. I look at that as a good thing, however. On the surface, that
suggests he is just another citizen like t he rest of us and has no
particular axe to grind. However, he HAS done his homework before writing
this editorial.

To Barack Hussein Obama,

The New York Times carried a story on Saturday, October 4, 2008, that
proved you had a significantly closer relationship with Bill Ayers than what
you previously admitted. While the issue of your relationship is of
concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America about it.

The Chicago Sun reported on May 8, 2008, that FBI records showed that
you had a significantly closer relationship with Tony Rezko than what you
previously admitted. In the interview, you said that you only saw Mr.
Rezko a couple of times a year. The FBI files showed that you saw him
weekly. While the issue of your relationship is of concern, the greater
concern is that you lied to America about it.

Your speech in Philadelphia on March 18, 2008, about ‘race’
contradicted your statement to Anderson Cooper on March 14 when you said
that you never heard Reverend Wright make his negative statements about
white America. While your attendance at Trinity Church for 20 years is of
concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America on March 14.

In your 1st debate with John McCain, you said that you never said that
you would meet with the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, and North Korea
without ‘preparations’ at lower levels … Joe Biden repeated your words in
his debate with Sarah Palin … while the video tape from your debate last
February clearly shows that you answered ‘I would’ to the question of
meeting with those leaders within 12 months without ‘any’ preconditions.
While your judgement about meeting with enemies of the USA without
pre-conditions is of concern, the greater concern is that you lied to
America in the debate with McCain.

On July 14, 2008, you said that you always knew that the surge would
work while the video tapes of you from more than a year ago show that you
stated that the surge would not work. While your judgement about military
strategy as a potential commander-in-chief is of concern, the greater
concern is that you lied to America on July 14.

You now claim that your reason for voting against funding for the
troops was because the bill did not include a time line for withdrawal,
while the video tapes of you from more than a year ago show that you voted
against additional funding because you wanted our troops to be removed
immediately … not in 16 months after the 2008 election as you now claim.
While your judgement about removing our troops unilaterally in 2007 is of
concern, the greater concern is that you lied to America about your previous
position.

You claim to have a record of working with Republicans while the
record shows that the only bill that you sponsored with a Republican was
with Chuck Lugar … and it failed. The record shows that you vote 97% in
concert with the Democrat party and that you have the most liberal voting
record in the Senate. You joined Republicans only 13% of the time in your
votes and those 13% were only after agreement from the Democrat party.
While it is of concern that you fail to include conservatives in your
actions and that you are such a liberal, the greater concern is that you
distorted the truth.

In the primary debates of last February, 2008, you claimed to have
talked with a ‘Captain’ of a platoon in Afghanistan ‘the other day’ when in
fact you had a discussion in 2003 with a Lieutenant who had just been
deployed to Afghanistan. You lied in that debate.

In your debates last spring, you claimed to have been a ‘professor of
Constitutional law’ when in fact you have never been a professor of
Constitutional law. In this last debate, you were careful to say that you
‘taught a law class’ and never mentioned being a ‘professor of
Constitutional law.’ You lied last spring.

You and Joe Biden both claimed that John McCain voted against
additional funding for our troops when the actual records show the opposite.
You distorted the truth.

You and Joe Biden claim that John McCain voted against funding for
alternate energy sources 20 times when the record shows that John McCain
specifically voted against funding for bio fuels, especially corn … and he
was right … corn is too expensive at producing ethanol, and using corn
to make ethanol increased the price of corn from $2 a bushel to $6 a bushel
for food. You distorted the truth.

You and Joe Biden claim that John McCain voted like both of you for a
tax increase on those making as little as $42,000 per year while the voting
record clearly shows that John McCain did not vote as you and Joe Biden.
You lied to America.

You and Joe Biden claim that John McCain voted with George W. Bush 90%
of the time when you know that Democrats also vote 90% of the time with the
President (including Joe Biden) because the vast majority of the votes are
procedural. You are one of the few who has not voted 90% of the time with
the president because you have been missing from the Senate since the day
you got elected. While your absence from your job in the Senate is of
concern, the greater concern is that you spin the facts.

You did not take an active role in the rescue plan. You claimed that
the Senate did not need you while the real reason that you abstained was
because of your close relationships with the executives of Fannie Mae,
Freddie Mac, Countrywide, and Acorn … who all helped cause the financial
problems of today … and they all made major contributions to your
campaign. While your relationship with these executives and your
protection of them for your brief 3 years in the Senate (along with Barney
Frank, Chuck Schumer, Maxine Waters, and Chris Dodd) is of concern, the
greater concern is that you are being deceitful.

You forgot to mention that you personally represented Tony Rezko and
Acorn. Tony Rezko, an Arab and close friend to you, was convicted of fraud
in Chicago real estate transactions that bilked millions of tax dollars from
the Illinois government for renovation projects that you sponsored as a
state senator … and Acorn has been convicted of voter fraud, real estate
sub prime loan intimidation, and illegal campaign contributions. Tony Rezko
has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to your political
campaigns. You personally used your political positions to steer money to
both Tony Rezko and Acorn and you used Acorn to register thousands of phony
voters for Democrats and you. While your relationships with Rezko and Acorn
are of concern, the greater concern is that you omitted important facts
about your relationships with them to America.

During your campaign, you said: ‘typical white person.’ ‘They cling
to their guns and religion.’ ‘They will say that I am black.’ You played
the race card. You tried to label any criticism about you as racist. You
divide America.

You claim that you will reduce taxes for 95% of America, but you
forgot to tell America that those reductions are after you remove the Bush
tax reductions. You have requested close to $1 billion in earmarks and
several million for Acorn. Your social programs will cost America $1
trillion per year and you claim that a reduction in military spending ($100
billion for Iraq) can pay for it. While your economic plan of adding 30%
to the size of our federal government is of concern, the greater concern is
that you are deceiving America.

The drain to America’s economy by foreign supplied oil is $700 billion
per year (5% of GDP) while the war in Iraq is $100 billion (less than 1% of
GDP). You voted against any increases to oil exploration for the last 3
years and any expansion of nuclear facilities. Yet today, you say that you
have always been for more oil and more nuclear. You are lying to America.

Mr. Obama, you claimed that you ‘changed’ your mind about public
financing for your campaign because of the money spent by Republican PACs in
2004. The truth is that the Democrat PACs in 2004, 2006, and 2008 spent
twice as much as the Republican PACs (especially George Soros and
MoveOn.org). You are lying to America.

Mr. Obama, you have done nothing to stop the actions of the teachers
union and college professors in the USA. They eliminated religion from our
history. They teach pro gay agendas and discuss sex with students as young
as first grade. They bring their personal politics into the classrooms.
They disparage conservatives. They brainwash our children. They are in it
for themselves … not America. Are you reluctant to condemn their
actions because teachers/professors and the NEA contribute 25% of all money
donated to Democrats and none to Republicans? You are deceiving America.

Oh, Mr. Obama, Teddy Roosevelt said about a hundred years ago that we
Americans should first look at the character of our leaders before anything
else.

Your character looks horrible. While you make good speeches,
motivating speeches, your character does not match your rhetoric. You talk
the talk, but do not walk the walk.

  1. You lied to America. You lied many times. You distorted facts.
    You parsed your answers like a lawyer.

  2. You distorted the record of John McCain in your words and in your
    advertisements.

  3. You had associations with some very bad people for your personal
    political gains and then lied about those associations.

  4. You divide America about race and about class.

Now let me compare your record of lies, distortions, race baiting, and
associations to John McCain: War hero. Annapolis graduate with ‘Country
first.’ Operational leadership experience like all 43 previously elected
presidents of the USA as a Navy officer for 22 years. 26 years in the
Senate. Straight talk. Maverick. 54% of the time participated on bills
with Democrats. Never asked for an earmark. The only blemish on his record
is his part in the Keating 5 debacle about 25 years ago.

Mr. Obama, at Harvard Law School, you learned that the end does not
justify the means. You learned that perjury, false witness, dishonesty,
distortion of truth are never tolerated. Yet, your dishonesty is
overwhelming. Your dishonesty is tremendously greater than the dishonesty
that caused the impeachment and disbarment of Bill Clinton. Your dishonesty
is tremendously greater than the dishonesty of Scooter Libby. You should be
ashamed.

Mr. Obama, it is time for us Americans to put aside our differences on
political issues and vote against you because of your dishonest character.
It is time for all of us Americans to put aside our political issues and
vote for America first. It is time for America to vote for honesty.

Any people who vote for you after understanding that you are dishonest
should be ashamed of themselves for making their personal political issues
more important than character. Would these same people vote for the
anti-Christ if the anti-Christ promised them riches? Would they make a
golden calf while Moses was up the mountain? Would they hire someone for a
job if that someone lied in an interview? Of course not. So why do some of
these people justify their votes for you even though they know you are
dishonest? Why do they excuse your dishonesty? Because some of these
people are frightened about the future, the economy, and their financial
security … and you are preying on their fears with empty promises …
and because some (especially our young people) are consumed by your
wonderful style and promises for ‘change’ like the Germans who voted for
Adolf Hitler in 1932. The greed/envy by Germans in 1932 kept them from
recognizing Hitler for who he was. They loved his style. Greed and envy
are keeping many Americans from recognizing you … your style has
camouflaged your dishonesty … but many of us see you for who you really
are … and we will not stop exposing who you are every day, forever if
it is necessary.

Mr. Obama, you are dishonest. Anyone who votes for you is enabling
dishonesty.

Mr. Obama, America cannot trust that you will put America first in
your decisions about the future.

Mr. Obama, you are not the ‘change’ that America deserves. We cannot
trust you.

Mr. Obama, You are not ready and not fit to be commander-in-chief.

Mr. Obama, John McCain does not have as much money as your campaign  to

refute all of your false statements. And for whatever reasons, the
mainstream media will not give adequate coverage or research about your
lies, distortions, word parsing, bad associations, race baiting, lack of
operational leadership experience, and generally dishonest character. The
media is diverting our attention from your relationships and ignoring the
fact that you lied about those relationships. The fact that you lied is
much more important than the relationships themselves … just like with
Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon … Monica Lewinski and Watergate were not
nearly as bad as the fact that those men lied about the events … false
witness … perjury … your relationships and bad judgements are bad on
their own … but your lies are even worse.

Therefore, by copy of this memo, all who read this memo are asked to
send it to everyone else in America before it is too late. We need to do
the job that the media will not do. We need to expose your dishonesty so
that every person in America understands who you really are before election
day.

Mr. Obama, in a democracy, we get what we deserve.  

And God help America if we deserve you.

Michael Master
McLean, Virginia"

Nick, who says it is true at all, most of the time the media refers to where the info comes from, but this time they are claiming they do not know the source, so I am not buying it. I think it is another attempt to try and drive a wedge between the two and create hardship. IMO P.S. If the negative attack ads don’t work, then why have the Dems been doing it for the last 30 years? Also, why is it only negative if the Republicans do it?

Amen, keep up the good work Steven. Thanks, Ken

I like Palin:mrgreen: Screw the press! They will be dying off in droves after the election. Look at MSNBC, NY Times, CNN, NBC, CBS’s numbers. They are in the tank for Obama and will soon be in the real tank. Just watch! As time goes by and that constant drumbeat of the bias press continues people will begin to believe it, just as they have with the war is bad, Code Pink is Good, vote Obama, etc. People will one day come out of kool-aid land and see it for what it is. By the numbers, it appears they are making shareholders and subscribers question that more everyday!

I don’t care what the polls show, I have talked to hundreds of people, all colors, ages and parties, and they all say the same thing, that if obama wins, November 4th will be much more scary than Halloween, several have said it will be the scariest day America has ever had! There is still hope.

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