McCain's New Palin Strategy: Blame The Media
The McCain campaign is going into free fall with Steve Schmidt demanding that the media stop doing their jobs and quit trying to work out who Sarah Palin is and what it is that she actually believes.
He demands that the media stop looking into how she was vetted, calling the whole matter a "faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee" for vice president.
Basically he's saying it's sexist. It's not that people are genuinely astounded to hear that this person they hadn't heard of this time last week is a 72 year old heartbeat away from leading the free world, we are really objecting because she is a woman.
The whole McCain campaign is now behaving like a cranky old man who doesn't like the way the world works, and it's blaming the world for this. Talk about not getting it?
Isn't Davis utterly missing the point here? Both Biden and Obama have been scrutinised, Biden over his long time in office and Obama through the last eighteen months when all aspects of his life from the church he attended, his preacher and his beliefs on various issues have all been gone through with a fine tooth comb."This nonsense is over," declared senior campaign adviser Steve Schmidt in a written statement.
The statement stood out for its admission that Palin is under siege _ it condemns "this vetting controversy" _ and for its attempt to blunt questions about how rigorously McCain and his campaign explored the background of a candidate who may get the nation's second most powerful job. It also suggested that Palin is a victim of gender bias in the media.
"The McCain campaign will have no further comment about our long and thorough process," Schmidt said, lashing out at "the old boys' network" that he says runs media organizations.
Top McCain advisers said they welcome and expect a review of Palin's mayoral and gubernatorial record but that the media has crossed that line with its inquiries.
"Certainly, her record deserves scrutiny, but I think we ought to look at her record," campaign manager Rick Davis told reporters on a conference call. He condemned "the salacious nature" of some news stories designed to "throw dirt at our candidate." He also lamented a "frenzied" mentality on Palin and urged the media to "dial it back."
Davis also called for the same level of scrutiny on Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
The difference with Palin is that no-one really knows who the Hell she is. I think it is very valid that the press continue to ask who is this woman that McCain intends to place a heartbeat away from the presidency.
The arrogance of the McCain campaign's outburst is breathtaking. It's the same arrogance that led him to appoint her. They are saying that we should simply accept McCain's word on this, which also misses the point. McCain doesn't know her!
And McCain can hardly be surprised that a fascination has grown around who this woman is as she has turned out to be the gift that just keeps on giving:
And that's before we get to her crazy views that the US are in Iraq on "a task that is from God" and that God really wants her to put down a gas pipeline to carry out "his will".First, she announced that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter, Bristol Palin, was pregnant. Among the other revelations:
A private attorney is authorized to spend $95,000 of state money to defend her against accusations of abuse of power.
Palin sought pork-barrel projects for her city and state, contrary to her reformist image.
Her husband once belonged to a fringe political group in Alaska, with some members supporting secession from the United States.
She has acknowledged smoking marijuana in the past.
And McCain thinks we should be over her by now? Are you serious?
I've got news for McCain, I'm not even American and the thought of this woman, that I've never heard of, - and who only last year got a passport - suddenly leading the free world terrifies me.
The problem here isn't our reaction to McCain's choice, the problem is McCain's choice.
He needs to deal with that rather than "whining" about our sexism. My reaction to her is in no way sexist, I'd be equally horrified if he had named a male Alaskan governor that I had never heard of.
And, lets be blunt here, the sexist person in all of this is McCain. He chose Palin because he believes that female voters will vote for any female and that their policies won't come into this. That's how he ended up offering this woman who opposes abortion, including in cases of rape, to Hillary supporters and thought that they might buy it.
It was dumb. And shouting about our sexism and how this discussion is over is even more dumb.
The press and the public will tell McCain when they are satisfied, not the other way round. If you don't want this level of scrutiny, don't put forward candidates that no-one has even heard of.
Click title for full article.
No comments:
Post a Comment