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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

With Regard to Operation Leper

Pay attention Nicolle et al.

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  November 7th, 2008 at 10:55 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Let me take a moment to remind our friends in the McCain campaign of a certain fact. It is a fact which, to my mind, ought to be foremost in the mind of all Republicans. It is the fact that Sarah Palin has been resolutely loyal, and joyously so, to the man who nominated her for Vice President. At every rally, the crowd roaring with enthusiasm, she would deliver words of extraordinary praise and endorsement. “As the mother of one of those troops, [John McCain] is just the kind of man I want as Commander in Chief.” Stuff like that.

After the dispiriting election, to which she lent her energy, her talent, her amazing toughness (for let no Republican ever dare to forget what an staggering weight of innuendo and invective greet Mrs. Sarah Palin upon her arrival on the national scene), she continued to give honor to the man who had called her to the ticket.

All the leaks went against her. When was a nasty word uttered to the press by known Palin people against McCain?

Whatever went on behind the scenes of the campaign, we have before us the pulverizing public fact of Sarah Palin’s loyalty to John McCain as his vice presidential nominee.

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COMMENTS

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  • spainishirish

    He always has lectured Republicans when, at least in his mind, they failed to act “honorably.” Where is the honor in this senator’s silence?

    I’ll tell you where. Nowhere. Operation Leper should include acceptance by silence and put McCain on the list if he continues not to speak out.

  • kchand

    the U.S. has 50 states. So, why is Palin so pilloried? It’s personal. It shows the insecurity and defensiveness of the LEAKERS. As you’ve said, they should be banned from all campaigns.

    Can ANY politician imagine having some of these traitors in their future organizations?

    “Name them …… make them famous!”

  • Ed54

    but pointing out Palin’s loyalty is not a particularly persuasive point. Yeah, she was loyal, but it wasn’t that hard to do. Not a real stretch to be grateful and loyal to a man who just gave you the biggest political chance of your life. She had nothing to gain from being disloyal; the campaign was win-win for Palin. Even losing would position her as a front-runner for 2012.

    Having said that, conservatism is built on a foundation of honor and respect for principles. Certainly the McCain staffers who are trying to salvage their careers or soothe their egos as Palin’s expense are showing no regard for honor and dignity, and should be ostracized lest they infect the rest of us.

    I think the more salient point is to note how vigorously the media and intellectual elites are STILL trying to undermine Palin. They recognize the powerful long term threat she poses, and are doing everything they can to neutralize that threat with preemptive character assasination. Bizarre that even in victory they are fearful of us.

  • StephC

    I don’t know what it is with these people, but conservatism isn’t something you can just kill by excising it from a political party. It’s a way of life and most of this nation is conservative. Let them cannibalize each other while we keep tallies. We will get our party back at some point.

  • shawng

    There’s no evidence whatsoever that Gov. Palin was disloyal. What, she chose to do more interviews than her handlers wanted her to? You mean the handlers that were obviously afraid of the resonance she brought the ticket? Sorry, too bad.

    Is Tuesday a good day to do a weekly “Frog March of the Quislings?” to ensure that we all know right where to send our adoring correspondence to those who would backstab their betters?

  • RichChatfield

    For your stalwartness on this issue.

  • Ed54

    to be with family at the ranch. Probably has the TV off. He deserves that.

    Give him a little time. He’s already said what a great partner and campaigner he was, and I’m sure he’ll react appropriately to this once he comes up for air. In the meantime, stop hyperventilating.

  • Jack_Savage

    He needs to come out, on the record and straighten this out. Believe me, if they were saying this about one of his Democrat buddies he would have already done so.

    These leakers are gutless cowards who couldn’t manage their way out of a wet paper bag, much less a presidential campaign.

  • jonathan_pujals

    McCain was SO-O-O-O quick to issue statements of shock and disavowal when anyone uttered “That One’s” middle name (Hussein), or dared bring up “That One’s” association with Rev. Wright. His blasts usually came within the hour. Why is he so silent on this one? Why is he allowing these annonymous cowards to slander Gov. Palin and not condem the statements and vilify the evil-doers? Why did FOX’s Cameron so gleefully report this, and in such detail? I am beginnig to think that we were “saved” by McCain’s loss…we were desperate for someone–anyone–to pick up the gauntlet. It was never, and could never, have been McCain: he would have been too busy bending over backwards, appeasing the democrats, to have accomplished anything.
    Sarah Palin boosted and envigorated McCain’s lackluster campaign from double-digit losses to an exciting contest that was very close. She brought back many of us disaffected republicans to the fold and many of us voted for HER, NOT McCain. These so-called “insiders” who are viciously attacking her now, should be kissing the hem of Gov. Palin’s skirt, not dissing her! The Leper’s List is going to be a Leper Colony at this rate.

  • charliej

    If he truly has honor he will speak out; if not then put him on the list as a traitor.

    I thought cannibalism was for uneducated savages.. Come to think of it I guess that fits…

  • GunslingerGirl

    Sarah Palin deserves our loyalty. These collaborators and turncoats do not. Not one person who voted with Democrats against Conservative ideology should be spared. We need to raze this house to the ground and start from scratch. No looking back. Don’t leave anything or anyone for our enemy to hang us with! Start calling out the moderates, we need our version of the loyalty oath. A new contract with the America and the Republican party!

    Remember that we are partisans. That used to be a good thing! During WW2, partisans fueled the resistance against the occupying Nazis. They started by teaching the collaborators a lesson. The French Resistance shaved the heads of collaborators as an example!

    So to all those jumped ship, caucused with Dems, who tattled to the NYT/WP… WATCH YOUR BACKS!

    Let’s hear out our moderates. Watch them closely. But sharpen your razors folks….

  • scottbomb

    I heard Rush talk about that yesterday too. Why would anyone hire them in the future, knowing they’ll willing to stab you in the back? Burning bridges is professional suicide.

  • Jack_Savage

    What a lame excuse, and I do not buy it for a second.

    Like I said, if this were one of his Dem buddies he would have pulled himself out of bed and held a press conference on his lawn.

  • spainishirish

    Maybe the senator can pretend it is the North Carolina Republican Party that is trashing Palin and then find the moral courage to tell these SOBs HE hired to shut up. If he required this much rest to do something so simple, perhaps he shouldn’t have run in the first place.

  • paulag1955

    Who is on it and is there proof or is it still conjecture?

  • JackNY

    Erik ,

    My thoughts were that maybe you were over reacting to the rumors ,

    But in the last 24 hours these rumors have become a tsunami

    John Mcain is a honorable man , and he needs to stop this NOW – not in a week or 10 days

    When I call you a thief on national tv , it becomes your problem to clear your name.

    They are doing this to damage Sara Palin , and hoping that she can never clear up her image , Well it may work if they continue doing this for another week , and that is why Mcain needs to stop this NOW !!!!

    I am so mad now that I want to write a check for “Palin for President”

    This behavior is unwarrented , and I would tell Mcain and his team , ( what he knows already ) that if not for Sara the outcome would have been much worse

  • Addison

    …are you guys holding Romney accountable? I mean, a lot of the leaks are apparently coming from his former advisors, and cui bono, and all that.

  • Erick

    Nicolle Wallace. Hell, she may be the only one.

  • davidingeorgia

    but McCain now has a “send the senator a thank you note” link up on his campaign web site…I was polite and respectful, but I did NOT send him a thank you…I asked him when he was going to stand up and defend his VP choice from the attacks from his own staffers…here’s the link (I hope I did this right…I’m not much on links and whatnot):

    http://www.johnmccain.com/involving/petition3.aspx?guid=0402caa6-1ae7-41b0-8f47-9427a238b5f1

  • MelZ

    Keep the leper list going! The Republicans on here encouraging this crap need to take a few moments.

    What’s happening to Palin is HORRIBLE what’s worse is what is happening to the CONSERVATIVE PARTY (or perhaps Republican Party…formerly the party of conservatives).

    This dogging on Palin…passing blame, etc. benefits ABSOLUTELY NO ONE! Except the person spreading the rumors around, those particular people are jumping ship and trying to align themselves with the D’s…go for it!

  • moijea

    If the republican party cannot close ranks and protect this woman, after what the dems and the media did to her and her family during the campaign, . . .

    then we are scum. And that includes McCain.

  • Tbone

    not appreciation and not even the time of day. He was a lousy candidate who backed into the nomination. Now that the figures are in, it is obvious that Obama wasn’t elected by a wave of new black/young/morons/brain damaged but by people who voted for GWB and couldn’t stomach the old wishy washy fart.

    In review, the ONLY THING that McCain has done in his political life that indicates he isn’t just another brain dead liberal-lite is picking Sarah Palin.

    I hope that those McCain staffers who took a bad candidate and structured a campaign that wouldn’t win ASB president and a middle school are not only pointed out for the derision they earned but are afflicted with real leprosy.

  • antisocial

    How do you blame the people when nice moderates and insiders are the ones who are starting them in the first place? I don’t buy for a moment that McCain is “taking” time off and doesn’t know about this scapegoating. He was looking to work with “my President” in a bipartisan manner in his concession speech. And he doesn’t stand up for Gov Palin? Disgusting, dishonorable and cowardly!!! I am yet to hear ONE prominent Politician defending one of their own conservative leaders. NOT ONE. Where is the PARTY?

    Greta did a better job on FOX.

    With friends like these who needs enemies?

  • moijea

    Did I hear correctly on the news that Nicole Wallace was on a morning talk show, stating things like, “No one is more on a non-Diva than Governor Palin?”

  • Common_Cents

    It shows you that our ElectedElite Washington insiders stick together. They do not want their cozy gig interrupted by an outsider such as Palin.

    We get the smoke screen of Reps and Dems fighting for us but really, they are fighting against us for themselves.

    They no longer represent Country.

  • EdgeOfTheStorm

    Seems that’s the best argument against this trashing of Palin. Either they did a lousy job of Vetting her (Some Truth in that), then they are to blame for all of this stupidity, or they are making it up, which is even worse.

    Regardless of the real story, the blame resides directly on the McCain People, and none on Palin. If she was so bad, they should never had her on the Ticket in the first place. If she isn’t that bad, then they shouldn’t be trashing her now.

  • bs

    although he’s probably not 100% guiltless. It appears to be a subset of his campaign team. And that’s what/who O.L. is targeting.

    As you point out, it’s not just Erick & RS. It is a large swath of the news media who have caught onto this. O.L. has provided a magnifying glass to put more focus on it.

  • acasilaco

    nt

  • Common_Cents

    The real solution is gutting Washington’s power, returning much of it to state/local. Putting in term limits.

    In short, the right thing to do is do everything you DON’T hear politicians talk about.

    The back and forth fighting is simple misdirection like a magician to keep the public occupied and distracted while the incestual party continues in DC.

  • RestonCon

    Since Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) days seem to be numbered, perhaps Sarah can take his seat. That ought to boost her credentials. After all, by 2012 she’d be in the Senate more than the 143 days The One occupied prior to running for POTUS

  • RoxannaDanna

    This woman and anyone else who has been leaking all this crap about Palin will be looking for jobs again.

    I said this last night, the first thing you Don’t do when you interview for a new job is bad mouth your former employer. What prospective employer would trust you on his team? How professional would you appear to a prospective employer?

    These people are sabotaging their own futures by trying to make camera time now trashing Palin. They may have their 15 minutes of fame now but at the cost of a future position in another campaign.

    Pretty dumb and extremely unprofessioonal.

  • ScottWP

    the line of thought Addison pointed out above.

    There are probably numerous nasty motivations for this, but remember:

    Soon after our loss on the 4th, many began to speak the terms “Palin” and “2012″ in the same sentence.

    This is bound to frighten true RomneyBots and HuckaBots.

    They simply don’t want Sarah to derail the chances of “their guy” next time around.

    It’s sleazy, and must be punished.

    Me love Sarah!

  • waitasec

    Why can’t Palin and McCain both be to blame – one for being unprepared for national office, and the other for not figuring it out in time?

  • aceintx

    He’s a liberal Republican who only used Palin for his own designs…he needed her to assist his quest for the presidency…now that he’s back in the Senate…he’ll be back to stabbing Conservatives in the back and working to make sure we nominate another squish in 2012…Palin stands in the way of that…and he’s right in the middle of this I’ll bet!

  • RoxannaDanna

    how do you gut this Washington power when we (the citizens) keep electing the same kinds of people back to office?

    People like John Murtha? And every sane person’s worst nightmare, possibly Al Franken?

  • Moe_Lane
  • aceintx

    As far as I’m concerned…the crap weasels who ran the McCain Campaign have proven their abilities and shouldn’t be allowed within 100 miles of our next nominee whether they are the leakers and back biters or not.

    As for the backbiters themselves…if we can find out who they are specifically they should be tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail never to return to Republican Politics again!

  • mbecker908

    who are fronting this. Let me note here that I don’t particularly like Romney and I greet Huckabee with nothing but unmitigated disgust. However, they’ve got no axe to grind with Gov. Palin and the media wouldn’t give them the time of day anyway. This is coming from the heart and soul of the Washington version of the Republican Party.

  • Moe_Lane

    The voters clearly decided that being a Senator was experience enough in 2008. Whether they’ll continue to think that in 2012 is still very much up in the air.

  • spainishirish

    And why hasn’t he spoken out?

    If McCain doesn’t tell his people to lay off, he is complicit through his silence. And if he continues to remain mute, I can only assume his complicity is a way to reingratiate himself with the New York Times and his Democratic caucus pals so he can continue to carry water for both.

    I hope you prove me wrong, senator. It is time to go forward instead of looking backward but your incompetent peeps apparently don’t realize it.

  • acasilaco

    …I suspect many of Huck’s biggest fans ALSO really like Sarah. Conservatives don’t have to be (and ought not be, if we expect to ever win again) all at each other’s throats. I would be thrilled to see either of them (or both!) on our ticket next time around.

  • 1SGinTN

    I told him we needed to hear him defend the Gov.

  • Deep_Thinker

    I used to be on the fence as far as congressional term limits, but now believe they are necessary even though there might be some downside to them.

    The incumbents have rigged the game to the extent that the only way to replace them is to vote for the other party.

    It has reached a point where even if convicted the entrenched establishment will protect it’s own. Sen. Stevens should have been encouraged to not run for reelection long before having to be brought to a trial. Sen. Mc Connell and ilk had to know what was obvious to most people that Sen. Stevens had gone to far in the ethical abuse of his position.

    Bravo ! to Sen. De Mint for having the courage to speak out.

    The Stevens, Cunninghams, Foleys etc. need to be identified and told not to run for reelection before they make national headlines and bring disgrace to the Republican party.

    REPUBLICAN CORRUPTION AND ETHICAL LAPSES DIRECTLY LEAD TO DEMOCRATIC VICTORIES.

    Until republican leadership realizes this the only defense we have is term limits.

  • aceintx

    This fits the pattern of moderates…they’re like the teachers pet…or the sniveling weeny in the office who takes credit for everyone else’s ideas and any time they get one upped by one of their team mates they’re immediately out there laying traps, snitching and doing everything they can to tear them down and keep anyone from getting ahead.

    I worked in the Department of justice for 7 years and I can tell you it’s full of these types…the only way they get ahead and promote within the Dept is to stick their co workers in the back and use the knife they stuck in them to climb up and stick the next person in line in the back…I despise these vermin!

  • My2Cents

    Listened to Mike Gallagher on the way into work, and he was all over this Fox News reporting of rumor and innuendo about Palin being a diva and an ignorant rube. He interviewed David Frum (no Palin fan, but he believes she’s being thrown under the bus). Gallagher interviewed Chris Wallace earlier and Wallace said that Frum blaming these stories on Nicolle Wallace was flat wrong, that Frum doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It was also clearl that Chris Wallace and the rest at Fox know where these reports are coming from, yet are “protecting their source.” Chris Wallace essentially said of Frum, “He’s wrong. Guess again.”

    So, Fox originally pushed the story based on anonymous sources. The rest of the sharks in the MSM have picked up on these stories and are repeating them as true without ANYONE doing the work to confirm them. Fox is as bad as MSNBC at this point, meaning it’s a miserable excuse for a news network. Thank God for Greta, who was hopping mad last night at these reports and the way the networks, including Fox, has given them life.

    Ultimately, both Gallagher and Frum came to the conclusion that the source of the Palin stories is indeed Nicolle Wallace, or lower-level Romney devotees in the McCain campaign.

    And the quislings are depending upon the tendency of the news media not to check sources, not to look into stories before they run with them, in order to perpetuate this character assassination of Gov. Palin.

  • Suzy

    I love Palin too and I think it’s despicable what the McCain people are doing to her and McCain should come off his well-deserved vacation and put an end to it. Hopefully he is using back channels versus a public pronouncement.

    I also believe it is too late for Palin. The damage is already done to her political career and she should not think of running for president in 2012. While she was great at rallying the base, a president needs to inspire the middle and some Democrats too. She cannot do that.

    She is a decent and honorable person and a good Governor for the State of Alaska. She did a lot of good there cleaning up the corruption. Her communication skills and ability to think on her feet (the awful Couric interview, etc.) leave much to be desired. We should expect our leaders to do better than that when running for the second highest office. GWB was never as bad at communicating and he set the bar pretty low. I know ideas matter, but if you can’t inspire people to join your cause (as Reagan did — and now That One), you’re toast. Palin does not have that ability.

    And for the Romney and Huckabee folks, you should hang it up too. They were both failures this time around and I’m glad to see Huckabee has found a new career. He is not presidential material anyway. As for Romney, I suspect he or his people had a hand in the Palin trashing and I am disgusted by that act of disloyalty to the party. And besides, Romney badly lost his party’s nomination after spending millions of dollars. There is no 1976 Reagan comparison here for either man. Romney should move on too.

    We need fresh meat in 2010.

  • srhom007

    These people don’t realize that trashing Palin will gain them nothing in regard to public opinion. The opposite is true. They will look like even bigger fools for picking her… if she’s so incompetent. It’s the same tone deafness that lead this entire campaign. These people have no business running a campaign. Maybe they’ll go to work for the Dems next time. There’s something that might actually help the GOP.

  • aceintx

    pull some reporter aside and dump the beans on condition they don’t disclose who you ware…

    They’re Chicken ShXXs pure and simple

  • MuskegonCritic

    ” the first thing you Don’t do when you interview for a new job is bad mouth your former employer. What prospective employer would trust you on his team? How professional would you appear to a prospective employer?”

    I dunno. Consider Scott McClellen. He bad mouthed his former employer, got a book deal out of it, and is in good stead with his former adversaries.

    Maybe these advisors are thinking of crossing over. Or maybe they’re betting the new Anti-Palin sect of the Republican Party is going to take the party reigns.

  • My2Cents

    …that the hits on Palin are coming, in part, from the Inside-the-Beltway wing of the GOP. They are going to oppose anyone who is a real reformer.

    But I disagree with the sentiment that Romney and Huck have no interest in this. Palin’s immediate popularity frightened not only the Obama camp in early Sept. (which is why the media when after her so savagely), but it has to frighten those who think they are next in line to get the GOP nomination. In a matter of days, Palin connected with the GOP voters better than Romney did after a year of campaigning. I do not for a moment doubt the possibility that both the Inside-the-Beltway types AND the Rombots and HuckaBots are involved in this.

  • aceintx

    nt

  • mbecker908

    .

  • scottbomb

    Simply blacklist everyone who worked for McCain. The honest ones might shed some light on the cockroaches.

  • mbecker908

    active players. They don’t have to be, McCain’s people are doing the dirty work so they don’t have to.

  • cwilson

    Palin’s rise was fueled in part by Alaskan anger at Gov. Murkowski appointing his daughter to the Senate. Palin would be hit with that same anger — even more so, given a certain sense of betrayal — if she did something even worse: appointing not her daughter, but herself.

  • acasilaco

    nt

  • Moe_Lane

    …he or she is ineligible to win all further elections, ever again.

    Well, true, the Democratic Party lives and dies by that rule on the national level – but we don’t.

  • aceintx

    that works if you are interviewing for the job…it’s different if you’ve already been tapped for the job…

    What do I mean?

    I contend the McCain people and the establishment people they represent cut a deal with Romney’s people at the CPAC Convention to get Romney to step aside and make room for McCain…if you think about it…this explains the shock so many felt at the sudden withdrawal of Romney from the race…I was ready to jump to his side to stop McCain at the time and almost passed out when he so abruptly quit…I contend…and McCaslin has reported in the Washington Times…Way before Cameron dropped this steaming pile of crap out there…that it is Romney supporters in line for his run in 2012 that were starting a whisper Campaign attacking Palin and were planning to blame her for the fiasco they created…Cameron’s report is simply a culmination of that whisper campaign that was cooked up to remove the threat of Palin and her obvious appeal to the base!

  • Herodotus

    Huckabee in not a conservative

  • Herodotus

    .

  • Southpaw75

    are Palin supporters now the true ‘PUMA’s?

  • mbecker908

    Bring up Huckabee and expect cannon fire to the right of you. The guy will absolutely say anything, he is utterly ignorant about economics and the working of the federal government, and he governs like an unreconstructed Huey Long populist.

    Bottom line, he’ll never get more than a handful of votes from the fundamentalist Christian community (NOTE: not evangelicals), he has absolutely no appeal beyond that small slice.

  • aceintx

    he could condemn the cowards who are orchestrating this. His silence says what he thinks of this…

    One of my wife’s favorite sayings is, “your silence is your consent”…well the Maverick is silent…what does that tell you?

  • Swamp_Yankee

    My resolve is stronger than ever. Sarah Palin will have money and time. She needs to rest and lay low, butthe base has to start building her support now. Primary opponents will be crushed.

  • paulag1955

    I think we need to know the names of anyone closely associated with her in the campaign; anyone in her inner circle. And who was her immediate supervisor? Who was directly responsible for hiring her?

    I favor a scorched earth approach.

  • MuskegonCritic

    …it’s probably not a good time to bring up Nixon.

  • MaryBeth

    Sen. Lindsay Graham leaking this? It would explain McCain’s silence as they are BFFs (gag). Everyone knows McCain and Graham really wanted Liebermann as VP and I actually think Joe thought he would get the nod which explains why he risked such a break with the Dems.

  • aceintx

    Shame on you Senator McCain. Your silence in the smearing of Governor Palin from your campaign staffers is disgraceful…Your silence is your consent in this and if you don’t want your good name sullied and associated with the back biting and treacherous acts of your campaign staffers you need to come out now and condemn those who are engaged in it!

  • MaryBeth

    Bobby Jindal has the freshness and the smarts. He was a Rhodes Scholar at 16. He is also a fiscal conservative and very tough on crime/personnal responsibility

  • aceintx

    and who has a history of viciously tearing down his opponents in the Republican Primaries?

    If Mitt want’s a shot in 2012…he’d do well to call off the dogs because whether he’s behind this or not…it looks like he is!

  • DaBoogieMan

    She ignited the base beyond anyone the past 16 years on the national level.

    She was the #2 on the ticket so voting McCain and was like buying a box of cracker jack just to get the prize, even though I hate popcorn.

  • aceintx

    for anyone going up against an incumbent president…she needs to stay right where she is…maybe work on some foreign trad missions…spend some time boning up on foreign policy and participate where possible and come out swinging in 2012!

  • aceintx

    Sarah stands in the way of that because she has the appeal to lead a Reagan like insurrection that will derail their plans.

    I don’t think Huckabee plans a 2012 run and I don’t think McCain had any Huckabee staffers on his payroll…It’s Romney’s former staffers who are said to have started this months ago my John McKaslin of the Washington times…

  • DaBoogieMan

    on his platform. He’s making great progress, but I just hope he doesn’t abandon his work to run for POTUS before he’s done major work. If not, he’ll be used in the Palin MSM mold, “he’s just been a gov for 2 years and has done nothing.” I have faith he’ll be great governor and POTUS one day.

    I’ve lived here in LA for the past 44 years and Jindal is fresh air to this corrupt state. Remember, he received over 50% of the vote in a crowded field in the primaries. His message resonated!!!

  • aceintx

    not like there was a real choice after the Primaries…and I’l contend till the day I die that McCain was the accidental Nominee…he was the last choice for almost 80% of the party…but was the last one standing since we couldn’t settle on a consensus candidate IMHO.

  • RoxannaDanna

    but I don’t see that he’s sitting all that well in the eyes of most people.

    I could be wrong and probably am, but I just don’t think he’s held in great esteem by most people (even those jerks in Washington) for what he did to the President.

  • aceintx

    Romney and Huckabee should be out there condemning it as well!

  • RoxannaDanna

    ;-D

  • Darin_H

    Stand up and fight, FIGHT for Sarah Palin. She’s being unfairly disparaged by people who you employed. You need to come out and make a statement.

  • Shaggy_Dog

    can we also see to it that whatever imbecile advised McCain to “suspend his campaign” and parachute into DC to put his a** on the line with the bailout bill also never has anything to do with another Republican campaign?

  • aceintx

    and most of his former supporters are firmly in Sarahs corner on this…I doubt Huck would cause a ripple in 2012…

    That being said…any doubt about whether he, or Romney, or McCain are behind this or even are iin favor of it can be laid to rest with a simple statement from each of them condemning the damnable smears directed at her!

  • RoxannaDanna

    There are no secrets in politics or Washington … not for long anyway.

    But I agree with everything you guys have said.

  • aceintx

    she has made public statements to that effect…so maybe she’s not the main source…but she’s part of the cabal of sources!

  • RoxannaDanna

    Leadership requires taking on the hard jobs and McCain seems to be taking his own vacation from adressing this issue head-on.

  • aceintx

    I also believe it is too late for Palin. The damage is already done to her political career and she should not think of running for president in 2012. While she was great at rallying the base, a president needs to inspire the middle and some Democrats too. She cannot do that.

    You had your chance with that line of bull this year…how’d it work out for all of us?

  • RoxannaDanna

    Yes that turned out to be a pretty dumb move. I wonder whose idea that was…

  • aceintx

    I also believe it is too late for Palin. The damage is already done to her political career and she should not think of running for president in 2012. While she was great at rallying the base, a president needs to inspire the middle and some Democrats too. She cannot do that.

  • KarenIndiana

    If you haven’t already done so, I believe that the answer is pretty clear as to what needs to be done. Instead of just talking about here. You can easily email Sarah Palin through the Alaska state website and send her your support, then contat via FAX or letter or phone, not email since they are so easily lost, to both McCain and Romney and tell them you are disgusted about what is going and you feel that it is their duty,(remind McCain of his own words)to put a public stop to this now or they will NEVER again have your support for anything.
    The fact that both are silent on the matter is a pretty clear indication that no lesson has been learned from this election. The Republican base will not stand for this any longer.

  • aceintx

    You’d think these idiots would learn from the way she stood up to the media barrage aimed at her…but like all arrogant squishes…they think they can do better than anyone else at anything they try. The “so called objective media” only succeeded in rallying people to Palin with their visciousness…these fools will end up doing the same…

    McCain, Romney, Huckabee etc should condemn this but I say…let the rats keep sniping at her…they’ll only strengthen her!

  • aceintx

    nt

  • Moe_Lane

    It took him three tries to get the nomination for President. Although Nixon is another perfectly acceptable example.

    MuskegonCritic, you really need to do more research into the history of the Republican Party if you want to contribute meaningfully here.

  • aceintx

    nt

  • septembergurl

    Party is overwhelming.

    Rasmussen poll today says she has 91% positive approval rating among Republicans.

    Also that 69% of Republicans say she helped the ticket — only 20% say she hurt.

    And, in the first poll of Presidential candidates Palin leads with 65%.

    Mitt and Huck around 12% each, others in single digits.

    She is by far the most popular Republican today. After she regroups I think we will see more of her as we begin to rebuild.

  • Moe_Lane
  • aceintx

    but it might get them to turn on the traitors

  • Martin_A_Knight

    Just take a gander at what he spewed up today.

  • leftylurker

    But she really needs some seasoning.

    Say what you want to about media bias, but any politician should be capable of taking on Katie Couric.

    Palin was picked before she was ready. In a few years I think she’ll be a real force to be reckoned with.

  • hunter

    Obama muffed interviews.
    Biden still has no idea how the constitution works, or about our military history.
    McCain has given rough interviews.
    This bizarre standard that ahs us wasting time talking about how Palin may have muffed an interview with that bimbo Couric is really old.

  • aaronbg

    Couric muffed the editing of the interview on purpose. Watching the unedited version of the interview made this abundantly clear to anyone not actively trying to destroy Gov Palin.

  • crazy

    Don’t hold your breath waiting for McCain to help his wingman fight off her attackers. Flight Leads who leave their wingmen to fend for themselves don’t have many wanting to fly with them. Doesn’t this sound vaguely reminiscent of what Congressional republicans had to say about McCain before the MSM and open primaries handed him the republican nomination?

    If McCain wanted these attacks on Palin to stop we’d have heard it already.

  • aceintx

    We need to make sure we go into the primaries in a couple years united behind one solidly conservative candidate. We can’t allow the establishment to keep us fighting amongst ourselves while they slip another squish past us and we repeat this all over again in 4 years or we’ll be saying President obama for 8 years instead of just 4.

    Palin is it as far as I and most Conservatives in the party are concerned….and the establishment knows that…that’s why the flaming arrows are flying at her!

  • RoxannaDanna

    While I agree that there’s plenty for Palin to become educated on, I also agree that Katie Couric is really no standard to put Palin up against. Couric is such a lightweight and so inconsequential. And we need to move past that.

    My fear though is that come next campaign time, we’ll be seeing that stupid interview clip over and over again.

  • aceintx

    This is another reason for the attacks…they mishandled her and they’re doing damage control. Her Gibson/Couric performances are they’re failure as much as hers…if they new she was as big a ditz as they say she was…why in the hell did they put her before two obviously hostile news anchors before they knew she was ready? Why didn’t they put her on with Hannity or other friendly news sources untill they had her ready for prime time?

    This is a joke and it’s so ham handed I can’t help but think it’s no wonder the McCain Campaign was as bad as it was because these idiots actually thought this was a good idea!

  • aceintx

    nt

  • paulag1955

    Was on the Today Show today defending Governor Palin. What do you make of that? Trying to play both sides? Thoughts?

  • Wubbies_World

    … for Sara’s 2012 campaign!!!!

    Where do I send a check to her? Seriously!

  • acasilaco

    nt

  • MelZ

    You are right. Some “moderate” maverick will want to run against her…and I hope he gets McCain’s campaign advisors.

    good point.

  • aceintx

    I’m sure the people who will run her campaign are getting something ready…I’ll let ya know when I know something…you do the same…

  • Jack_Savage

    And if Sarah scares him, Lord only knows what Todd does. Turns him on, maybe?

  • rjd27

    of all McCain staffer’s and their connections to all the 2008 Republican candidates.
    Add to the list any turncoat columnist/pundit that now feels the need to mudsling.

    Let’s educate these republicans (sic) about Conservative policy, honor, loyalty and just what it means to frack with the base.

    *that’s not too mean-spirited, is it?

  • finaljeopardy

    She said anyone on the campaign staff who keeps mum on this is only abetting these traitors. She said twice, “Shame on them!” including John McCain, though she’s never been a fan of his.

    At least Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace are making appearances and responding to the rumors, even if they might be to blame.

    Schmidt picked her, and I’m not so sure about him. Wallace, though, and Rick Davis seem like the likely culprits.

  • Josh_Painter

    First, Steve Schmidt e-mails Greta to say that the “wearing nothing but a towel” rumor is bogus. Then Nicole Wallace goes on the today show and says the “diva” rumor is not true.

    The McCain campaign is handing out the refutrations like Halloween candy. Why not call a press conference and end all of this once and for all?

    Are we supposed to wait with baited breath for the “didn’t know Africa was a continent” and the “didn’t know the member nations of NAFTA” debunking from Team McCain?

    What the devil are they thinking?

    • JP
  • scottbomb

    I just hope our pleas make it to his desk. How do we know there aren’t moles reading the comments (and then hitting the ‘delete’ key)?

  • LJMiller96

    Here is what I wrote.

    Dear Sir:

    I am sorry our team lost. You were able to convert my wife, a long-time Democrat, to vote for you this year only because you brought Gov. Palin on board. This brings me to my request. Gov. Palin is being savaged in print by rumor mongers from within your campaign. It falls to you, sir, to chastise them by name in public and to make this toxic rumor-mongering stop. That is the right thing for a leader to do. Please, sir, step forward and do the right thing. Expose the wrongdoers.

    Respectfully yours,
    LJ Miller

    Is the righteous fury too obvious?

  • aceintx

    nt

  • aceintx

    nt

  • davidingeorgia

    …getting deleted as fast as we can send them, but it was the first semi-direct way to contact him that I had come across, and it let me vent a bit if nothing
    else :-)

    who knows…maybe he still does know what honor is about, and will pop out of his hidey-hole at some point and do the right thing, but I’m beginning to wonder…I understand him wanting to get away for awhile, but he’s got to know this is going on (unless he’s getting away for a few days under a rock), and the longer he waits, the more I think that he’s okay with them doing this to her.

  • SpL

    And finish her off politically? Why, that’s a great way to start rebuilding our party.

    Meanwhile people like Ted Stevens and Mark Foley get left in place by the leadership only to topple Republican dignity at the most inopportune times. With people like this on the right who needs DU or Kos?

    No wonder no one honest gets into politics at the top. I bet they don’t play the way the leaders want them to unless there is a blackmail-able offense.

  • mikewas

    Having observed McCain these last several months, I have to wonder why he’s not having a presser right now explaining that these stories about Palin are false. It certainly seems like the kind of thing he’d do. So, why not? A couple of possibilities come to my mind.

    1. He’s not aware that it’s happening. Seems doubtful; he’s apparently promised to campaign for Chambliss so it’s not like hes not watching the news.

    2. He’s heard the stories, knows they’re untrue or unfair, and doesn’t care. Again, McCain seems to me the kind of guy who’d want to be taking a stand on this if he knew about it.

    3. He’s heard the stories, and lets them ride because he’s angry at Palin for some reason. But why? There’s no indication he’s upset with her.

    4. He’s heard the stories, and thinks they’re fair and/or true. But even so, doesn’t this kind of thing make him look bad for having chosen her?

    I’m mystified why he hasn’t stood up to stop these smears. I would think that protecting Gov. Palin’s reputation would be the most important thing he can do to preserve his own reputation at this point.

    So, then, what is it?

  • mbecker908

    conservatives specifically unless they can be used to prop him up.

    Gee, I just realized I can go back to my old ways v McCain now. It’s a much brighter day. :>)

  • janis

    for months, and now it’s back to business as usual.

    Which of course means that he’ll be back to doing what he does best–sticking it to us. But of all the things he has done to piss us off in the past, if he doesn’t make some effort to defend Sarah, he will really have sealed his fate and his reputation.

  • Suzy

    Nixon and Reagan and others have been elected after losing primaries. However, the media didn’t shape such a negative view of them. If she becomes the nominee in 2012, how do we change the negative perceptions? It’s not enough for Republicans to love her. Independents and Democrats have to vote for her in the General. She can win the nomination, but can she win the election? I want to win in 2012. The amount of damage Obama could do in 8 years would take a generation to reverse. We can’t let that happen and must nominate a person who has a shot at winning. And that doesn’t mean we should sacrifice our conservative values and nominate a moderate either.

  • Moe_Lane

    …the Arctic ice cap will undoubtedly help; and, of course, the Brazil/Argentina War the year after will push most domestic politics firmly out of the public eye. She’ll have to worry about the Henderson Eighteen scandal slopping on her, but that’ll be true of every politician in the country, really.

    Translation: it’s 11/08/2008 – and to paraphrase Apollo 13: we are on step 3, and you are worrying about step 85.

  • nannasc

    I have sent emails to McCain & his daughter expressing my extreme displeasure over their non-reaction to this issue. This is what I said in my email to his daughter:
    I am extremely upset to hear on the news all the trash talk by the McCain campaign personnel about Sarah Palin.

    I think it is time to put all this nasty rumors & talk about her aside. I think that she showed extreme class in her answers to the press when questioned about it.

    As much as the press and public have trashed her, if I were in her shoes I probably would not have been so positive and nice. I would have been much less inclined to talk nice about the people who trashed me, my family, my kids and spent thousands of dollars going to Alaska to find dirt on her.

    I sincerely doubt that any one of us could keep that positive and nice an attitude toward others if we had been treated so badly.

    I was extremely pleased by the message your father had as his concession speech. I thought that this set the bar for the rest of the campaign workers, advisors, and volunteers. It is not time for blame and nasty words. It is a time to rebuild the Republican Party. It is time to learn lessons and plan ahead – not shove the running mate under the bus! I don’t think that your father would sanction this treatment. I, along with many other ardent supports, am very upset by these nasty stories hitting the papers and news shows.

    Do we want to be remembered like the Clinton personnel who removed the “W” letters from all the computers & left the White House a mess? Do we want others to see that we let a few poor losers ruin and hurt the Party?

    It is now time put our differences aside – follow Sarah & your father’s public leads. We need to wish the new president all the best as he takes on the momentous tasks that lie ahead for him. He needs our support & prayers, as do all those who lost in the campaign. It is time to bury the hatchet and go on with trying to fix the problems in our nation – not continue to divide it.

    If the bickering continues, I am afraid that the results in 2010 & 2012 for our Party will be much worse than the 2008 ones.

    Thanks for your time. I wish you the very best – just so sorry that the ending was not the one we wanted!