Tom Rath is the former Attorney General General of New Hampshire. He’s also been a Republican National Committeeman. He is not the type of guy people should treat lightly.

I am, consequently, rather disturbed that several people, both inside and outside the McCain campaign — trusted people — tell me Mr. Rath is responsible for the Newsweek story about Sarah Palin’s temper tantrum in New Hampshire.

To recap, Newsweek reported Palin refused to go on stage with Senator Sununu and Jeb Bradley because of their pro-choice politics and opposition to drilling in ANWR. Later, it was revealed that Palin had been on stage with them and, in fact, had appeared on stage with several pro-choice candidates without incident. Oh, and she was running mates with John McCain, a man who opposes drilling in ANWR.

In any event, Rath is one of those who hitched his wagon to Mitt Romney. It is, however, people in the Romney camp pointing fingers at Rath, in addition to McCain staffers.

I called Mr. Rath at his office to ask him about it. I said I was calling about the latest Sarah Palin smear. He seemed to know which one I was talking about. He vigorously denied the charge, said he had never met Sarah Palin before, and was not responsible for it.

I guess the question then is why are people close to Mitt Romney and John McCain looking disapprovingly in his direction?

You can sign the Operation Leper petition below. Want to measure the impact? Well, just look at the McCain staffers now rushing to say nice things about Sarah Palin, including Nicolle Wallace, who we’ve already outted.