« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

EDITOR OF REDSTATE

On Steve Schmidt

Take a person off the Operation Leper List

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  November 13th, 2008 at 06:03 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

When I first posted on Operation Leper, I put Steve Schmidt on the list. His name appeared in both a CNN story as someone saying negative things about Sarah Palin and in a Politico story.

I can no longer say that Steve Schmidt was one of the smear artists out to harm Palin in order to protect his reputation. In fact, at this time I feel extremely comfortable saying Steve Schmidt has gotten a bad rap. That I played a part in it, I must apologize to him.

To his great credit, he has refused to talk one way or the other. I did not put Steve on the list until seeing the Politico and CNN stories, as well as talking to people I trusted who were familiar with the situation. Nonetheless, I think those of us who judged Steve Schmidt harshly and were willing to list him as a smear artist got it wrong.

Tags: ,
Get Alerts

COMMENTS

POSTING RULES  |  LOGIN TO COMMENT  |  REGISTER TODAY
  • aaronbg

    His silence enabled others to do so. I am not sure he should be given a clean slate considering that. But you are more in the know than I.

  • JLenardDetroit

    is bound to occur in an operation such as this. We must be “cautious” when calling people out, as once the genie is out of the bottle it is hard to put back. Not all that got the “Call-out” will get the “Mea-culpa” correction(s).

    Likewise, though… Those who had been either responsible and/or in the know and did nothing will be in CYA mode. Those under scrutiny must not just be given a pass without MEANINGFUL admonishment of those who have clearly offended! IF YOU AREN’T WITH US, YOU’RE AGAINST US more or less. Maybe a tad harsh, more like “silence in this matter is partial guilt.” You know what I mean – I (at least) expect people to stand up to those doing the trashing, or they will not have my 100% loyalty.

  • Erick

    I had a phone call tonight that delved into that. Based on the conversation, I think it is safe to say his silence is justified.

    Were he now to come out and say it wasn’t him, the media would demand he shift the blame elsewhere. He does not want to publicly perpetuate the blame game — he’d rather take it himself than continue what some see as an internecine war among the staffers.

  • Patricia_C

    Eric,

    Perhaps I am not familiar to you.
    I have only been a member here for a short time.
    But I am familiar with you.
    (Saw you on FOX last night… Good job, by the way. You make “us” proud…)
    … which brings me to my point.
    You’re a good man, from what I can tell.
    You have a heart, it’s in the right place. You know your stuff.
    But this whole “Leper” thing made me tense up a bit when I first read about it.
    It seems like a revenge thing… the same revenge thing that the “other side” seems to be so in love with… and I am thinking that part of that is precisely why Obama will be in the White House… and why the “other side” has so many seats in congress.
    We keep saying we’re better… but then we turn around and act just like them…
    Know what I mean?
    I know you meant well when you launched that… and you DO well. I mean, your efforts are amazing… and humbling… and so very vital.
    People like you inspire conservatives to become integral parts of the political process, to pay attention and to ask questions… search for answers (in spite of how ugly it may be for ourselves). And you make liberals want to breath for all they are worth in order to reanimate that oxymoron they call the Fairness Doctrine…
    I salute you… but I also warn against pointing fingers… against using our effort to distract ourselves from our own failures in order to avoid facing the reason for those failures.
    We lost congress in 2006… We lost the White House in 2008…
    We lost.
    If I hear one more of us blaming ACORN and stealing the election…
    That’s THEIR answer when they lose.
    “They” didn’t steal…
    We lost.

    In an effort to distract ourselves from the fact that we lost, we act even more like them. We are making excuses rather than examining and embracing and correcting… “the reasons”.

    “Seek and Yee hall find.”
    Look for revenge, and revenge is what you will walk away with.
    In the meantime, I will hate to wake up and find that we have lost even more only to THEN realize that what we should have been seeking was to simply regain our dignity.
    We need to regain our faith, and before we do that, we have to return to those precious things we use to believe in, the things we use to stand for… those things we use to be willing to fight and sacrifice for…

    I sincerely admire you, Eric. I am so proud of you and of so many others here.
    I know I am not a such a known entity here… but I am here… and I care… and I think we need to refocus…

    That’s all I guess.
    Thanks for listening… errr… reading…

    God Bless America

  • NightTwister

    The Directors aren’t afraid to say they made a mistake.

    Morals & ethics. They aren’t completely lost in our society. At least not here.

    Thanks for this, Erick.

  • Jack_Savage

    This is the only reason to justify Schmidt’s silence, in my view.

  • Lysander

    can you help me by providing instructions on how to post a youtube clip here or even a pic??? I am new here and have not been able to figure out how to do it. I would appreciate any help. Thank You!

  • Jaded

    everything they wanted by playing down in the gutter they have the House and the Senate and the White House and WE are supposed to be “above” it all? REALLY? because “nice guys finish last”….that is not said for naught.

    They lie they cheat and they steal and they threaten physical harm to those who they don’t agree with.

    WE decide to hold people accountable and call a spade a spade and if we hurt someone in the process WE apologize but the “other” side could care less. WE do not need to be kinder and gentler WE NEED TO FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE or forever be in the minority.

    Erick you might be right about Steve and you might be wrong WE all will never know because he will not say one way or the other. The bottom line is those who ran the McCain/Palin campaign were HORRIBLE and should NEVER work for another campaign again….PERIOD!

  • Scope

    I would trust you on only a handshake. I still think McCain’s campaign was poorly run, but no one knows how much of that was McCain himself.

  • Erick

    The Palin rumors are not true. And Schmidt has publicly denied they are true.

  • aceintx

    It’s about making sure you can keep you eye focused on the Democrats without looking over your shoulder for fear that one of these vermin are about to stick a shiv in your back!

    It’s about showing these worms the loyalty they have shown to those who hired them!

  • gamecock

    and Will Operation Leper be the first to out a commie since Hiss!

  • James_Reynolds

    we have to as a prty of morals and of politics know where the boundry is. Let us first try to check on information just as we want the MSM to verify before bashing people. Second we should not bash, we should set an example of how to morally and politically take care of those that wish to tear us down for personal gain. We Identify these people with integrity, then blackball them from ever having anything to do with the inner workings of our party or campaigns. We do not need to do it with vulgarity, but with class. There will always be scrabbles or dissent within a party that is how ideas get flourished or tabled, but we can not let someone tell the world someone threw their briefcase because they got irritated or got upset and started swearing even if it is true. Those types of people eventually be routed out of processes if they interfere more than they help build it up. It is kind of like your best friend who told your secrets to others. You don’t tell them any more secrets but the relationship you did have keeps you from saying harsh things about them in return.

  • aceintx

    any boy can throw his weight around and get his way and use his power for nefarious ends…but it takes a man to admit when he is wrong…

    I don’t know what you know so I’ll take your word for it but I I can’t help but be skeptical no matter what might say in CYA mode.

  • wt259

    Chuck-you Schumer said, in regard to the Coleman-Freakin-Franken vote count, that we must be more bipartisan, we must do what is right and moral, but we need to reign in the right, so the vote count can be done so the American people benefit. Read that to mean the dems. The nasty Republicans are insisting on the rules being followed, how dare they? Everyone knows that if someone voted for the Obamunist, they intended to vote for Franken. So, no, Patricia, we don’t need to be more civil than them, we need to fight them.

  • aaronbg

    But the media is going to continue regardless of him pulling a Hari Kari.

    If he could put this to an end I think he should. As I said before though…you are more in the know than I and so I will leave it at that

  • cemiami

    Erick, respectfully on election day he gave a non endorsement of her on the campaign plane going back to Phoenix and nixed her remarks that night.

    McCain has been shamed by this whole episode, and I say that as a person who supported him since 99′ for President…

    He then tried to fire Scheuneman over defending her to Politico on Oct 25th.

    Nevertheless, thank you for Operation Leper, I wholeheartedly support your initiative.

    Palin was here in Miami, but I could not get press credentials as blogger, as I am associated with Babalu Blog.

    Tonight she will be at the Delano Hotel for a closed door party, in South Beach….trying to crash it, LOL, to at least see her!

  • RepOutrage

    I waited a WEEK for someone from the McCain campaign to come to S. Palin’s defense. NO ONE showed up until we all attacked Steve Schmidt, N.Wallace(who set her up) Rick Davis and “our hero” J. McCain and all the others from the RNC who could have come to her aid. Their silence was deafening.
    What’d she do? She delievered….saving us all from being bored to death at the Rep.Convention, then bringing in donations! They’re all jealous. She’s the “it” girl. She brought in the conservatives and the media. Even with her gaffs people still want to see her, even her enemies. So they started the clothes scandal because they couldn’t think of anything else. And nooo one came to her aid. She’s been fighting by herself since the day after the election. Even today, Gov.Rick Perry almost knocked her off the stage because no one asked him a question at the GOP Gov. Convention.

  • RborisT

    I second your post!

    Kudos to Eric for what he does and this site. And for forthrightly admitting and correcting a mistake.

    Patricia, I for one will take your message to heart. We say what we say and do what we do because we believe it is right.

    It’s a good reminder that it’s not all about winning.

  • JoeG

    Several of the charges against Palin have been absolutely disproven. The Newsweek charge that Palin refused to be on the stage with Sinunu was wrong on several counts.

    Given that history, why wouldn’t you take all of the charges with great skepticism?

  • JoeG

    I think a major part of Operation Leper is to see where Randy Scheunemann fits into this.

    He’s been publicly condemning the smear and defending Palin. Let’s just be sure he’s not talking out both sides of his mouth as cover… and if he checks out, publicly praise him – and keep him on the “whitelist.”

  • paulag1955

    I don’t know. I draw the line at cheating but aside from that, I prefer to win.

    Like it or not, we are in a war to preserve our culture. It war time, you can’t afford to cut traitors any slack. Operation Leper is not “taking revenge” on anyone. It’s enforcing discipline in the ranks. The Democrats understand this.

    I want Republicans to start running their campaigns like the outcome matters. It’s all very well and good to stand on the principle that we’re “better than that,” but what’s so principled about letting aides run their mouths off against the candidates they’re supposedly working for? The last time I checked, loyalty was still a virtue.

  • aesthete

    In addition, what’s wrong with telling the truth about a political opponent that voters won’t hear anywhere else? Is it right to allow voters to cast a vote without knowing all the relevant facts about both candidates in a given election?

    In my opinion, most Republican politicians hide behind this excuse, and are just looking to stay in the Gentlemen’s Club of Country Republicans, and with some luck, receive the Order of the Bipartisan Republican from the media and all relevant Democrats.

    Certainly it should be done in as moral and upstanding a way as possible, without smearing the person in question or conveying a fraudulent image (Daisy ad, anyone?). But it should be remembered that politics is a blood sport, and that you can’t expect to win if you don’t think of it that way.

  • paulag1955

    Conservatives have let libs define “negative campaigning.”

    Sorry, but speaking the truth about a candidate and their record is not negative. If someone feels that it’s negative to tell the truth about them, perhaps they should have conducted themselves differently in the past.

    Candidates have a moral obligation to educate the voters about the issues as they relate to themselves and their opponents. To do otherwise violates the public trust.

  • Whitehorse

    These things get complicated. No one can be blamed for the failure of the McCain campaign besides the top of the ticket, & I believe he’s taken responsibility & not shucked it off on others. The focus must now be on stopping the negative portions of the Obama agenda – not that I know of any positives. We also need to get ready for 2010 & 12, reclaiming the mantle of limited government & fiscally responsible conservatism.

  • kingfish

    Where was he when these stories about Palin were reported in the media? Did he hold a press conference or give an interview to a prominent journalist refuting them? Did he issue a press release?

    I think if not for Operation Leper you wouldn’t see him and some of the others suddenly saying these charges were not true. They were perfectly happy to let Palin twist in the wind until Red State and others put some heat on them.

    American Spectator had it right this week: Steve Schmidt: LOSER.

  • Pentagon16

    Nicole Wallace and Tucker Eskew should be banished from the party.

    Not just because they are backstabbing ingrates-

    but also because they are incompetent communications staff who served not only George W. Bush but also Sarah Palin. A more inept team could not have been found once Chubs McClellan was fired..

  • Extex

    Don’t be so easily swayed Erick. You were a hero of mine for doin’ this- now don’t go gittin’ all squishy.
    Steve Schmidt is in FULL CYA mode- Because he sees his career flashin’ before his eyes and he knows it’s over.

    He could’a STOPPED IT BEFORE IT STARTED- and HE DIDN’T.
    He belongs ON THE LIST- any candidate he EVER works for is dead to me.

  • iamcool388

    … he is providing a blindscreen behind which the smear artists are perpetuating their lies? By refusing to identify them, he is giving them cover.

    He is making himself an accomplice… If he thinks that by pushing this issue under the rug, it will go away, he is sadly mistaken. The choice is simple… does he save the smear artists, or one of conservative movement’s biggest hopes for the future? It should be an easy choice… and I think he has made the wrong one.

  • ocleverone

    Eeeeezackly!

    By the way, are you attending The Advance?

  • FrankAtl

    Anonymous, aka Joe Klein, published his expose of the ’92 Clinton campaign.

    I’d expect something similar from atleast one of these folks. The haters, and even the fans of Palin, want to read the inside story.