Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Today's Palin Roundup: MID-Morning Excerpts Edition

"GOP Cites Palin's Skill, But How Relevant Is It?"(CBS NEWS-AP):
Wait, now, say the Republicans. You think that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin lacks experience? You think that at 44, with less than two years running the nation's northernmost state, she doesn't have what it takes yet to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?

Pshaw.

"Campaign money hurts Palin's outsider image" (AP, with video):
GOP vice presidential pick Sarah Palin accepted at least $4,500 in campaign contributions in the same fundraising scheme at the center of a public corruption scandal that led to the indictment of Sen. Ted Stevens.

Michael Savage: "they ran this gal up the flagpole and the pole broke from shock." (BlatherWatch):
"Is it over for McCain?" Michael Savage (KTTH m-f, 6-9p) asks. He answers his own question with an emphatic 'yes'. "He's split conservatives right down the middle... again."

Another high-rated conservative talk host is trashing Sarah Palin and McCain's chances in November.

"McCain's New Palin Strategy: Blame The Media" (AP-Liz "donuts" Sidoti):
John McCain's campaign on Wednesday angrily called for an end to questions about its review of Sarah Palin's background, deriding a "faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee" for vice president.

"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.

"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' ..." (Josh Marshall, with video--reposted due to software issues):


I think TPM Reader JL may be on to something ...

Just a thought, and I doubt I'm the first to think it. Watching that surprising video of Cambell Brown taking Tucker Bounds to the cleaners', I wondered if perhaps what I was really seeing was a mainstream press that is furious with McCain for having embarrassed them. Even if Palin drops out by the end of the week, and Pawlenty or Romney or whomever gets on board and we begin take two of the entire thing, I can't imagine that the press will have retained their abiding love of McCain. After all, they're the ones who nurtured his straight-talkin'-maverick image, and now he has appeared to throw it in their faces. They probably had reporting packages ready to go for all of the other VP possibilities, and nothing for Palin. So it wasn't just the GOP brass McCain was flipping off with this pick--it was his "base," the media. My overall sense of yesterday's coverage was that covering him just wasn't any fun anymore. And those feelings might well last into November.

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