Business & Lobbying

Video
THE HILL
 
comment
Print

McCain asks aides not to rebut Palin

By Eric Zimmermann - 11/16/09 02:08 PM ET

John McCain has asked his former campaign aides not to speak out against the charges Sarah Palin levels in her book, NBC news reports.

This news comes after a number of former staffers anonymously blasted Palin's recount of the 2008 campaign.

"John McCain offered her the opportunity of a lifetime, and during the campaign it seems that, for all of her mistakes, she is searching for people to blame," an aide said last week. "We don't need to go through this again."

Even as NBC reported McCain's request, they included another swipe at her book from a former campaign aide.

"It is unrecognizable at every instance. There is not one truthful account as it relates to any conversation I ever had with her," the aide said.

Palin charges in the book that McCain's staff charged her $50,000 for the vetting process and that campaign manager Steve Schmidt tried to force her to see a nutritionist.

Anonymous campaign aides say that money was to fund her legal defense against ethics charges and the nutritionist was in response to concerns that she was losing too much weight.

Steve Schmidt has called the charges "complete fiction."


Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/67927-mccain-asks-aides-not-to-rebut-palin
The contents of this site are © 2010 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsisiary of News Communications, Inc.

Comments (13)

If I ever see any of McCains former staffers on another campaign I will work hard to get them defeated even if it means backing the democrat. McCain staffers are complete scum.BY robtr on 11/16/2009 at 15:22
It was clear from early on that Palin was an exceptional human being and refreshingly genuine—not the fare we're used to with politicians. In interviews she had to recall what the "moderate" answers were supposed to be to the questions. Her hesitation—long enough to translate her genuinely conservative answers into the "moderate" position crammed down her throat by McCain staffers—gave the media the wrong impression—that she was "slow" or uninformed. To the contrary, had the party discarded the false belief that a moderate Republican could win and had, instead, embraced the reason the party got energized by her nomination, things might have been different. The media thought the staffers were keeping Palin sequestered out of fear she wasn't knowledgeable, but it was because she was not the "promise them anything to get elected" politician. Neither the staffers nor the media had experience dealing with a straight shooter in the political realm, so were always second guessing (wrongly) about her. I would believe Palin over the staffers ANY DAY. Both have a record and Palin tells it like it is. She didn't become a successful governor playing the blame game. She accomplished nearly 4 years of work as governor before resigning after just 2 years—all while fighting legal accusations. Obama can't even make a decision about Afghanistan after three MONTHS—despite the advice of his hand-picked general and after chiding throughout the campaign it was the war we "should" be fighting.BY DrDawn on 11/16/2009 at 18:12
My friends, what's to rebut. The McCain campaign was a long joke with no punchline and they totally squandered the energy Sarah Palin brought with her.BY billbrady on 11/16/2009 at 19:35
Thier negative reponses to her are the exact reason why they helped John McCain lose the election. She's the canidate- their the staff. You need to bring out the best in the person your tring to get elected. They did the exact opposite. The campaign was run as an inside the beltway operation- Palin was clearly the outsider and it was not going to work there way.BY Jay Lee on 11/16/2009 at 20:16
These "anonymous" whiners are bitterly clinging to their failed stategies that contributed to the defeat of the best candidate in last fall's election — Sarah Palin.They ought to be ashamed of themselves, and apologize to Palin, rather than shift blame where it doesn't belong.After all, they lost to a teleprompter.So it's no wonder they are trying to duck responsibility with fault-shifting — they themselves elected a TOTUS.BY American-American on 11/16/2009 at 20:27
As a heavy McCain contributor during the campaign (quite close to the legal limit), let me be the first to say: gentlemen, shut the [***] up. I paid your salaries, and if you'd done your jobs Obama would not be President right now. Instead you took my money (and that of many others) and spent the campaign bickering among yourselves instead of getting your candidates into office.BY jvon on 11/16/2009 at 20:54
McCain was famous for sitting in the back of the bus shooting the breeze with reporters, getting free face time.Some of McCain's campaign staff—Steve Schmidt?— totally squandered the opportunity to show off their shiny new asset and secret weapon against Obama/Biden. Palin was right about Team Obama 'palling around with terrorists'; Palin may help shoot down Obama's attempted government takeover of healthcare with a single comment: "Death Panels".She cuts to the chase is effective against bloviating Obama.BY Mary Ann on 11/16/2009 at 21:44
Well, I for one believe Palin totally. And what would you expect the aides to say, "yeah, we sucked?" They did, but now they want to defend themselves.I think there were some snotty RINO-AlmostDIABLO staffers who wanted to snuff conservatism. They tried, but she was able to shine through. And, my opinion is that John McCain has no clue what went on.I am personally going to remember the names of these staffers. If I ever see them listed for a Conservative or Republican campaign, I will withhold all contributions. Why waste money on saboteurs.BY Debra on 11/17/2009 at 00:00
I found Sarah Palin to a refreshing change from what we were use to getting on Republican tickets since the end of the Reagan era. She is intelligent, beautiful, witty and charming. So much so, that she was under fire from both the democrats and the moderate to liberal RINOS in the Republican party since day one of her national exposure. Given the chance, (as seen in the Biden (she crushed him) debate, she could have given McCain a landslide victory. My hope is that a grass roots explosion of conservatives and independents will rally to take back America with her in the forefront. In the meantime I will sit back and watch the left fall all over themselves trying to make her look bad while she has Armored cars filled with royalties from her book clogging the Alaskan Highways on their way to her bank! I Love America!BY Charles DeBrocky on 11/17/2009 at 01:01
I believe they are protesting too much. Must be the truth that hurts. And just so John knows, I bet he told them to not respond to Sarah's charges, wink, wink.BY navy on 11/17/2009 at 08:04

Add Comment

Name (required)

E-Mail (will not be published) (required)

Your Comments

The Hill Archives: Senate | House | Administration | Campaign | Business & Lobbying | Capital Living | Opinion
View News by Subject:
Defense & Homeland Security | Energy & Environment | Healthcare | Finance & Economy | Technology | Foreign Policy | Labor | Transportation & Infrastructure

Key Blogs

What they are saying today …
Drudge Report
Bannered across Drudge this morning is a question most of us in the Beltway have asked about the snow storm Friday: "When will it stop?" Below, Drudge links to an AP article on the recent trouble facing New York Gov. David Paterson (D), who many thought was about to be rocked by political scandal by a forthcoming story in The New York Times. That story hasn't arrived -- but speculation about its contents surely has -- leading Paterson to say he would depart office only as a result of the ballot box, or if he's carried out "in a box."… Read More »
The Huffington Post
"KEEP TRYING" -- That's the message one HuffPo writer took from the latest WaPo/ABC poll, which showed 63 percent of Americans still favored further action on healthcare reform. Additionally, Ryan Grim posts his recent interview with Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who predicted his chamber's historic filibuster could "fall of its own weight -- it should fall of its own weight -- or it will fall after some massive conflict on the floor, which has happened in the past where there have been rulings from the chair that have led to reform."… Read More »
The Corner
The Corner's Mark Krikorian points out in a recent post that the private sector -- namely, the National Review -- was able to devise how many immigrants were residing within the United States faster than the U.S. government could produce that data. And offering further proof that former Gov. Sarah Palin's (R-Alaska) crib notes have become something of a political meme is Kathryn Jean Lopez, who notices a famous country singer penning notes on his hand.… Read More »
The Washington Independent
"The story of coals dirty, deadly legacy" headlines The Washington Independent this morning. The story relates the political significance, health effects and community impacts of a fossil fuel that reporter Mike Lillis believes has White House's clear embrace.Earlier, Lillis looked at one element of Democrats' forthcoming jobs bill: A proposed unemployment insurance extension. The bill offers jobless Americans an additional three months of aid -- less than what the White House's budget requests, but on par with the House's extention, passed late last year.… Read More »
Red State
Michael Steele's remark this week -- that he has been subject to intense criticism because of his race -- has earned the scorn of Red State's Eric Erickson, who lambasts the Republican National Committee chairman in a blog post published late Tuesday. "Actually, it could have nothing to do with race and everything to do with outsourcing the RNC to the same consultants who have been bleeding the RNC dry for years," he says of Steele's low popularity. "It could have something to do with management styles. It could have everything to do with the Chairman never meeting a shoe he didn’t want to eat."… Read More »
MyDD
Jonathan Singer on Wednesday explores the current state of President Barack Obama's judicial nominations. But with the help of Slate's Doug Kendall, he finds that the president has both nominated fewer and confirmed fewer judges to federal benches than his predecessor at this point in his presidency. Concludes Singer: "But with a real crisis in the judiciary in the form of dozens of vacancies, one has to wonder why this President has nominated fewer than half of the judges nominated by his predecessor."… Read More »
Blog Summaries Archive »
bloglogo

Briefing Room


More Briefing Room »

Congress Blog


More Congress Blog »

Pundits Blog


More Pundits Blog »

Twitter Room


More Twitter Room »

Hillicon Valley


More Hillicon Valley »

E2-Wire


More E2-Wire »

Briefing Room Blog Roll

The Hill
ABC News: The Note
AMERICAblog
Barack Obama
Beat The Press
Bill Press
BuzzFlash
Capitol Briefing
Capitol Games
The Caucus (NYT)
Clive Crook
Comments From Left Field
CNN Political Ticker
The Corner (NRO)
Crooks and Liars
The Daily Beast
Daily Caller
Daily Kos
DCCC: The Stakeholder
DNC: Kicking Ass
DSCC: From The Roots
Drudge Report
Eschaton
Extreme Mortman
Ezra Klein
firedoglake
FishbowlDC
The Fix (WashPost)
The Foundry
Gkenn Greenwald
Hendrik Hertzberg
Hillary Clinton
Hot Air
Hotline on Call
Huffington Post
Human Events
Instapundit
James Fallows
John McCain
Judicial Watch: Corruption Chronicles
Kaus Files
Left Coaster
Lefty Blogs
Majority AP
Marc Ambinder
Matt Lewis
Matthew Yglesias
Megan McArdle
Michelle Malkin
Minority Report
The Moderate Voice
MSNBC First Read
MyDD
The Nation
National Review
The New Republic
NewsBusters
Newsmax
The NRCC Blog
NRSC Blog
Open Left
Page (Mark Halperin)
The Plank (TNR)
Political Animal
Political Wire
Politicker
Politico's Ben Smith
Politico's Jonathan Martin
Politico's The Crypt
Power Line
Reason
RedState
Right Wing News
RNC Blog
Ross Douthat
Rush Limbaugh
SCOTUSblog
Senate Guru
The Stump (TNR)
The Swamp (Tribune)
Swampland
Swing State Project
Talk Left
TalkingPointsMemo
TAPPED
Tech Policy Summit
techPresident
TechRepublican
The Right Angle
Think Progress
Top of the Ticket (LA Times)
Townhall
TPMCafe
TPMMuckraker
The Trail (WashPost)
Truthdig
USA Today On Politics
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Blog
VF Daily
Washington Wire (WSJ)
Weekly Standard
Wonkette
Yeas and Nays

Briefing Room Blog Topics

 Blog Summaries »   Technology »
 Day's End Round-Up »   Telecom and IT »
 Energy & Environment »   Trade and Agriculture »
 Midday Blog Roundup »  Lobbying »
 Morning Read »   Administration »
 News »   Campaigns »
  Campaigns »   Civil Rights »
   Administration »   Corporate Governance »
   Civil Rights »   Defense »
   Congressional Campaigns »   Economy & Budget »
   Corporate Governance »   Energy & Environment »
   Defense »   Foreign Policy »
   Economy & Budget »   Healthcare »
   Foreign Policy »   Homeland Security »
   Healthcare »   Immigration »
   Homeland Security »   Labor »
   Immigration »   Lobbyists »
   Labor »   Technology »
   Law and Courts »   Telecom and IT »
   Lobbyists »   Trade and Agriculture »
   Presidential Campaigns »  Other »
   Technology »   Administration »
   Telecom and IT »   Campaigns »
   Trade and Agriculture »   Civil Rights »
  Energy & Environment »   Congressional Campaigns »
  Lawmaker News »   Corporate Governance »
   Administration »   Defense »
   Campaigns »   Economy & Budget »
   Civil Rights »   Energy & Environment »
   Corporate Governance »   Foreign Policy »
   Defense »   Healthcare »
   Economy & Budget »   Homeland Security »
   Energy & Environment »   Immigration »
   Foreign Policy »   Labor »
   Healthcare »   Lobbyists »
   Homeland Security »   Presidential Campaigns »
   Immigration »   Technology »
   Labor »   Telecom and IT »
   Lobbyists »   Trade and Agriculture »
   Technology »  Oversight »
   Telecom and IT »   Administration »
   Trade and Agriculture »   Campaigns »
  Legislation »   Civil Rights »
   Administration »   Corporate Governance »
   Campaigns »   Defense »
   Civil Rights »   Economy & Budget »
   Corporate Governance »   Energy & Environment »
   Defense »   Foreign Policy »
   Economy & Budget »   Healthcare »
   Energy & Environment »   Homeland Security »
   Foreign Policy »   Immigration »
   Healthcare »   Labor »
   Homeland Security »   Lobbyists »
   Immigration »   Technology »
   Labor »   Telecom and IT »
   Lobbyists »   Trade and Agriculture »
You need Flash Player 8 (or higher) and JavaScript enabled to view this content

Get latest news from The Hill direct to your inbox, RSS reader and mobile devices.