McCain Aides Come to Palin’s Rescue
It took them a while, but increasingly more aides to Sen. John McCain are coming to Governor Sarah Palin’s rescue.
Steve Biegun and spokesman Tracy Schmitt both told reporters on Sunday that the ones going after Palin are acting maliciously and spreading lies about her.
“I’m appalled by it because Sarah Palin was one of nicest people I have ever had the chance to work with,” said Biegun, a former Bush NSC aide. “I’ve worked in Washington for 20 years, on the Hill, in the White House and in the private sector, and she ranks at the highest levels of decency, kindness and graciousness of anybody I’ve ever worked with.”
Tracey Schmitt, the vice presidential nominee’s traveling spokeswoman and a veteran of the RNC and both Bush campaigns agreed saying: “Gov. Palin was a breath of fresh air, particularly for those of us who’ve been living in the Washington bubble. Because she is a working mom, she brought a real sense of perspective to the campaign trail, which was important.”
Taylor Griffin, a McCain press aide who had been focusing on economic issues until he was dispatched to Alaska in late August also weighed in: “One of the great developments of this campaign is the addition of Sarah Palin as a powerful and energetic new voice in American public life. She’s smart, insightful, and has an uncanny ability to ask the right questions.”
National Review’s Rich Lowry also spoke to Biegun who told him that “there’s no way she didn’t know Africa was a continent, and whoever is saying she didn’t must be distorting ‘a fumble of words.’ He talked to her about all manner of issues relating to Africa, from failed states to the Sudan. She was aware from the beginning of the conflict in Darfur, which is followed closely in evangelical churches, and was aware of Clinton’s AIDS initiative. That basically makes it impossible that she thought all of Africa was a country.”
About the NAFTA smear Biegun said: “Somebody is taking a conversation and twisting it maliciously.” He then explained that he was briefing her on a wide array of trade agreements, among which NAFTA, while other staffers walked in and out of the room. Palin was distracted and asked Biegun: “Ok, who’s in NAFTA, what’s the deal with CAFTA, what’s up the FTA?” Which was, according to Biegun, her way of saying “rack them and stack them,” begin again from the start. “Somebody is taking a conversation and twisting it maliciously.”
As said, it took McCain’s aides a while to come to Palin’s rescue, but it is good to see that they are finally going on record to debunk the smears which try to portray Palin as being more stupid and less informed than the average Labrador. The NAFTA and Africa rumors especially would only be believed by those suffering from a very serious case of Palin Derangement Syndrome.
I’m still waiting for McCain himself to speak up. The wait is getting frustrating. It doesn’t seem “honorable”
While I also think it would be wise for McCain to come out and defend Palin, I wonder what he could possibly say that hasn’t already been said.
He has continuously defended Palin’s intelligence during the campaign, and during his concession speech gave her many compliments as a politician and leader.
Assuming that he wasn’t a direct witness to the conversations related to the latest accusations, what more could he say that isn’t just a repetition of what he’s already said?
So while politically it makes sense for him to defend her once again, I think it’s a bit far to question his honor in not doing so, considering how far he’s gone to defend her from similar accusations in the past. McCain’s public comments on Palin have been clear.
My feelings are mixed on that- like c3, I’d like to hear McCain blast those who are acting like middle school kids spreading nasty gossip.
On the other hand, I can see why it’s awkward- this would imply that he lost control of those within his campaign, and he risks damaging the reputations of some of his loyal staffers who did not engage in this smearing (because the leaks were anonymous, so his criticism would appear to affect all of them.)
I got a hint of that from an interview Palin gave- she mentioned that she’d just spoken with McCain and that they were both expressing frustation over how to respond to anonymously sourced smears. It’s sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t thing.