Topic: Presidential Campaign 2008
The Republicans and the Press Today: Part II The press Piles on Palinby rtbohan
(libertarian)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
I must begin this article by saying that I do not intend to vote for Governor Sarah Palin for Vice President. This is primarily because I intend to vote against her running mate, and there is no way to split the ticket. I also feel she has little of the experience which would be necessary should she be elevated to the Presidency, and I have serious disagreements with her on some issues.
But the media, as a whole, are treating her shabbily, and with the convention providing no other targets yesterday, the media ganged up on the annointed candidate for vice president. Although the attention was directed toward Palin's family and some talking points which might be used during the campaign, the press did use the attacks on Palin to charge the McCain campaign with carelessness in checking up on his chosen running ma([link edited for length]
The one charge against Governor Palin which may cause her problems is what the press (predictably) is calling Troopergate. The former Commissioner of Public Safety has charged that the Governor removed him from his position because he refused to fire her ex-brother-in law, a state trooper who is engaged in a custody battle with her sister. Whether or not there is merit to the charge, and there might be, it is almost certain to cause electoral problems because it is currently being investigated by a legislative comittee which has her Democratic opponent in the gubenatorial election as executive director and is promising to make its report four days before the presidential election.
The other charges range from those which may be true but are not made against the governor, to the justifiable, to the downright silly and possibly fraudulent. Among these are the charge that the Governor's husband may have had "too close" a relationship with a lobbyist. This is not spelled out. It does not appear to be a charge that the governor was doing special favors for the lobbyist or even that there was anything wrong in her husband's relationship. Even if there were, Hillary Clinton is proof that having a philandering mate is not held against presidential candidates.
And, of course, the governor's teenage daughter is pregnant. The governor, like any parent may be embarrassed by this, but it is a situation that even the most conscientious parent cannot guarantee will not happen in any family. The daughter, like her parents, has decided that abortion is not an option and the father of the baby apparently intends to marry her. No scandal there. And, careless as the vetting by the McCain staff may have been, it is not usual to ask the candidate for any position "Is your daughter sexually active?" or "Does your husband play around?
Charges are leveled which are hardly charges The Baltimore Sun notes that Governor Palin takes her five month old son to work with her and sets aside scheduled times and a secluded room for feedings([link edited for length] While this might interfere with work if she were running for President, the Vice President, as a general rule, has plenty of free time. In the case, the time during which an infant must be fed by his mother is limited to the very early part of her term, as he approaches toddler age whe will be able to affored plenty of helpers to help care for the child.
On difficulty which the Democrats and the press hope will cause friction on the Republican ticket, is that as Mayor of Wasilla and as Governor os Alaska Palin campaigned to get federal funds through earmarks by the Alaska Congressional delegation This might be an issue if Palin had been in Congress with a record of securing earmarks( [link edited for length] But she was first the governor of a small city and later Governor of a small state. Since the system of earmarks is well established in Congress and enjoys support from both the Democratic and Republican Party leadership, Palin merely did what other state and local officials did and took the position that if the federal government is giving away money, the the political entity of which she was in charge deserves a share. One of the crusaders against earmarks is Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina. But while he was pushing for the abolition of earmarks, the President of the University of South Carolina wrote a column in the State newspaper arguing that earmarks greatly benefitted by the University and the state. The beneficiaries of earmarks are not required to turn down available funds whether or not they support the system which miakes those funds available.
So except for the question of the dismissal of the Public Safety Commisioner it appears that the charges made against the governor are not going to do her any great harm. There are other charges flying around the internet, as there are charges against Obama, McCain and Biden. So far, at least, Governor Palin has the least to fear of the four candidates.
Today's rash of stories was probably prompted simply by the fact that there was little else of interest going on in the campaign. So the press piled on Palin.
Piling on is a foul in football, but in Presidential politics, it is just part of the game.
Did you like this article? If you did, Thumb It! 3 thumbs so far
The views expressed in this
article are those of rtbohan only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. rtbohan is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Want to comment on this
article? Leave your comment here. Your email address is
required to track your comment. However, we will neither
publish your email address nor distribute it to other
organizations or persons. The only reason we might use
it would be if we needed to contact you regarding your
comment. All comments are subject to our
terms of use policy.
