BREAKING: McCain Campaign heading to Alaska to investigate

[RedEarth]

Thanks to Born_A_Truman for pointing this out on another thread I posted....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6830766#6830944

BREAKING: McCain Campaign heading to Alaska to investigate

A very reliable source overheard Republican spokesperson McHugh Pierre state TODAY that he had spoken to the McCain Campaign. They are coming to Alaska tomorrow to check out the "Troopergate" investigation.

In other words, THEY DID NOT DO SO PROPERLY AHEAD OF TIME.

So, I wonder what else they may not know...like why Bristol Palin may be holding a blanket over her abdomen in public when she's turned to the side towards the cameras?

http://divasblueoasis.blogspot.com/2008/08/breaking-mccain-campaign-heading-to.html

This could be all BS, but I hope it's true...it sure sounds like there is more to the story.

[maseman]

1. How many email and records will be gone

by Tuesday?

[Solomon]

4. That's right. The real story is they are going there to

strong-arm the investigation. I just wrote a thread about this.

[dkf]

9. Harder to cover up when it becomes the focus of the nation.

[niceypoo]

39. Indeed, a little late for that

Let the cards fall where they may

[gateley]

5. I hope somebody is furiously making copies or protecting the originals. nt

[liberalmuse]

22. Don't worry. The documents are avaliable online, and...

a lot of people have saved them to their hard drives. I did, and you can too:

http://divasblueoasis.blogspot.com/2008/07/press-conference-and-huge-stack-o.html

[flamingdem]

70. I'm glad for that! good job nt

[stillcool]

20. there already out there...

I'm not sure if they are at this link, but I have PDF's somewhere..
http://palininvestigated.blogspot.com/

[flamingdem]

72. whew! DU on the case. nt

[roguevalley]

87. they have been confiscated by the independent investigator that

has full rein over this. they aren't gone. Branchflower is on the job. :) Truly.

[cottonseed]

2. Bristol's not the only thing that will be covered up.

Yea right, they're going down their to "investigate". I hope we send some observers down there as well. Just to make sure it's on the up and up.

[billyoc]

3. Good. Send the Alaska State Police to Arizona to investigate the Keating 5 scandal too.

:evilgrin:

[iamthebandfanman]

6. more like going to hide and destroy evidence

whats being stated above would be something youd do BEFORE hand...

this sounds like a cleanup job

[Hutzpa]

29. It is a clean up job

this is where team O'Biden should send observers too, just to make sure
they are doing the right thing.

[liberalmuse]

7. That's fucking piss poor judgment on his part.

No, I do not want this inept, 'shoots-from-the-hip' asshat anywhere near the Oval Office.

[RichGirl]

16. He'll come back and say...

...Palin is out....Alito is in.

[liberalmuse]

26. OMG. Maybe they've done a poll, and he tanked with her as VP?

Hell, a lot of us knew about troopergate. You'd think with all the resources at their disposal, McCain's crew would have done a little checking.

[greguganus]

52. "I've dumped Sarah. Let me introduce you to the next VP of the United States! Trig get up here!"nt

[Nine]

89. yes, let's make fun of a baby with Down Syndrome (nt)

[greguganus]

90. I thought Trig was the older son. n/t

[FatDave]

97. No, that would be "Track"

Personally, I can't imagine having a VP who gave her kids sillier names than Frank Zappa gave his.

[Phx_Dem]

8. Oh man.

This makes them look so incompetent. The cable shows reported yesterday that the McCain camp said they vetted her thoroughly. Apparently, they're going "vet her thoroughly" some more.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[RichGirl]

10. He wants to go to Alaska...

...because he heard that by simply being in it's close proximity, he will become an expert on Russian foreign policy.

[Martinucho]

11. I hope that's true, but the link is fishy

Although by visiting the blog I noticed it's double hearsay: A person who said he heard a person say that McCain would go investigate.

We'll see.

[yourguide]

12. This is a strong arm move...

The rethugs own that state, just before the election it will be found that she had no knowledge of the 24 contacts with the State Troopers office, and will suddenly find other reasons to have fired that commissioner.

[nc4bo]

13. oh snapz. nt.

[Heather MC]

14. I smell an all night PAPER SHREADING PAR-TEE!!! I got the drinks

who's bringing the Pizza

[Hope And Change]

15. K & R!

[BeyondGeography]

17. That's fucking hilarious

Can McCain run anything besides his mouth?

[grantcart]

18. maybe they will send somebody to Georgia to get the facts their too.

great post

[mucifer]

19. It must be nice to be above the law

[stillcool]

21. from the articles I have read...

she was being considered for VP for quite a while now.

"Somebody reads somebody else'e blog and then the momentum starts building."

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Posted: May 29, 2008 - 8:21 pm

From David Hulen, ADN local/state news editor --

The buzz over Sarah Palin as a potential running mate for John McCain continues – and it's escalating. It’s mainly happening in the conservative blogosphere – one blogger after another after another looking at our governor from afar and deciding she’d be a good choice as the Republican running mate. The drum-pounding started last year with that Colorado blogger who launched the Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President site. It spread from there, and Palin added fuel to the fire in February when she sat down with the Washington Post and said, yep, she'd be interested in national office someday (while calling the idea of being tapped this year "an impossibility this go-round.")

Then today, the site Wizbang.com posted this:

A tipster sent us word that John McCain's VP advance man Arthur Culvahouse has been spotted in Juneau, Alaska. There's only one reason he would be there - to meet with Alaska Governor Sarah Palin about the Vice President position....

Governor Palin would (in my estimation) make an excellent VP candidate for McCain. Thomas Cheplick at The American Spectator makes the case that she's probably the only VP candidate who can balance the ticket against Obama. She's also a potential magnet for disaffected Hillary Clinton voters, many of whom are just looking for a reason not to vote for Obama.

http://community.adn.com/node/124285

[Solomon]

23. And the plot thickens. They've been making a big deal out

of her maverick status, taking on republicans. That means a lot of them there don't like her but she will need to rely on them to keep this thing manageable.

I don't think so.

[Arugula Latte]

24. Close the barn door! The horse is loose!

Great judgment, there, Johnny Boy.

[Hamlette]

25. The are going to pressure them into dropping the investigation or white washing it.

"Don't you want a president from Alaska?"

[trueblue2007]

27. It's about time!! Mc Stupid should have done this in the first place

I can't believe McCain selected someone who is under investigation!

What if she is guilty of this stuff? Could she be VP??

[BumRushDaShow]

37. See Spiro Agnew (the rise and fall).

The repuke apples never fall too far from the tree and they enjoy repeating epic fail history over and over...

[Fleshdancer]

28. now THAT would make a good commercial

It's not that McCain doesn't like Troopergate, he just doesn't know about Troopergate. ;)

[MarjorieG]

30. Seems more like a stunt, if true. They've papered over what they could, as decision made before...

by Rove and fundies, at least.

[corkhead]

31. "investigate" ala Nixon's "Plumbers"

[BumRushDaShow]

32. For some reason I now believe

that last week, when the rumors were flying that McCain had picked someone, he HAD picked someone. And then suddenly a report had come out that McCain told a talk show that he "hadn't decided yet" (Thurs.). At that point, the game was changed and this pick came into play yesterday. I.e., I have a feeling that he was threatened to select this woman for tactical purposes and to try to save several factions of their base (and YES, the repuke party is made up of nothing but a cacophony of discordant factions) who were apparently going to sit home. So this was a very last minute selection who was obviously not vetted.

I recall several weeks ago, Rash Limpballs had actually brought her name up and attacked McLame when he was tossing out names like Lieberman and Ridge who were very visibly campaigning with him. In fact Ridge was seriously talking with the press about his willingness to suppress his pro-choice stance to align with McLame should he be selected.

This current pick seems to be an attempt to kill 3 birds with one stone - keep their lunatic fringe in place, pander to women with the hope that a few indies will go their way, and try to remove/neutralize talking points from the Dems by showcasing someone who they sarcastically believe is the "female equivalent" (albeit but from the right) of Obama, with the hopes of distracting us from the mortal hit that McLame took with House-gate.

And ironically, House-gate pretty much sunk Romney's chances because the 2 would have had something like 11 - 14 houses between them! :rofl:

[CitizenPatriot]

33. Palin is Patriarchal Barbie, Bush with Breasts

she is dangerous in her stupidity and competitiveness. she doesn't care WHAT she wins, so long as she wins. she wanted to be a tv journalists -- sports caster. can't someone offer her that job and get her outta politics?

she is VERY self-aggrandizing, full of herself and competitive -- so always write she was a runner -up in the beauty pageant, not winner. :-)

focus on her failures when we write about her....it should be one of our memes because it will drive her nuts.

[Hutzpa]

51. .

good point...

:thumbsup:

[WeDidIt]

34. They didn't vet her

Not at all.

Rove must be so pissed he can't speak today.

[maseman]

42. I refuse to believe that

Love 'em or hate 'em (I hate 'em) Rove is a political genious. How would he be so careless to not vet someone running for VP? Come on folks. Again, I think they looked at the VP field and it was slim. Rove is thinking she is the best one to be on the ticket based on sex appeal for the guys, female appeal for ladies and right-wing fundie appeal for the Jesus Christers.

[Seen the light]

49. Rove was reportedly very upset with the Palin pick n/t

[mzmolly]

76. I think that's a rumor attempting to stoke the "maverick" hubub?

I don't buy it. :shrug:

[Imagevision]

83. K&R!!!

[WeDidIt]

54. Rove wanted Mittens

The narrative he wanted pushed was the experience meme.

Rove is hugely pissed off at McCain over this and understand this single bullshit move has lost McCain any hope at all of winning. HE also knows there is no salvaging 2008, all he can hope for is to lessen the blow as much as possible.

[zeemike]

65. But rove and Mc Same are also arrogant

They think they can get away with anything because they have power and money to back them up.
So they will send in the clean up crew and start the meme that says you cannot criticize a woman with a down syndrome baby...so STFU
And many of our own liberals will fall for it.

[Cosmocat]

67. I am going to say this again ...

Rove blocked the Lieberman pick, cause he knew that it would just blow the convention up. When he was successful in doing so, McCain went COMPLETELY off the reservation with the Palin pick. I don't think Rove was behind this at all, I think this is just simply McCain doing some batshiite crazy nonsense.

[BumRushDaShow]

93. It was part Gingrich.

I had forgotten that I had http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/Newt_on_Veep_No_more_boring_white_guys.html">read that he was pushing for her. Like Rove, Get-rich has been inserting his tentacles back into the party again.

[Oak2004]

98. Rove is not a political genius

If he is so am I. Both of us are veterans of that slime factory, the College Republicans, and I haven't seen Rove do anything that wasn't overtly taught to us or covertly encouraged with a wink or a nod.

Republican dominance has not been built on genius: it's been built on ruthlessness, a willingness to win at all costs, combined with a disciplined party structure chock-full of well-trained party operatives. Even so, it could have been defeated a long time ago if the Democrats had not been so incredibly incompetent politically for so many years.

First off, the Democrats refused to recognize that the rules of the game had changed. Democrats competed politely with their imagined colleagues while their opponents saw them as enemies and were out for blood.

Secondly, the Democrats were very very slow in building a party infrastructure. When I was a CR in the '70's, each and every one of us were trained to organize and conduct a political campaign -- we were trained to be the party's future leaders, to be fully-qualified professional political strategists by the time we took off our CR buttons for the last time. At that very same time, the Campus Democrats were holding pizza parties and occasionally getting together to do some telephone canvassing for a candidate. I'm still not sure the Democrats have caught on: I see more training, but I still see the party misusing valuable human resources as telephone bank-fodder.

You can look like a genius when your opponents have pretty much disarmed themselves. You can get away with an awful number of tactical and strategic errors when your opponent's people can barely spell the words "tactics" and "strategy". You can even sell the American people on an agenda utterly hostile to their own best interests, when your opponents are that weak.

Even though I think the Democratic Party has a long way to go, I also think the party, and in particular the netroots, have largely caught on to the problems, and have the advantage of having to sell an agenda that is actually palatable to the public. There is no good reason left, if there ever was one, to fear Rove. There is a good reason to keep an eye open for Rove's errors in judgment: they are many.

[Kablooie]

100. If he did, why did he pick someone who was in the middle of a legal investigation.

I don't think there's any way in the world they would pick someone that gives the Dems such a huge target to attack.

They didn't vet her.

Maybe McCain pulled her out of a hat without any one else's approval.

[mzmolly]

35. I've wondered if Palin was a test balloon also designed to steal the news cycle?

If the scandal IS an issue, McCain can feign reaching out to women/conservatives, steal the news from dems, have her step down and choose mittens with less flap?

:tinfoilhat:

[maseman]

47. I don't think blowing out his VP choice

would be with less fanfare. The media would certainly have a field day with that. I guess the only thing he could do is say "I really am a maverick because I just fired my VP choice." Ah hell who knows.

[jazzjunkysue]

69. Even the GOP doesn't want to look this stupid.

[mzmolly]

75. Too late!

:P

[neverforget]

36. I think Palin was chosen just to steal Obama's thunder. Next week, Palin

will be gone and Romney, Pawlenty or Lieberman will be the VP choice. This investigation will be the reason for her to leave the ticket.

Just my opinion because she makes no sense as VP.

[mzmolly]

41. I tend to agree.

See my post above yours. :hi:

[neverforget]

74. We posted it at the same time......great minds think alike?

:hi:

[mzmolly]

80. *wave

:hi: I have half a mind these days, but I'm flattered at your suggestion. ;)

[Hokie]

38. Oh crap!

There were several reports lat night about how the pick surprised almost everyone in the McCain camp and that she had only been vetted by a "few lawyers". I think it may be time to pop some corn and put our feet up. This could be must see teevee for a while.

[senseandsensibility]

40. What's the coverage on TV like today?

I imagine it as gushing and inane, but I'm afraid to watch. Is anyone asking questions?

[yourguide]

44. CNN has been very enjoyable this morning...

MSNBC was still a bit too glowing for me but I think it was because I was watching Alex Twit

[senseandsensibility]

57. How was CNN enjoyable?

Details please!

[yourguide]

60. a LOT of questioning as to whether or not

the 2nd runner up in the Miss Alaska pageant was qualified to be a "heartbeat" away from the presidency and whats going on with that investigation.

[senseandsensibility]

62. I have to admit that that's more than I expected.

Thanks!:)

[mnhtnbb]

43. I bet the National Enquirer team beat the McCain team to Alasaka by at least a day.

[vaberella]

102. They were there when it was confirmed Palin was VP. n/t

[True_Blue]

45. Someone needs to show McCain how to use Google

How could he not have known about this? You think they would have investigated this *BEFORE* picking her as VP. He's stuck with her now.

[Jokinomx]

46. This was in the Anchage Daily News today....

Former House Speaker Gail Phillips, a Republican political leader who has clashed with Palin in the past, was shocked when she heard the news Friday morning with her husband, Walt.

"I said to Walt, 'This can't be happening, because his advance team didn't come to Alaska to check her out," Phillips said.

Phillips has been active in the Ted Stevens re-election steering committee and remains in close touch with Sen. Lisa Murkowski and other party leaders, and she said nobody had heard anything about McCain's people doing research on his prospective running mate.

"We're not a very big state. People I talk to would have heard something."



So maybe they hadn't done their homework.... I know I have read that the campaign committee had been out of the loop on his pick....mmmmmmm

http://www.adn.com/news/politics/story/510249.html

[livetohike]

58. Typical Republican incompetence and this is what we must

get rid of.....more of the same. I'm not surprised she wasn't vetted.

[Doctor_J]

48. Investigate? Are you series? They're going to WHITEWASH it.

God, there are a lot of right-wing believing morans at DU.

[rucky]

50. Palin Pick: Sloppy, reactionary, short-sighted, unchecked.

Glad to see McCain demonstrating his poor judgement for all the electorate to see, so we won't have to if we ever had to count on his judgement.

Also glad to see the panic amongst the McCain camp that orchestrated this debacle. We have them on defense more than the media would allow us to see.

[No Elephants]

61. Heh, heh, heh. Too bad President Obama has to be at a funeral today.

[jazzjunkysue]

77. He knows to just keep doing his thing and let the GOP baboons make headlines.

Don't pour water in a sinking ship.

[npincus]

53. LOL- sent this to Huffpo....

and we know they read the DU! :rofl:

[greguganus]

55. Someone needs to investigate McLame for Alzheimer's. n/t

[ErinBerin84]

56. frightful .

Plus, I heard a lot from the media about how McCain was really paranoid about even the "appearance" of a scandal after Keating 5 that he tried to tread more carefully (even though we obviously see appearances of impropriety from his connections to lobbyists frequently). This just shows that McCain was telling the truth when he said in his book that the "straight talk express" was just a PR move to get over the Keating 5 scandal. McCain was willing to make a reckless and self destructive VP choice, even though it would be accompanied by the inquiry of a scandal that they did absolutely no vetting on, in order to get more press for his "maverick" image and inject some "excitement" into his campaign. A sell out move disguised as a "maverick choice"...sickening.

[Born_A_Truman]

59. John McCain: Ready, Fire, Aim

Sheesh!

[PufPuf23]

63. Palin's AOG Pentacostal Church

connections are what scare me. Her local church and childhood youth pastor associates with pro-world war and pro-theocracy types.

[dana_b]

64. this is insane!!

we are supposed to trust THIS idiot with our country and they can't even do a proper investigation ahead of time? He's not fit for dog catcher.

[seabeyond]

66. they decided women used brain and said bullshit. and people say bullshit to her as pres

gotta dump her

assholes

[jazzjunkysue]

68. "Paging Mit Romney. Paging Mr. Mit Romney."

:rofl:

The gang that couldn't shoot straight has struck again!!!!

[crispini]

71. Snort.

Heehehheheh.

[flamingdem]

73. WAIT A MINUTE! Maybe they will announce that due to Troopergate Palin must excuse herself

Leading the way to a more popular pick for VP.... and then McCain can still get credit for nominating a woman, (and a creationist fundie loonie).

[Barack_America]

78. Guys let's leave the daughter's name out of this...

Your post proves that Sarah Palin has not been properly vetted. As such, there are going to be a lot of lingering rumors coming out of Alaska that the McCain campaign doesn't have an immediate answer for (i.e. rumors that the blogosphere will go nuts about).

There's been some crazy stuff that's already come out about her and I see no harm in discussing those rumors here as long as we all keep our "Burden Of Proofiness" hats on and go for FACTS, not smears.

But while certain rumors may involve her children, I think we should refrain naming those children. DU is google-searchable and I would hate for one of her daughters, for example, to google-search her name and find a bunch of DU posts speculating on her body-shape.

[hasssan1]

79. I hope Obama camp is following this kind of story closely and used it in their Advantage

K&R

[creature of habit]

81. story spreading like wildfire within last 24 hrs

Sacramento Bee http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1197626.html

[mvd]

82. Welcome to DU

Shows McSame was quite desperate when he knew this could expand. :hi:

[Born_A_Truman]

84. When will the M$M question McCain's judgement on picking her?

Even without this invetigation hanging over her head, her lack of qualifications to be CIC shows recklessness at best. My husband is convinced he is doing everything he can to lose the election.

My feeling is that once the heat starts she will decide she needs to spend more time with her family. I don't think she'll even make it to the VP debate. If she does, she won't be there when the lights go off in the studio.

And, I'm sick of it being called "bold". Call it like it is. Insane.

[mucifer]

92. when you control the justice dept that means you are above the law and none of this matters.

[Clear Blue Sky]

85. I find it hard to believe they didn't investigate this story ahead of time.

Political operatives at this level aren't stupid. This is likely a distraction.

[Oak2004]

99. Do not underestimate the ability for political operatives to screw up

People attribute too much intelligence to the Republican Party (and not enough hubris and ruthlessness). For a comment on that see http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=6831137&mesg_id=6839726">my post here.

As to whether this kind of mistake is never seen, I have a few words for you:

Spiro Agnew
Thomas Eagleton
Dan Quayle
John Edwards

Spiro eventually did time for his pre-VP behavior. Eagleton lost his spot on the ticket because he was incompletely vetted and hadn't volunteered his health history. Dan Quayle, though he was elected and "successfully" finished his term, will forever be the name we all think of when the phrase "stupid politician" is spoken, and John Edwards did not blow up the Kerry ticket or presidency with an affair, but, clearly, could have. Every last one of these names represent a massive political operative brain fart.

Political operatives are usually competent, yes, but the Republicans are fractured (i.e., multiple factions pushing for different candidates, and yes, Palin had her advocates) and amazing things can happen when people panic. I'll bet what they were getting back from those Republican-sponsored focus groups watching the convention made a whole lot of people nervous.

On top of it all, the Republicans have been successfully shoveling shit at all of us for so long I suspect they believe in their unlimited ability to spin anything their way. I'm expecting them to make a whole bunch of mistakes this year out of hubris.

[FVZA_Colonel]

86. And I'm absolutely certain they will come out either saying "nothing happened,"

or "she got rid of a corrupt asshole. Good for her!"

[jazzjunkysue]

88. Great NYT snark piece: We need alaskan protection from Russia!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/opinion/30collins-.html

McCain’s Baked Alaska By GAIL COLLINS August 30, 2008

It is conceivable that some people will think John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate because she is a woman. I know you find this shocking, but I swear I have heard it mentioned.

McCain does not believe in pandering to identity politics. He was looking for someone who was well prepared to fight against international Islamic extremism, the transcendent issue of our time. And in the end he decided that in good conscience, he was not going to settle for anyone who had not been commander of a state national guard for at least a year and a half. He put down his foot!

The obvious choice was Palin, the governor of Alaska, whose guard stands as our last best defense against possible attack by the resurgent Russian menace across the Bering Strait.

[pleah]

91. Shredder trucks in tow to the crime scene! n/t

[vanderBeth]

94. He just found out about it

and may be interested about his running mate. :rofl:

"Wait, you mean she's involved in a scandal?"

He just crapped himself.

[nomaco-10]

95. TY. If there's an update could you post a new OP or...

*UPDATE* in caps in this thread please.

Thanks again for the info.

[IamyourTVandIownyou]

96. Investigate this.

"Gov. Sarah Palin's director of boards and commissions, Frank Bailey, calls a trooper station to complain about Trooper Mike Wooten, Palin's ex-brother-in-law."

http://blip.tv/file/1214523

[vaberella]

101. I read what the latest poster on the second link said about Jews in Alaska...

I wonder if she said such a slur.