McCain Camp: Palin's AIP Ties=Obama's Religion

[jefferson_dem]

McCain Camp: Palin's AIP Ties=Obama's Religion
posted by Max Blumenthal on 10/16/2008 @ 7:18pm

When David Neiwert, an expert on extremist groups in the Northwest, and I concluded our exhaustive investigative report for Salon.com about Sarah Palin's involvement with the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party, we emailed the McCain camp a detailed synopsis of our findings and requested a response. We were met with silence.

But when Neiwert appeared on Tuesday on Rick Sanchez's CNN Newsroom, the McCain-Palin campaign went into full damage control mode, blasting out an indignant statement in the middle of the Neiwert's segment. The statement, written by McCain deputy communications director Michael Goldfarb, a neoconservative former Weekly Standard editor, reads:

CNN is furthering a smear with this report, no different than if your network ran a piece questioning Senator Obama's religion. No serious news organization has tried to make this connection, and it is unfortunate that CNN would be the first. We are trying to arrange to have one of the Governor's people come on air to respond in the event you do run this piece.

By referring to Obama's "religion," the McCain-Palin campaign, obviously attempted to provoke the most inflammatory charge leveled against Obama's character: What religion is he? Is he a crypto-Muslim?The McCain campaign also asserted an equivalency between Obama's religion and Palin's political ties to a far right group. The McCain campaign suggests that Obama's religion and Palin's politics are both beyond the pale, as it were. But the rapid response raises another question: Is this a disciplined campaign messaging operation? Does the McCain campaign really mean what it suggests?

The McCain-Palin response to our report came as the already beleaguered vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, was suffering a damaging series of setbacks, including the resignation of Alaska's rural affairs director, claiming as a reason the governor's lack of commitment to racial diversity in her administration. That blow immediately followed my video report in The Daily Beast on Palin's strained relations with Alaska's African-American community.

Though McCain-Palin campaign condemned the report on her links to the AIP piece as a "smear," the facts went unchallenged.

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http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/?pid=373079

[book_worm]

1. Wait! but what about Palin's witch doctor trying performing an exorcism on her?

[TheManagement]

9. Check out AIP Founder on TAPE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UOhJ2wEnJ4

AIP Founder BLASTS the US. Much worse than Jeremiah Wright ever did

[Arkana]

2. To quote George Carlin: "FUUUUUUUUUUCK YOU!"

[MrScorpio]

3. If they want to play that game, bring it

We'll just show the vid of McFumbly his damn self disputing it

These people are so fucking stupid it hurts

[tblue]

4. CNN is the new Fox News.

We should make sure they know that we know. I read yesterday they squelched this story at the behest of McKKKain & Co. Some higher up called CNN's higher up. They're in bed with the Republicans, plain & simple. Screw CNN.

[supernova]

5. So SP is so proud of her AIP membership ... it's like a religion?

:spray:

Damn... now my head hurts from the stupidity.

[CitizenPatriot]

6. sweet music to my ears

they can play false equivocation all they want

Americans are tired of their sad ass bullcrap

Where's the witch doctor documentary????

GREAT JOB, CNN

You may have done a small part in spreading truth to the voting public == what an honor to get back to your Real Jobs, eh?

[nc4bo]

7. oh ffs - this is one of the most dillweediest things I've read today. nt

[Union Thug]

8. Here's the difference: Muslims are not necessarily anti-american. Secessionists, by definition, are

Not that I believe Obama is a muslim. I don't.

[The Magistrate]

10. Good To Know, Sir, Pailin is Religiously Devoted To Treason

[No Elephants]

11. Secessionism is TREASON. That is what Aaron Burr, Robert E. Lee and Todd Palin have in

common. TREASON. Did I mention TREASON?