Apparently somebody forgot to give McCain Campaign National Co-Chair Meg Whitman today's talking points. When asked about the media's coverage of Gov. Palin, the former Ebay CEO had the following to say:
"I actually think it's completely fair for the media to vet Sarah Palin."
She points out that looking into the background of someone running for one of the highest office in the land, is the right thing to do. As for claims about rampant sexism? she says " I wouldn't say there really has been."
McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt, on the other hand tells us today that the media is out to "destroy Gov. Palin." The campaign has essentially declared war on the media for its response to the Palin selection and questions over her vetting, basically trying to shame them into backing off of valid questions. McCain canceled his interview with Larry King last night over the Tucker Bounds/Campbell Brown incident, Palin has been defended during speeches at the convention itself and they've dispatched surrogates to defend Palin through various media outlets today. Obviously Meg Whitman is seriously off message with these statements. How long before Ms. Whitman miraculously retracts her statement? or is no longer touted as a national campaign co-chair?
The argument has been that Gov. Palin and her family are essentially under attack, and that the criticism has been both highly personal in nature and beyond what would be leveled at a male running mate. Basically they've set up a straw man argument, sighting questions raised off the record, & are flashing the sexism card every 5 seconds. They want the world to believe that poor Sarah Palin is being attacked because her daughter got pregnant. They say family should be off limits & most would agree, but they simultaneously try to make her family values an important part of her appeal (because God knows policy isn't her big sell). The McCain campaign is pushing the family angle of this harder than anyone else; I've heard it mentioned in the media but they want to turn that into the basis of "media smears," when it hasn't really been. Having Palin's future son in-law attend tonight & having the whole Palin family greet McCain on the tarmac, conveniently puts the family aspect of this back in the forefront, and any mention of it fits the narrative that this really is a smear of Gov. Palin's family, and will no doubt be pointed out in tomorrow's talking points.
Here's the video:
[Update] According to a piece on huffpost, former McCain VP hopeful Rob Portman agrees Portman: Coverage Not Sexist
*This is my first diary so I apologize in advance for all the things I was meant to do and probably didn't.