Palin: McCain’s campaign charged me for my own vetting; McCain aide: No we didn’t; Update: She wasn’t billed for vetting, says campaign lawyer
posted at 7:32 pm on November 12, 2009 by Allahpundit
Thus was the first shot fired in the Great McCain/Palin War of ’09, my friends. From Sarahcuda’s book, a copy of which is now in the hands of the Associated Press:
She writes about the “jaded aura” of professional campaign aides and how McCain’s entourage limited her access to the media, leading to allegations – unfounded, she says – that she was avoiding reporters.
And she says that most of her legal bills were generated defending what she called frivolous ethics complaints, but she reveals that about $500,000 was a bill she received to pay for the McCain campaign vetting her for the VP nod.
She said when she asked the McCain campaign if it would help her financially, she was told McCain’s camp would have paid all the bills if he’d won; since he lost, the vetting legal bills were her responsibility.
I’m always suspicious when the media attempts to state her position without quoting her, but assuming that’s accurate, an unnamed McCain staffer will have you know that (a) the bills weren’t for vetting and (b) they couldn’t have paid them if they wanted to.
“That is one hundred percent untrue,” said the McCain official, who would only speak on the condition of anonymity in deference to McCain. “All those bills are from her personal attorney Thomas Van Flein, mostly relating to the Troopergate investigation and other ethics investigations. It is not legal to pay for those investigations out of general election funds, even if the campaign was so inclined.”
Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton would not confirm the accuracy of the AP report.
“The book remains embargoed,” Stapleton said in an e-mail to CNN. “The Governor will appear on Oprah first to discuss the book’s contents.”
Election law is so labyrinthine that I’m not even going to try to research this. There’ll be plenty of expert opinion about it on the wires tomorrow, no doubt, although election lawyers are welcome to send in tips if they have a take. In the meantime, a question: Why wouldn’t Team Maverick pick up the tab, assuming it was legal to do so? The RNC was willing to shell out six figures on wardrobe; a few hundred thousand more to bail her out of a campaign-induced legal quagmire doesn’t seem much to ask. If anything, given the tensions between her and some of the campaign’s staffers, you would think they’d be eager to do whatever they could to make her happy after the election to minimize the risk of an ugly McCain vs. Palin/GOP in disarray storyline.
Follow the first link up top for more details from the book. Turns out that, according to Nicolle Wallace, Katie Couric suffers from low self-esteem. Heart-ache.
Update: Another shot fired.
This senior McCain campaign official says they considered the $500,000 bill from Palin’s lawyer to be exorbitant — plus, even if they wanted to, they couldn’t use their general-election funds to pay for it (remember that McCain accepted some $84 million in federal funds for the general election).
“Everyone thought it was ridiculous,” the senior McCain official tells First Read.
Anyone not think the “senior McCain official” is Steve Schmidt?
Update: Here’s why it’s a bad idea to trust the AP. The line in the blockquote above about how “she reveals that about $500,000 was a bill” has now been revised in subsequent versions of the story to read “she reveals that about one-tenth of the $500,000 was a bill”. In other words, the vetting allegedly cost 50 grand, not 500 grand. Which makes it even odder that the campaign didn’t pick up the tab — assuming it was legally entitled to do so.
Update: Sounds like we have a disagreement over what constitutes “vetting.”
It’s not legal for general election matching funds to pay for pre-emptive legal defense; the McCain campaign did not believe it was legal for GELAC funds — a separate account that paid for fundraising complaince — to pay for the investigations either. But vetting is a poor word to choose. The McCain campaign footed the bill for Art Culvahouse’s investigation of Palin before she was elected. Palin was urged by campaign lawyers to set up a legal defense fund to pay for the investigations and ethics complaints that had nothing to do with her presidential bid.
“I can confirm that she was not billed for any vetting costs by the campaign,” said Trevor Potter, the campaign’s general counsel. “I do not know if she was billed by her own lawyer for his assistance to her in the vetting process, but from the excerpt that has been read to me by the AP, it sounds as if that is what she is describing.”
Without a quote from the book itself, it’s impossible to tell how much of a dispute there really is here.










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Shhhh, that’s logic.
Jim Treacher on November 12, 2009 at 10:09 PM
Are you talking about Romney?
mike_NC9 on November 12, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Ask the Alaska taxpayers doofus. Benny, err, I mean Jeanne and her little dipshit friends cost the Alaska tax payers around two million dollars! Sarah got off cheap at only half a mil.
As far as who to believe, so far Sarah has always proved to be right, and the losers in the McCain campaign completely wrong, or worse.
Whatever the right number is, or whatever, I’ll believe Sarah over these clowns.
gary4205 on November 12, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Well on to some real news instead of this dribble.
First up is a this little diddy.
Clyde5445 on November 12, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Well, it is a memoir. Would you prefer she write about stuff that hasn’t happened yet or just shut up and sit down?
She wrote a book. About stuff that happened to her. She didn’t “ignite a war”.
Jimmie Bise, Jr on November 12, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Well, stupid, when someone besides “The Quitter” finds the testicles to call a spade a spade and speak out against this nonsense that is going on in Washington, call me up.
jimmy2shoes on November 12, 2009 at 10:18 PM
Or, we can all wait until SNL does a comedy skit on the story and slightly makes Palin look good and CNN then fact checks the SNL skit.
Basil Fawlty on November 12, 2009 at 10:23 PM
Sarah has planned ahead again and has the national stage mainly to herself next week as her book tour kicks off along with some interviews. Meanwhile, Obama is off to Asia for 9 days which is about 12 hours or more ahead of us.
Advantage: Sarah
ny59giants on November 12, 2009 at 10:25 PM
I’d actually like to see a DeMint / Palin ticket.
Then after eight years of that – a Palin / Jindal ticket.
Then after eight years of that – a Jindal / Rubio ticket.
HondaV65 on November 12, 2009 at 10:26 PM
We don’t even know what’s in the book yet. I certainly don’t trust “leaks” of it from the MSM.
Remember Tom Ridge’s book?
HondaV65 on November 12, 2009 at 10:27 PM
Not that it matters, but JZ says the AP write up is a load of crap.
deidre on November 12, 2009 at 10:28 PM
there is some competition running against grandpa down here…they are both conservative, but one of them, Chris Simcox, founder of the minutmen, has got too much baggage…i fear that a lot of people will vote for him and mccain will eviscerate him…we’ll see though…here’s hoping!!
Liberty 5-3000 on November 12, 2009 at 8:21 PM
Ok I’ll bite..
Baggage? You mean like: How many illegals have been put on his car, pickup trucks, his crew, I mean in a van all tucked up can hold up to 20 I guess. Not to mention any illegals that thanks to him, have been kicked out of this country. Simply put, he enforced what the US Government refused to do.
ProudPalinFan on November 12, 2009 at 10:28 PM
In other words, agree with you more. Got it. Thanks.
FIFY
Wow, this $50,000/5000,000 mix up is so illustrative of the fevered response to anything Palin. Next thing we know, Allah will claim he’s scheduled her for a speaking engagement…
(o_O)
Dongemaharu on November 12, 2009 at 10:30 PM
Hard to say really what this is all about, without direct quotes. But the McCain campaign has zero credibility. Zero.
ddrintn on November 12, 2009 at 10:40 PM
And so does the AP really…
deidre on November 12, 2009 at 10:41 PM
Do you live in Sioux City? You lucky dog! I at least got to have her sign my pass at her speech here in Des Moines last year–she was fantastic!
lovingmyUSA on November 12, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Associate Pravda strikes again…
d1carter on November 12, 2009 at 10:49 PM
Nah, I’m rooting for Palin/Cheney–Liz Cheney, that is–just to watch NOW’s heads explode from cognitive dissonance when they have no choice but to endorse Obama/Biden over not just one but two women.
Fabozz on November 12, 2009 at 10:53 PM
“Without a quote from the book itself, it’s impossible to tell how much of a dispute there really is here.”
Than why are you running this half-assed story?
leftnomore on November 12, 2009 at 10:53 PM
No matter what the truth of this issue,i’d bet a whole lot of money thier won’t be a single thing in that book that could trip Sarah up, she’s way to smart for that.
heshtesh on November 12, 2009 at 10:57 PM
I would be surprised if SNL did a skit that made Palin look good. CNN only fact checks Obama skits that don’t show him in a positive light anyway.
Americannodash on November 12, 2009 at 10:59 PM
McCain will be remembered as the breaking link that led us into a bloody civil war.
God damn John McCain.
noblejones on November 12, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Well, let’s see. Those who ran the McCain campaign conducted perhaps the WORST presidential campaign in history.
Ummmm, these losers STILL want jobs in their “field” AFTER running the worst presidential campaign in history.
I’m sorry. I gotta side with Sarah’s version of events here.
David2.0 on November 12, 2009 at 11:01 PM
True considering Sarah know how to run a WINNING campaign.
Clyde5445 on November 12, 2009 at 11:07 PM
House large enough? At least me and the kids? Probably 3/4 of us will want in…
ProudPalinFan on November 12, 2009 at 11:07 PM
Sarah Palin’s entire national identity is tied to the “last campaign”.
The McLame campaign mishandled her, and the MSM manhandled her.
No “circular firing squad” here……..just an attempt by an honest, patriotic LEADER to set the record straight against enormous obstacles.
David2.0 on November 12, 2009 at 11:12 PM
Well, MORON, perhaps such a person is afraid to stand up because of the fine mess people like YOU made for Sarah Palin.
voxpopuli on November 12, 2009 at 11:24 PM
voxpopuli on November 12, 2009 at 11:25 PM
What are you blathering about? On HotAir, its Palin Time, All the Time. I read them out of boredom after reading the useful stuff; kind of hard to miss.
voxpopuli on November 12, 2009 at 11:30 PM
No it isn’t. At this moment, there is a thread about Glenn Beck, one about Hannity and the doctored footage, a Meggie Mac thread, an Afghanistan thread, a couple of Hasan threads, a couple of health care threads…
You’re just upset that there are ANY Palin threads. Still you can’t resist them.
ddrintn on November 12, 2009 at 11:38 PM
This has been the MO of the Associated Press anytime it mentions Palin all along. They put out the wrong information. The lefty blogs pick it up. The AP prints a small retraction, usually several retractions, because it takes them several times (and probably several calls from Palin’s lawyers to get it right)…they claim no harm done.
njpat on November 12, 2009 at 11:40 PM
Kind of off topic but I think along with Palin the conservative movement is getting some great additions that could make a difference in 2010 and 2012.
Here is one:
Former NFL offensive lineman Runyan considers run for Congress
Story Highlights
Jon Runyan says the country is going in wrong direction
Runyan played 13 seasons in NFL with Eagles and Titans
Runyan’s run would be for seat in New Jersey’s 3rd District
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) — Former NFL player Jon Runyan says he’s considering running for Congress.
“Country is going in the wrong direction”
Republican from New Jersey….
….who will have a very good chance of taking this seat.
CAN YOU HEAR US NOW!!!
Baxter Greene on November 12, 2009 at 11:46 PM
http://www.mediaite.com/online/john-ziegler-ap-blows-it-in-palin-book-analysis/
njpat on November 12, 2009 at 11:57 PM
THe GOP grass root energy is amazing right now. I have never seen it this energized before.
My local county GOP (SW Colorado) was planning to organize a van drive down for Palin’s book-signing in Albuquerque (closest signing to where we live). We thought maybe 10-12 people would be interested, but instead we got nearly 250 responses (HUGE for our small county).
Norwegian on November 13, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Cool.
the_nile on November 13, 2009 at 12:03 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9kuoqOBw4M
njpat on November 13, 2009 at 12:06 AM
Trevor Potter, the campaign’s general counsel
njpat on November 13, 2009 at 12:16 AM
I was thinking after about two or three book signing the whole tour is going to be rescheduled because of the size of the crowds. Harper Collins and these bookstore have no idea what they are in for. To me each signing should be a day in itself and not 2 to 3 hrs each. It going to be a PR nightmare for all concerned. I will feel really really bad for Sarah if this happens she doesn’t need crap like this.
Side note somebody figured in a three hrs deal about 2000 book could signed. Now can you imagine 3000 people showing up and a 1000 get shafted. I can and knowing how Sarah is she would stay till the end. I can see it coming.
Clyde5445 on November 13, 2009 at 12:19 AM
If there is some dispute between Palin and McCain, which I cannot yet tell if there is, it would be very helpful if it would be settled privately, and that both Plain and McCain make public statements supportive of one another. A dispute like this is not going to hurt McCain’s future, only Palin’s.
Loxodonta on November 13, 2009 at 12:35 AM
I agree.
bayview on November 13, 2009 at 1:46 AM
I don’t see any dispute at all. It’s Palin’s record of truth-telling versus the incompetence and treachery that made the McCain campaign such a great success.
Feedie on November 13, 2009 at 1:55 AM
Why is this even on HotAir when AP has discredited all of his sources and admits that he doesn’t have the facts yet?
Circulating unfounded rumors is a total waste of bandwidth and only serves to discredit this site.
landlines on November 13, 2009 at 1:59 AM
More BS from Allah. You ALWAYS believe the worst about Palin, and then you post it all over Hot Air and smear her with these ridiculous leftist hit jobs.
You get a kick out of trashing your own party. You are a nothing but a liberal who has fooled a handful of conservatives into accepting you as a ‘moderate’.
You are a full-on piece of $#!t.
Mr Purple on November 13, 2009 at 2:14 AM
Actually, I’d rather get this crap out now, if there is crap to get out. There’s no way she can write a book without getting into her side of what happened in the campaign. A little bloodletting might be healthy, especially three years away from the next presidential election. This is actually a way to finally put this to bed, methinks.
Shotgun Messiah on November 13, 2009 at 2:33 AM
Proud to be a conservative. Really regret ever voting for a Republican named McCain.
Griz on November 13, 2009 at 2:50 AM
Michelle Malkin is not a fool.
And although Allahpundit may be annoying at times…
OK. Allahpundit is always annoying.
But if Michelle likes him, he’s OUR annoying little twerp.
Loxodonta on November 13, 2009 at 2:57 AM
Nah, he/she means Hillary or Kerry.
As for the story, doesn’t mean a thing without the book. But it sounds like McPains people refused to pay a reasonable bill and are trying to spin their way out of it.
Why would anyone bother with an accusation like that if it had no merit?
dogsoldier on November 13, 2009 at 6:36 AM
Think I will believe Palins’ characterization of the debt until proven otherwise.
joedoe on November 13, 2009 at 6:52 AM
I have to say – Before the election I was a McCain supporter and a moderate conserative on several issues. I lost absolutely all respect for McCain during the election. I hae never seen such incompetent, vicious people in action like this crew. It almost looked as if everyone Except Palin was working as hard as humanly possible to lose the election. It was surreal. I hated the way they treated Palin. I came to a very real comprehension of just how f’ed up “moderate” conserative thinking is and seriously adjusted my misplaced notion of what constitutes compassion. And. AND. My tolerance for abuse of conservative women bottomed out below zero. I’ve personally had it with the sexist bs from certain parts of the GOP.
Stop going to McCain’s camp for verification of anything. they are back stabbing putrid pustules who have proven over and over again that they have no integrity, no work ethic recognizable to the average human and are a waste of air.
I can’t stand Obama but at least he’s clearly on the other side. Has anyone decided wth side McCain is on yet? Because I sure as hell can’t tell.
BrideOfRove on November 13, 2009 at 7:39 AM
I have started a website blog promoting Fred, it is called: 2012-Today and I am pushing Fred on it big…Please come visit the site, contribute with your words and spread the word to everyone so we can convince Fred to run!
http://2012-today.blogspot.com/
walker_ro on November 13, 2009 at 7:59 AM
Dude, you are seriously funny today. Well done.
Subsunk
Subsunk on November 13, 2009 at 8:25 AM
“Make her happy? Like, say, tell stories about her thinking Africa’s a country?”
Gee Mr. Joe, maybe it is. Let’s ask Wolfe Blizten or Obama. I thought I saw it on the map once. It was right next to our 57 states.
Don L on November 13, 2009 at 8:28 AM
As of this morning, the CNN Political Ticker article “McCain Official: Palin Claim 100% Untrue” is still reporting the amount as “about $500,000″ she maintains the campaign billed her. I attempted to comment last night on the CNN site that the amount in question is 50K not 500K but my comment isn’t posted yet. Do you think CNN prefers to let an untruth stay out there in print about Palin?
Yeah.
redslippers on November 13, 2009 at 8:34 AM
Wow has this story ever changed since last night. The AP got it wrong, as is typical. Of course, every single major media outlet picked up on the AP story and posted it long before anyone really verified it.
I am not surprised, the Palin haters scrounge the internet looking for stories they can print, even if they are incorrect in their assumptions.
In fact, HotAir also got it wrong originally.
When will Allahpundit ever learn?
Palin haters always seem to follow the same wrong headed assumptions.
kcarpenter on November 13, 2009 at 8:35 AM
…I think the energy will only increase by the time we get to 2010 and will be about to explode by 2012.
The Obama administration is scary stupid and people want them gone.
Baxter Greene on November 13, 2009 at 8:36 AM
I have no idea what is going on in this story, but I’m sure Palin is right, because McCain is a RINO…
tommylotto on November 13, 2009 at 8:37 AM
That would be the guy who chases the coffee for the bus driver, right?
Blacksmith8 on November 13, 2009 at 8:51 AM
I’ve reviewed your rough draft. Here’s the revised copy, If it’s acceptable, tender payment as normal.
Blacksmith8 on November 13, 2009 at 8:57 AM
I really am looking forward to next week. See the editing by Oprah. That’ll be worth a look-see. Read the book. I still am delighted she went for “it” and talked about the campaign.
It’s going to be way fun.
AnninCA on November 13, 2009 at 8:58 AM
You answered your own question in your question. This story is already out there, reaching more people than Hot Air can. Why shouldn’t Hot Air take it apart? It’s a dubious claim. Am I alone in wanting stories like these about Palin discredited?
Esthier on November 13, 2009 at 9:00 AM
I disagree. HA has at least three times the readers per hour as CNN gets for the whole day.
This is actually a PSA. When a ‘senior McCain official’ says the AP read the book to them, you know they’re lying. Everybody knows the AP wire can’t read. Everybody knows McCain’s people don’t listen.
Blacksmith8 on November 13, 2009 at 9:08 AM
I am known on a progressive blog for discrediting Palin smear stories. There’s a really good blog posting today on the Palin phenomena by, of all things, a union guy. Now, the guy is way left for workers. So you’d have to hold your nose about his solutions.
However, the article is the FIRST one I’ve read that fully acknowledges just why Sarah is so popular with common people and why the Democrats hate her. He dared to acknowledge that she scared the bejeezus out of them in the campaign, that it was obvious that she darn near won it for John, and that people identify with her, not with Obama.
He goes on to talk about the liberal elite with Ivy League credentials as being laughable in the way they think they are speaking for people, while trashing her. Meanwhile, in the real world, every smear job flames the fires more with people, since they feel smeared, too. They identify WITH her, and the Democrats have turned her into a heroine.
It was hilarious to watch all the ethics charges being tossed out. Even after number 13, 14, etc., came up, the bloggers believed each and every phony charge, or at least they loved to bash her for it. Watching the spectacle made me realize that there truly is no credibility left anywhere.
We are absolutely afloat, moorless, without principles. It’s all personality-driven. Anything goes.
Yesterday, the big thread on this progressive blog was over, you ready, Carrie. Seriously. A beauty queen was the target because her BF jerk managed to not actually blackmail her. He just sold a private sexual matter to the highest bidder. Had he given her first dibs? He’d be no different than the blackmailer of Letterman.
I defended Carrie. Not because I particularly care one whit for ambitious beauty queens. But because the principle was completely being lost. When did we give credibility to jerks like him or Levi or Jon Gosslin because the “women deserve it.”
Here, people support Palin. But the same situation exists, frankly. The Hillary bashing could easily be non-stop. And I bet it would be as wickedly unprincipled as the Palin bashing is on the left.
The left has defined women’s rights in one way only: abortion. It’s a very small piece of turf. Other than that, they have no sense of principles that should inform them about women, whether in politics or elsewhere, it seems. Is the right any better?
I doubt it.
AnninCA on November 13, 2009 at 9:14 AM
mclame’s seat is up this 2010….yeah
please put up a winner against this old cap and trade, amnesty loving, george sosros money grabber.
nondhimmie on November 13, 2009 at 9:15 AM
CNN is not the AP. The AP IS the news. There’s simply no comparison.
Esthier on November 13, 2009 at 9:18 AM
I’ll side with Palin over those political hacks and lame stream media clowns anytime. At least when she had to run for cover it was because of vicious, incessant, real attacks on non-existent ethical issues, not phony bullet flying stories.
Nalea on November 13, 2009 at 9:23 AM
It is obvious from the gitgo, that Palin wasn’t talking about a literal bill from the McCain campaign but the result of McCaincamps failure to vet and then failure to proved ANY help in the defense of the fraudulent ethics complaints.
LeeSeneca on November 13, 2009 at 9:27 AM
What a wasted post. I’m sure it’s fun to begin marketing “the Great McCain/Palin War of ‘09″ and probably good for business, but when the details turn out to make the entire story a non-story, what do we really have?
Just another unnecessary friendly fire incident.
Jaibones on November 13, 2009 at 9:28 AM
From Druge
Going Rogue: An American Life
by Sarah Palin
Chapter Four; Section 8, pages 255-257
By the third week in September, a “Free Sarah” campaign was under way and the press at large was growing increasingly critical of the McCain camp’s decision to keep me, my family and friends back home, and my governor’s staff all bottled up. Meanwhile, the question of which news outlet would land the first interview was a big deal, as it always is with a major party candidate.
From the beginning, Nicolle [Wallace] pushed for Katie Couric and the CBS Evening News. The campaign’s general strategy involved coming out with a network anchor, someone they felt had treated John well on the trail thus far. My suggestion was that we be consistent with that strategy and start talking to outlets like FOX and the Wall Street Journal. I really didn’t have a say in which press I was going to talk to, but for some reason Nicolle seemed compelled to get me on the Katie bandwagon.
“Katie really likes you,” she said to me one day. “she’s a working mom and admires you as a working mom. She has teenage daughter like you. She just relates to you,” Nicolle said. “believe me, I know her very well. I’ve worked with her.” Nicolle had left her gig at CBS just a few months earlier to hook up with the McCain campaign. I had to trust her experience, as she had dealt with national politics more than I had. But something always struck me as peculiar about the way she recalled her days in the White House, when she was speaking on behalf of President George W. Bush. She didn’t have much to say that was positive about her former boss or the job in general. Whenever I wanted to give a shout-out to the White House’s homeland security efforts after 9/11, we were told we couldn’t do it. I didn’t know if that was Nicolle’s call.
Nicolle went on to explain that Katie really needed a career boost. “She just has such low self-esteem,” Nicolle said. She added that Katie was going through a tough time. “She just feels she can’t trust anybody.”
I was thinking, And this has to do with John McCain’s campaign how?
Nicolle said. “She wants you to like her.”
Hearing all that, I almost started to feel sorry for her. Katie had tried to make a bold move from lively morning gal to serious anchor, but the new assignment wasn’t going very well.
“You know what? We’ll schedule a segment with her,” Nicolle said. “If it doesn’t go well, if there’s no chemistry, we won’t do any others.”
Meanwhile, the media blackout continued. It got so bad that a couple of times I had a friend in Anchorage track down phone numbers for me, and then I snuck in calls to folks like Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and someone I thought was Larry Kudlow but turned out to be Neil Cavuto’s producer. I had a friend call Bill O’Reilly after I was inundated with supporters in Alaska asking why the campaign was “ignoring” his one-air requests for a McCain campaign interview. I had another friend scrambling to find Mark Levin’s number. Aboard the campaign plane I was within twenty-five feet of reporters for hours on end. Headquarters’ strategy was that I should not go to the back of the aircraft and talk to the press. At first this was subtle, but as the campaign wore on, Tracey or Tucker would call headquarters to request permission, and someone in DC would respond, “No! Absolutely not- block her if she tries to go back.”
Clyde5445 on November 13, 2009 at 9:38 AM
QOTD.
ProudPalinFan on November 13, 2009 at 9:39 AM
True. Remember, it was the McCain campaign press release announcing Palin as the runninbg mate which started the “I can see Russia from my house” line. (Tina Fey said that, NOT PALIN.) The release said Gov. Palin had foreign policy experience due to Alaska’s close proximity to Russia.
Lothar on November 13, 2009 at 9:42 AM
I don’t presume to know at this point if any of this is true what I do know is Arizona needs to get rid of that inarticulate, old, Kennedy lovin, author of that crap piece of legislation McCain/Feingold that Pinnochio used so effectively to clobber the Old Fool over the head with.
Arizona get rid of McCain South Carolina do the same with his Mistress Lindsay Graham
dhunter on November 13, 2009 at 9:46 AM
My concern revolves around some bookstores that will only allow people to get in line w/a number and receipt of purchase from THAT bookstore, in order to get an autograph. My problem is, I ordered thru Amazon.com. Heh if I have to purchase a book fine, but I already have one next week. I can give it as a present to someone else.
ProudPalinFan on November 13, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Then pay the expenses out of your own pockets, dimwits! One way or the other you owe this woman the courtesy of reimbursing those expenses.
RD on November 13, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Toward the end of the campaign, I got the distinct feeling that Palin was the only one in it to win.
joedoe on November 13, 2009 at 10:01 AM
Would Sarah Palin agree with that statement?
Loxodonta on November 13, 2009 at 10:02 AM
I really am looking forward to next week. See the editing by Oprah. That’ll be worth a look-see. Read the book. I still am delighted she went for “it” and talked about the campaign.
It’s going to be way fun.
AnninCA on November 13, 2009 at 8:58 AM
Hi Ann,
Oprah is gonna put more interview clips on her website. If there’s gonna be even more editing…hmmm…hmmmm…
ProudPalinFan on November 13, 2009 at 10:04 AM
Palin should send THEM a bill for mental anguish!
joedoe on November 13, 2009 at 10:04 AM
She won’t pull a Couric. I’m sure of that. She’s no dummy.
AnninCA on November 13, 2009 at 10:06 AM
I remember I typed last year about my wish for a “switch-a-roo” and let her run POTUS and him VP. Then we’d win.
ProudPalinFan on November 13, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Us right wing extremists, teapartiers (not gonna put dirty word here), lunatics, anti-government will see this when they connect the dots. Noblejones did. I read it and it did make sense to me. For the life of me do you think that Sarah thinks that, or will speak like that? She professes a deep respect and admiration for Sen. McCain. Now the others, not so much.
There’s enough anger out there and no appropriate outlet because it is not time yet. You can protest and holler all you want, but still, ObamadoesnotCare. And him and his minions on top of that, insult all of us. At this moment, Sarah stands right there besides us.
When the s*it hits the fan and a real revolt starts, you won’t think of what Sarah thinks. Hopefully, you’ll think what’s best for your family and the country.
ProudPalinFan on November 13, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Perhaps we can give her the benefit of the doubt…but it all comes down to their BFF’s.
ProudPalinFan on November 13, 2009 at 10:32 AM
Hmm…’Senior McCain Official’ gives a detailed denial, citing $500,000 (specifically) as being a ridiculous amount which they refused to pay… then it turns out the actual amount was $50,000… does anyone else feel that SMO’s explanation may not have been too well grounded in fact?
PersonFromPorlock on November 13, 2009 at 10:37 AM
So true. McCain seemed to do everything in his power to lose. It was bazar and painful as all hell to watch.
BrideOfRove on November 13, 2009 at 11:02 AM
I think it was because palin had real solutions to the issues and McCain just didn’t believe in anything anymore. he wasn’t certain of his economic policies. He did not have Bush’s convictions on foreign policy. Everything he offered up was a badly patched hybrid of compromises. He asked supporters to fight for what was right and yet he seemed to have no clue what RIGHT was.
BrideOfRove on November 13, 2009 at 11:05 AM
I was wondering that the final few days of the campaign. I wondered if McCain had enough info on how bad the economy was and didn’t want any part of it.
rbj on November 13, 2009 at 11:14 AM
The night of the concession speech, Palin was the only one that looked a little perplexed and saddened by the outcome. I could almost sense that she felt duped by the whole McCain conundrum.
joedoe on November 13, 2009 at 11:20 AM
The inability to manage one’s anger to the point that “Palin fans” can spew forth such venom, and admire it, is not good for Palin or our country. It sounds exactly like a bunch of liberals screaming about Bushitler. Look what good that brought us.
Loxodonta on November 13, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Both Steve Schmidt & Nicolle Wallace are despicable beyond words.
Did Pawlenty really hire McCain campaign people? If so, there is no way in hell I am voting for him.
Norwegian on November 13, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Just stop trusting anything said ABOUT the book without READING the book. For heaven’s sake, this is about as predictable as the sun coming up in the morning.
Randy
williars on November 13, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Hey! Look on the bright side; Just think of the small (or large) fortune saved on vetting Obama! And all the money he’s saving vetting the czars!
Cybergeezer on November 13, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Hello! Palin!!! Controversy! It’s like a moth to a flame for Allah.
Nevermind we shouldn’t jump to conclusions about this stuff.
highhopes on November 13, 2009 at 11:47 AM
After McCain took the federal funding, he was limited in how he could raise money. The McCain-Palin Compliance Fund was set up to get around those limitations:
NYT on the Fund:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/us/politics/20donate.html
Language from the McCain-Palin website:
McCain-Palin Victory 2008 is a joint fundraising committee by the McCain-Palin Compliance Fund, Republican National Committee, and Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania Republican Parties. Because the McCain-Palin Campaign is participating in the presidential public funding system, it may not receive contributions for the any candidate’s election. However, federal law allows the McCain-Palin Campaign’s Compliance Fund to defray legal and accounting compliance costs and preserve the Campaign’s public grant for media, mail, phones, and get-out-the-vote programs. Contributions to McCain-Palin Victory 2008 will go to the Compliance Fund, and to participating party committees for Victory 2008 programs.
This tactic was adopted in late September by Trevor Potter who now says the campaign never asked Palin to pay a legal bill.
“To my knowledge, the campaign never billed Gov. Palin for any legal expenses related to her vetting and I am not aware of her ever asking the campaign to pay legal expenses that her own lawyers incurred for the vetting process,” Potter said.
If Palin’s lawyer billed her for work related to her vetting, the McCain campaign never knew about it, Potter said.
To another reporter, “I can confirm that she was not billed for any vetting costs by the campaign,” said Trevor Potter, the campaign’s general counsel. “I do not know if she was billed by her own lawyer for his assistance to her in the vetting process, but from the excerpt that has been read to me by the AP, it sounds as if that is what she is describing.”
Which is exactly what Sarah wrote. She was McCain’s biggest fundraiser, the M-P Compliance Fund was set up to pay legal expenses but after the election when she tried to get her bills paid – while she was still a $125,000 a year Governor – the McCain folks said, ‘Sorry, you’ll have to pay that $50K bill on your own. Yeah, we said we’d help but that was then…’
JimAK on November 13, 2009 at 11:50 AM
I think you are over-complicating it. By election night McCain was angry that what little energy was generated out of the campaign came from Palin. It was clear many were willing to put up with him only because she was on the ticket and he would have been happier with somebody more like him.
In case you haven’t noticed, McCain is a bitter angry old man.
highhopes on November 13, 2009 at 11:51 AM
Right, like I’m believing McCain’s backstabbing aids. I wonder if they will bill “T-Paw” for his vetting when they pick him to Run alongside Mittens on the Smart Socialism ticket in 2012.
james23 on November 13, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Why do you keep assuming it was legal when the only analysis you include in the post says that it’s illegal?
I mean, I don’t know if it was legal or illegal, but before you start throwing around these silly hypotheticals, shouldn’t you at least have some basis for thinking that it was legal?
orange on November 13, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Already the response – gee no one told ME she wanted help with the 50K her lawyer billed her for work associated with her vetting. Without knowing who Palin supposedly asked for help one can’t say Potter is actually lying. Palin may not have gone to the lawyer but to the campaign aides. Anyone actually think they’d admit it now?
One might wonder – Did Potter inquire as to whether she had incurred any costs associated with the vetting that could be paid by the McCain-Palin Compliance Fund?
katiejane on November 13, 2009 at 12:20 PM
We have a group of 22 headed up to Rochester, NY but it is gonna be a madhouse there.
Word is that folks are going to start camping out Friday night the 20th for a signing at 6 pm Saturday the 21st.
That’s one hell of a long day (including a 2 hour drive each way) for about 10-12 seconds with the Governor, and no pictures or personalized signings.
But it’s Sarah. ‘Nuff said.
BlueStateBilly on November 13, 2009 at 12:55 PM
Think of it as being environmentally friendly. Recycling.
Or in this case, composting.
VekTor on November 13, 2009 at 2:02 PM
She didn’t start the fire, it was always burning, since the world was turning…
VekTor on November 13, 2009 at 2:03 PM
I think many of your real conservatives are too busy fighting a border war-there’s a lot of ranchers down that way that would make great politicians there.
But unfortunately for you all, they are way too smart to fall into that trap!
Badger40 on November 13, 2009 at 2:05 PM
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