Too Little,Too Late,Too Lame

by Janet Crain

Senator John McCain had the perfect opportunity last night on Jay Leno's show to thoroughly clear the air about the despicable accusations leveled by some of his staff members toward his running mate, Sarah Palin. But he blew it.

Instead of saying he would ferret out these cowardly anonymous harpies, fire them and see to it their reputations were ruined, he said the following:

Senator John McCain: She understands all the energy issues. There’s a $40 billion pipeline coming to bring natural gas to places like California. And so look, she’s a marvelous person.
Jay Leno: Now, these aides that were criticizing her — and I think everyone agrees there were Republican aides who were criticizing her. I know you wouldn’t go for that. I know you’re an old soul. You don’t let people talk — but why?
Senator John McCain: One — these things happen in campaigns too. I think I have at least a thousand, quote, top advisors. “A top advisor said” — people I’ve never even heard of, much less a, quote, top advisor or a high-ranking Republican official. It’s — these things go on in campaigns, and you just –
Jay Leno: Why don’t we just move on.

Senator John McCain: I’m just very proud to have had Sarah Palin and her family, a wonderful family.

Later on he and Jay Leno joked about taking Lieberman to Neiman-Marcus to buy him a nice suit. OK, I know he has been advised to just move on, let this go and it will die a natural death. But I don't know who is advising him. Hasn't he listened to enough bad advice lately?

A gentleman would have come swiftly to Sarah Palin's defense. The accusations were ridiculous and most have been disproved by now. But they were unfair and cruel. And she didn't deserve this.

Sarah Palin made a reported 140 appearances for the Republican Party in her bid for the Vice Presidency of the United States. Every crowd at every rally was enthusiastic and energized by her appearance. The Republican Party owes her, big time! Not the other way around.

What bitter losers the Republican Party is turning out to be.

You know the old saying; "Sucess has many fathers, but failure is a bastard."

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Palin Aide Offers Sharp Rebuke to Criticisms

November 06, 2008 9:42 PM

ABC’s Kate Snow reports: A longtime aide to Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is lashing back at anonymous critics within the McCain-Palin presidential campaign, telling ABC News they are attacking the former vice presidential candidate with distortions.
Meg Stapleton offers an explanation of some of the more stinging criticisms that have come out in recent days since the McCain-Palin defeat.
Regarding the $150,000 worth of clothing the campaign bought Palin, Stapleton says a New York stylist was given a blank check and told to go and make Palin look presidential.
According to Stapleton, Palin saw a price tag of $3,500 on one outfit and said she didn't want to wear it. Stapleton says Palin was simply presented with her wardrobe and staff. Palin was told "here's your people, here are your clothes.”
Stapleton adds that the McCain staffers tried to hide the cost of the wardrobe. “They said, 'bill the convention under wardrobe so that the cost could be hidden.' And then they realized and they were told that’s illegal. So then they said, 'OK, how do we make this legal and appropriate?' So they had somebody pay for it and then the RNC (Republican National Committee) would reimburse them.”
According to Stapleton, the campaign said, "'this is what you need as a VP candidate.' It was the campaign and/or the RNC ... But it wasn't the governor saying this is what she needs."
Stapleton says $150,000 was the original bill for the clothing, but after some merchandise was returned, the cost went down to $107,000.
There was also a directive to buy any and all clothes before Sept. 4, the day the Republican convention in St. Paul ended, so that it could be buried as part of other convention costs. The campaign also bought clothing for the children, so they, too, would look nice, Stapleton added.
Regarding another stinging criticism, Stapleton claims that the Fox News report Thursday -- that quoted unnamed sources inside the now defunct McCain campaign, saying Palin didn't know Africa is a continent -- was taken out of context.
Stapleton says that during a briefing session, someone asked Palin to explain the McCain-Palin stance on an issue, and as she was responding, "in the middle, she said, ‘country of Africa’ and somebody instantly wrote it down, and said, 'Oh, my God, she thinks it's a country.'"
But Stapleton insists, "She knows it's a continent. It was just a human mistake, just like Obama saying 57 states. I don't think anyone ever doubted that Obama knows there are 50 states."
Stapleton adds that a McCain-Palin campaign speechwriter was flown in to write a speech for Governor Palin to deliver Tuesday night after the election results were in. But after a discussion, aides decided Palin would not give a speech that evening -- only McCain would speak.
Stapleton says Palin didn't understand why they would bring in a speechwriter and then not use the speech they wrote for her which was complimentary of McCain.


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Sarah Ditches Expensive Duds for Jeans

Sarah Palin returns to her own clothes 'from Alaskan charity shop'

Sarah Palin has said she has stopped wearing clothes from the controversial $150,000 (£97,000) wardrobe bought for her by the Republican National Committee.

By Tom Leonard in New York Last Updated: 3:55PM GMT 27 Oct 2008

The Republican vice-presidential candidate told a crowd in Florida on Sunday that she was "back to wearing my own clothes from my favourite consignment shop in Anchorage, Alaska".

To ram home the point, she even talked her audience through her outfit and accessories, mentioning earrings that were a gift from her husband's Yup'ik Eskimo mother and "a $35 wedding ring from Hawaii that I bought myself".
By the time she had got to an evening event in Asheville, North Carolina, she was dressing in jeans.

News of the vast sums spent on clothing and accessorising Mrs Palin and her family in expensive stores such as Nieman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue offered a stark contrast to Mrs Palin's image as an average "hockey mom" and has caused the Republicans considerable embarrassment.

"This whole thing with the wardrobe, I try to just ignore it because it's so ridiculous," she said on Sunday.

"Those clothes, they are not my property, just like the lighting and the staging and everything else the RNC purchased. I'm not taking them with me," she said.
Ellen Arvold, who runs Out of the Closet, Mrs Palin's favourite store in Anchorage, told CBS News she had been wearing similar clothes on the campaign trail to those she bought in her shop.

She refused to say how much the Alaska governor usually spends on clothes but estimated that she could buy the store "three times over" for $150,000.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/sarahpalin/3268736/Sarah-Palin-returns-to-her-own-clothes-from-Alaskan-charity-shop.html

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