Palin's Ayers Line Was Scripted By McCain Campaign

In a Newsweek election postmortem, members of John McCain campaign staff said VP candidate Sarah Palin had defied them with one of her most vicious attacks on Obama -- that he "pals around with terrorists."

Palin launched her attack on Obama's association with William Ayers, the former Weather Underground bomber, before the campaign had finalized a plan to raise the issue. McCain's advisers were working on a strategy that they hoped to unveil the following week, but McCain had not signed off on it, and top adviser Mark Salter was resisting.

Palin's supporters said at the time that it was the campaign that pushed her to go on the attack. Now, a new book has backed them up. According to Marc Ambinder, Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson's "The Battle for America" shows clearly that McCain's staff put the words in Palin's mouth.

Turns out that the McCain campaign was a week away from running an ad linking Obama to Ayers. The e-mail from Wallace, according to Balz and Johnson, reads as follows: "Governor and Team: rick [Davis], Steve [Schmidt] and I suggest the following attack from the new york times. If you are comfortable, please deliver the attack as written. Please do not make any changes to the below without approval from steve or myself because precision is crucial in our ability to introduce this."

McCain HQ had suggested the following line: "This is not a man who sees American as you and I do -- as the greatest force for good in the world. This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country."

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Comments

[davidhilton1]

i'll bet most everything sista sarah says is scripted...

[Rogan]

If it comes out half way to coherent, it kind of must be. She's too disingenuous to go off-script much... (much like W. was - )

[Brettster]

It seems impossible in real life that somebody could get away with such a DISGUSTING smear line such as that, and not cause an immediate, permanent backlash shunning her from credibility and respect ever again.

[d45]

I don't think she even knew who Ayers was before she ran for office. Someone must fed her the line or she heard it on fox.

[daBinsi]

And what about that sheriff in Florida? where is he now?

[fair-is-fair]

The Republicans ARE THE domestic TERRORISTS !

[LaPeche]

Absolutely right.

[LemonMeringue]

Do you know what I find even more despicable than anything that could possibly said about Obama and Ayers?

Palin and McCain palled around with Richard Bruce Cheney.

[mrsgm]

lol good one

[Archivist1000]

HEADLINE: >>>>> Palin's Ayers Line Was Scripted By McCain Campaign

WELL DUH!!!

Did anyone ever seriously think Palin had come up with this herself?? The woman has no clue about CURRENT EVENTS ... never mind some obscure events that took place in the 60s !!

[JulieSA]

Bombing the Pentagon is obscure?

[CyrusBeaucephus]

Still fuming about hippies I see. This is not suprising

[LemonMeringue]

Were you an adult back then? If not you do not know or understand what went down during the Vietnam war.

[Archivist1000]

HEADLINE: >>>>> Palin's Ayers Line Was Scripted By McCain Campaign

[me again]

She's a parrot and if she were a man, no one would pay her any attention.....

[LemonMeringue]

Oh so true.

[binq56]

Or an ugly woman.

[Pilate]

The punch line is not who or when or what, but that from the inside the whole McCain campaign must have looked like Keystone Kops. Sort of like the entire GOP looks now.

[rich misty]

http://www.examiner.com/x-4317-Denver-Roman-Catholic-Examiner~y2009m6d9-Pastor-who-prayed-for-Tillers-death-now-prays-for-death-of-the-president

Pastor Drake was a Prayer Warrior for Operation Rescue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GeXVKb2hbM

He is now praying for the death of the President of the United States of America.

Who teaches people to hate Americans to this degree? Where was this behavior taught?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUN1aX4VGbY

Republican campaigning ^ That's who, and where.

http://www.usdoj.gov/contact-us.html -Contact the USDoJ and ask them to assign a prosecutor to investigate Republican torture. Most Americans have had enough of GOP hatred, torture, and threats.

[PurplePeon]

"Who teaches people to hate Americans to this degree? Where was this behavior taught?"

Oh that's an easy one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfDeRY7IgcQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwQWuQVE6sw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4WMqlfiQKo

That last one is particularly funny since his retirement home is a million dollar mansion.

Anyway, one of his 20+ year students is now running the country.

[d45]

Thanks for the post... It was frightening to watch the Palin youtube video. The scary thing is, she's back. I don't think she could get elected President but could get in the back door as VP running with someone like Jeb Bush. Now there's a scary thought!

[PurplePeon]

Well, Biden is the current VP and he's not nearly as smart as Palin, so I wouldn't worry.

[davidhilton1]

well palin/mccain's hate/smear campaign obviously didnt work did it? all it did was fuel the ultra right leaning repubs thats it....how many ppl actually support her views? not enough to elect her potus...i hope.

[Marnie1]

"Turns out that the McCain campaign was a week away from running an ad linking Obama to Ayers. The e-mail from Wallace, according to Balz and Johnson, reads as follows: "Governor and Team: rick [Davis], Steve [Schmidt] and I suggest the following attack from the new york times. If you are comfortable, please deliver the attack as written. Please do not make any changes to the below without approval from steve or myself because precision is crucial in our ability to introduce this."


Too bad they didn't put a sock in Palin's mouth, since she went outside the chain of command and blew their point out of the water for them. She showed so many negative characteristics in that one move, not the least being the lack of willingness to coordinate and cooperate with McCain's campign leaders.
She also proved that her ability to talk or reason outside the limitations of a 25 words or less talking point that someone else wrote are nonexistant.

[LemonMeringue]

Linking Obama to Ayers in any way except what was true - that they happened to serve on the same board having to do with education reform in Chicago, which was Ayers' raison d'etre - was dishonest and despicable.

Dishonest Republican is redundant.

Ayers was not your garden variety terrorist either, he is and was a principled man with 100% unselfish motives, but that is another subject.

Bottom line: In politics you rub elbows with many people you do not agree with. In a line from the old sitcom Thirtysomething, Ellen says "I've cut deals with people that make her look like Mother Theresa." That is politics.

[PurplePeon]

If you'd like to speak about dishonesty, how do you reconcile saying their only connection is serving on a board?

[realpolitic]

At the time Palin was accusing Obama of "paling around with terrorists" her husband was a member of a political party that wanted Alaska to secede from America. Imagine if Michelle Obama was a member of a political party that wanted Illinois to secede from America. The media would have gone crazy. Fox News would have had 24/7 coverage and accused her of treason.

[poochytown]

And SP asked the McCain campaign to lie about Todd's membership in that group, which they declined to do... presumably because the truth was too easy to uncover.

[mydwyf]

Actually I think that Todd was requesting that little favor, via Sarah . . .

[nacilbuper]

hokey-mom + twit bull + lipstick = QUITTER!

nuff said.

[Pegi]

and she is a quitter and mccain is a loser. enough said.

[lab221]

And thank God they didn't win.