Dr. Rove Will See You Now, Gov. Palin

A speculation:

We all know Karl Rove has been a master political manipulator for three decades. Best sellers have been written about it. His favorite modus operandi over the years has been constructing a "straw man" scenario (fake, untrue) that can be easily rebuked for his candidate's gain.

A famous example: late in the 1986 Texas governor's race, Rove apparently planted an electronic bug in his own office, then staged a press conference accusing the opposition of spying. The FBI was called in, smelled a rat, and no arrests were made. Still, the charge hovered in the press and Rove's client beat the Democratic incumbent.

That episode is classic, manipulative Karl, but who knew he's also an amateur OB-GYN on the side, politically speaking?

Saturday afternoon, just one day after John McCain unveiled Sarah Palin as his running mate, the liberal website Daily Kos posted a shocking story written by the anonymous "ArcXIX" (a one-time Kos diarist whose entry has now been scrubbed away according to their own search engine). It claimed, as we know, that Palin's fifth child is actually her daughter's and that the Alaska governor had "faked" her own pregnancy.

Although the gossip wasn't new in Alaska, the speed with which this detailed account appeared on Kos was quite impressive. There were extensive media and medical links, a timeline and ample photos designed to bolster the yarn. Prep work went into it, and other progressive websites and bloggers took the bait. (It should be noted that Huffington Post largely refrained.)

Later that night at dinner, I suggested that it was hard to believe McCain's people, including his adviser Rove (and Rove protégé Steve Schmidt, the campaign's senior strategist), had not vetted this tale. It seemed to me that if it were true, they were already aware of it and planned to use it as a play for sympathy. Maybe, for example, they were going to say she'd lied "to protect her family," a standard ploy.

Way too Machiavellian, friends insisted, so I conceded the point. The crazy story was surely false, and if it later proved true then McCain operatives must have been blindsided. In any event, I agreed there was likely no pregnancy exposé afoot in this Republican presidential candidacy.

Then came Monday, and the next shoe dropped, this one without the stench of rumor. The McCain campaign, in Minnesota for his party's nominating convention, disclosed that Palin's daughter is five months pregnant. This makes it virtually impossible that the teenager secretly gave birth to another child four and a half months earlier.

The Washington Post reported this news and told us that -- no surprise -- McCain knew about it in advance. Aha, so there actually was a pregnancy exposé afoot, and McCain's team was not blindsided. Interesting. The online version of the Post story initially added this:

"The statement Monday....opened the door to reporting about what the McCain campaign called the 'nastiness' on the Internet about whether Sarah Palin had faked the delivery of her fifth child."

Well, I suppose it does indeed open that door for the McCain campaign, seemingly by design. Cue the violins, because religious conservatives are being played like a Stradivarius.

This scheme reeks of an orchestrated "two-fer." First, Sarah Palin gets cast as victim, justifying the accusations of "scurrilous attacks" that McCain minions have quickly turned into their key talking point. That "cover" then naturally muted any negative reaction by the hardcore Republican base to the revelation of a teen pregnancy on their ticket, which by itself would make them apoplectic.

Again, classic Karl, unchanged from the old days.

First you set up your bowling pins, then you knock them down, capisci? Either pregnancy story would be a cinematic bombshell by itself, but two of them, back-to-back? One perfectly positioned to fully repudiate the other? While at the same time scoring a direct hit at those evil, meanspirited liberals in the blogosphere?

It's a grand flourish straight out of the movies, an Hercule Poirot revelation in Murder On The Orient Express.

It seems beyond mere happenstance. It's....it's....almost scripted.

Somewhere in St. Paul, Machiavelli himself (aka "ArcXIX," aka "Turd Blossom") is probably grinning.

Comments

[minooka mary]

This is a brilliant article. Talk about the religious conservatives are being played, the left even more so. Rove has learned a lot from the primaries and the sympathy that went out to Hillary Clinton when she was perceived to be under stress/distress - not that I mean to doubt her sincerity here. But be clear next time around the tear, the choked-up voice will be well-timed and well-scripted in coming weeks. Be prepared for the last week in October! What is this election about again?

[JNail]

The Rumors were rife in AK last spring so they did not just appear....­If you googled palin-baby last Thurs itr was out there already.

The truth is not out yet.....an­d it will be soon

[WFV]

Clearly, pregnancy is one of the main reasons she was selected.

Her ideas and policies on the entire subject feed into their plans. The fact that her daughter is expecting makes it somewhat taboo to discuss her too directly, so she will manage to get a pass.

These people are ruthless in their pursuit of continued power. Nothing would surprise me.

[pootch]

I am really upset by the news regarding Palins personal life. If we knew that Bill Clinton was a player, would we have elected him?? If we knew that Nixon was a crook, would we have elected him? We know ahead of time that Palin's moral issues do not flow through to her family, will we elect her? I think not.
I am an Obama supporter all the way, but come on, is this ludicrous??? Moral and ethical issues should be foremost prior to an election,dont you think?

[cog1000]

I think Palin is dangerous. This is all too conveniently useful to Dems. No idea what's going on. Hard to believe his handlers AND McCain are completely incompetent. So there must be more going on with Palin than we know about. All I can say is I find it hugely worrisome that the Dem bloggers are all crowing and boasting that McCain is toast. Famous last words. He was toast last time, too, and now he's the nominee. I find the overconfidence worrisome. If the base is galvanized, it could be 2004 again. If Palin is eventually framed as a victim of the media or the Dems, it can only help the Republicans with the majority of poorly-informed electorate.

[blindd]

sarah palin inspires me and gives me hope

[BrirtObserver]

You must live a very sheltered life!

[nonconformist2]

5 days.

It has just come out that the McCain campaign spent all of 5 days vetting Sarah Palin.

Exactly the kind of sober judgment we can expect to find before McCain drags us into yet another war with Iran.

I can't think of any better way to illustrate McCain's bad judgment and poor temperament.

[Synnerman]

Rove's scheme should backfire. Fox's lies haven't stopped them from keeping their finger in the toot of America. If anything the "lefty" blogs should get more aggressive and target Rove and the other enablers of this idiocy.

[londonlite]

Are Palin's glasses a prop?

[JLopez]

Jake Tapper is ABC News' Senior National Correspondent

An intense "she said"/"she said" has emerged over whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was ever a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, the third-largest political party in the 49th state. The AIP wants Alaskans to get an opportunity to vote on whether or not they will remain a state, or become a commonwealth, or split off as an independent nation.

Officials of the AIP say Palin was once a member, but the McCain campaign -- providing what it says is complete voter registration documentation -- says Palin has been according to official records a lifelong Republican.

But Fenumiai adds that Palin's husband Todd was a member of the AIP from October 1995 through July 2002, except for a few months in 2000. He is currently undeclared.

As part of their pushback against the charges of Lynette and Dexter Clark of the AIP, the McCain campaign says that Palin did not even attend the AIP convention in Wasilla in 1994.

But another former AIP official -- Mark Chryson, chairman of the AIP from 1995 to 2002 -- tells ABC News that "Palin was at the convention in 1994. She was there."

Was she a member?

Chryson can’t say. "She may have been, I do not know," he says. Their records don't go back that far.

.....


- jpt

[NJmikeV]

Stay on target

She is not qualified.

He used poor judgment.

Everything else is a distraction.

That being said, is it true that Palin was asked because Tanya Harding was unavailable ?

[DutchEvil]

Whether the grandmother story was made up by rove is not so important; what is important is that in order to dispel this myth Palin gave up her daughter's privacy. Palin also abandoned Stevens when the tide turned against him. What if... what if Palin had a chance to sell out the US to further herself or her precious Alaska? What are the chances McCain won't live through his first term?

The part about the story regarding flying back to Alaska after her labor started appears as genuine. I really am concerned about Palin's judgement. It's not just about her and her baby, but about all the passengers on the plane..

[RANCIDDEM]

THE ELECTION IS A CAKE WALK NOW FOR MCCAIN.REA­L HISTORY IS BEING MADE WITH SARAH AS VP..WHO CARES ABOUT ROVE OR HILLARY OR NOBAMA, THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS WILL BE A LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR MCCAIN,SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL JOIN THE PARTY, I AM.

[JLopez]

Again, this appointment is a HOAX, this is to take the focus from McCain/Bush.

She will be ask to step down.

Good move (souless Karl Rove)...

[filo]

In the words of Arte Johnson...­.Very Interesting.

But how does that explain all of the rest of the stuff that is coming out on her now, unless it is planned that she will step aside?

I prefer to think of it as a campaign meltdown, implosion or collapse. The GOP talking heads are trying their best but you can tell their heart isn't in it.