From Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic. Boy, are they grasping at straws! Are they too cocooned to have listened to Palin's speech? At least they're leaving the kids alone.
Obama Surrogates Urged To Mention Eagleton
05 Sep 2008 01:56 am
Barack Obama has forbidden his campaign from referencing Gov. Sarah Palin's family and has said he'd fire any staffer who violates the rule. But plenty, it seems, its fair game.
In memos, e-mails and phone calls this week, Obama campaign officials have urged surrogates and allies to mention Republicans who are "nervous" about the Palin pick and to link those worries to George McGovern's aborted vice presidential pick of Thomas Eagleton in 1972, according to three Democratic surrogates.
That year, McGovern rescinded the pick after learning that Eagleton had been treated for depression. Questions about the thoroughness of the Palin vet have been raised, particularly about how and when Palin disclosed the news that her teenage daughter is pregnant and whether Palin's political resume had been thoroughly scrubbed.
On Wednesday, the campaign's chief surrogate wranglers distributed a three page compilation of quotes from Republicans concerned about the Palin pick. (See the text after the jump.) One surrogate said he had been urged to bring up the example of Eagleton in order to seed the idea that McCain might consider dropping him from the ticket.
Obama spokesperson Bill Burton said that surrogates haven't been pushed to mention Eagleton. "We did not give that guidance," he said.
Responding to Palin has been a challenge.
In public, the Obama campaign has stuck to its message, noting that Palin's speech last night barely referenced the economy. Today, Obama told reporters that he didn't particularly mind Palin's jabs at him, and he then made one of his own: "I assume that she wants to be treated the same way that guys want to be treated which means that their records are under scrutiny. I've been through this for 19 months. She's been through it, what for 4 days so far?"
One of the Democratic surrogates said that when he asked for guidance about Bristol Palin, Palin's pregnant daughter, his handler at the campaign told him that the campaign had nothing to say about it and did not want Democrats to mention it.
marcambinder.theatlantic.com |
