Media trying to 'smear' VP pick Sarah Palin, McCain aides complain
BY THOMAS M. DeFRANK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
ST. PAUL - Enraged officials in John McCain's campaign declared holy war on the media Wednesday, accusing reporters of waging a vendetta against Gov. Sarah Palin and "smearing" her with lies.
"This vetting controversy is a faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee for vice president of the United States, who has never been a part of the old boys' network that has come to dominate the news establishment in this country," said senior McCain adviser Steve Schmidt.
His unusually harsh statement came in the hours before Palin's speech last night.
Cindy McCain joined the assault.
"I think it's insulting," she told ABC's Diane Sawyer. "It's outlandish. And for whatever reason, the media has decided to treat her differently, because, I believe, because she's a woman."
Schmidt saved his biggest broadside for the National Enquirer and its report claiming Palin had an affair with her husband's former business associate. He called the report "a vicious lie" and threatened legal action.
"The smearing of the Palin family must end," Schmidt said. "The efforts of the media and tabloids to destroy this fine and accomplished public servant are a disgrace."
An Enquirer spokesman noted that Schmidt's tirade used language similar to former Democratic Sen. John Edwards' denial of an affair with a campaign aide, an indiscretion Edwards later admitted.
"Following our John Edwards exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign's vetting process," the spokesman added.
A senior Republican operative said that while the McCain camp is genuinely outraged over coverage of Palin's fitness to be vice president, the media-bashing is also calculated to "whip up" Republicans.
"There's a huge backlash out there," he asserted. "Our people resent the way she's been treated."
There have been several reports that Palin wasn't subjected to a lengthy background interview, during which she disclosed her daughter's pregnancy, until the day before she was selected.
Amid the media-bashing, Meg Whitman, McCain's national campaign co-chairwoman and former CEO of eBay, veered off message.
"I actually think it's completely fair for the media to vet Sarah Palin," Whitman told Fox News, calling it "the right thing to do" and adding she hadn't noticed any sexism in the coverage.
Ironically, in a March interview with Newsweek, Palin criticized Hillary Clinton for playing the sexism card, saying: "When I hear a statement like that coming from a woman candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism ... I think, 'Man, that doesn't do us any good - women in politics, women in general wanting to progress this country.'"
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