WASHINGTON - Lots of news trickling in about Sarah Palin’s time on the campaign trail…
Like the time John McCain’s top aides Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to brief the fit 44-year-old Alaska governor in her hotel room at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
Here’s how Newsweek described it: “After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. ‘I’ll be just a minute,’ she said.”
There were strains between the McCain and Palin camps on the trail. Now that the election is over, the long knives have come out.
The Los Angeles Times reported that when Palin arrived at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix on Tuesday, she had expected to speak before McCain gave his concession speech, but was told by Schmidt and Salter that it would not be appropriate.
The Alaska governor is keeping her options open about running in 2012, and when she arrived in her hometown of Wasilla on Wednesday night, she was greeted by chants of “2012.”
Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.
- Photo credit: Reuters/Mike Blake (McCain and Palin at their election night rally)
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I do not want to see Palin in 2012.
But I would like to see her in just a towel.
- Posted by MarkIf John McCain had come from the shower, wrapped in a towel and told his aides that he needed a few minutes to get dressed, would that have raised an international commotion? To criticize Sarah Palin for the same action is pure sexism. If this is the worst mud that can be slung at Governer Palin, then she is an admirable politician indeed.
- Posted by crunkcarLighten up, people!
- Posted by N. U. EndoShe was simply giving a visual demo of bush administration.
Yeah, the SOUTHERN WHITE PEOPLES’ REGIONAL PARTY — formerly the GOP — should keep Palin front and center the next four years. That should relegate their political control to southeast Alaska and western Oklahoma, by 2013.
- Posted by Jimmy DoorsMatt is an idiot because the far-right in Europe is closer in line with the left liberals here than with our right wing conservatives.
First off Clinton using polls to make decisions some times was a GOOD thing. The President is there to do OUR bidding. That’s what you crazy Republicans don’t get. Youthink he’s there to just do what he/she sees fit to do. But the reality is we are his Boss.
I’m not going to give a single ounce of credit to Bush for keeping our country safe. He didn’t keep it safe on 9/11 and just because we didn’t get attacked again you honestly think he should get credit for that?
No the credit on that goes to the CIA, FBI, NSA, and other people. Bush hasn’t done anything productive for our country but infringe on privacy rights and destroy the economy while he and his friends got richer.
- Posted by Dave
Really? A president should make decisions based on polls? Why even have a president? The country can just be run by polls.
Is it even necessary for me to point out how stupid one has to be to say in one sentence that Bush is responsible for not keeping our country safe on 9/11 and in the next that when it has been safe, it’s been due to the work of another entity? So, 9/11 had only to do with Bush, not with the agencies you later credit. It had nothing to do with Clinton passing on a chance to take custody of bin Laden because as HE stated, “We had no legal basis.” It also had nothing to do with the wall erected between local and Federal law enforcement by Jamie Gorelick, right?
- Posted by MattHi,
- Posted by anonymous sourcesI’m the person who made the calls to Newsweek. I’m so excited to see my name (and that of my brother, whose name is “Insider”) in print in a heavy-hitting journalistic publication — it’s been a long time coming. As you know, I’m a regular contributor to your run-of-the-mill supermarket rags like the Enquirer, but I’m thrilled to see that our nation’s more serious journalists are finally listening to us! Thank you, Newsweek, for this hard-hitting and well-researched piece.
This story is sexist and even if it is true, I wonder that anyone associated with the campaign would reveal it. Trying to place all the blame for McCain’s loss on his selection of his running mate and her qualifications is wrong. He ran a weak campaign and he had a weak and chaotic staff aiding him (further evidenced by their post-election Palin-bashing), but they’re trying to cover their butts now with these distracting stories. I am not a Palin fan but I respect her and her accomplishments and despise the treatment she is receiving from the people and party that pushed her into the limelight.
Bush is almost finished; leaving a legacy that will be noted more for its failures than successes. He certainly wasn’t responsible for 9/11 or Katrina, but he was responsible for our government’s response to both. He is the President, our Commander in Chief, and the man in charge. The governor of LA and mayor of NO are responsible as well for the Katrina response, but Nagin’s begging for help on TV was not a staged moment. Bush’s response to Katrina, a post-9/11 event, did little to reassure us that we were safe and well prepared for another catastrophe - man or nature made. Like McCain, his choice of staff was politically driven (Good job Brownie), rather than based on solid qualifications, and so the response was damaging.
Steve, most of us, like you (unless you have an insider’s perspective that you aren’t revealing), get our information from television and the media (TV, books, radio, internet). We take away what we like from it, interpret it based on our beliefs, criticize what we don’t like - it’s difficult to be entirely objective. What qualifications besides what you hear from the media do you have for contesting the statement that Iran or the Middle East is stronger now than pre-Operation Iraqi Freedom? Military service? A job in security? A hunch?
Finally, I live in Chicago and did so during the awful heat wave. That Clinton didn’t send in assistance is no excuse for Bush’s failure, as you seem to suggest. Two wrongs don’t make a right. The deaths were disastrous (although you conveniently increased the Chicago number while reducing the number of Katrina deaths). They were preventable and it is a stain on the mayor and citizens of what was a very racially and economically segregated city that so many died. Attribute it to a City that ignored its most vulnerable population but which has hopefully learned from its terrible and costly error, based on how the City responds now during extreme weather (and a campaign to encourage neighbors to do our share) I think we have improved greatly. But, to compare that event to Katrina has little merit. You round down the number of deaths due to Katrina and completely fail to mention the thousands of people displaced (who remain so), homes and businesses destroyed (still not entirely rebuilt), and the other collateral damage sustained that has made it difficult for the region to recover years later. In terms of death toll due to a single event there is a historical basis for comparison, but the failure to note the extensive and long-term damage of Katrina as compared to Chicago and the extent to which the lag in response by the federal government contributed to the damage needs to be noted.
The election is over. Time to move on. Good night.
- Posted by ClYou guys are so much fun…
I have to ask if we really believe that those $50-$150k CRA loans to people in redlined neighborhoods brought down the whole world’s economy. That darned Jimmy Carter. But wasn’t that 30 years ago?
- Posted by JeffeyPerhaps Jindal will rise in 2012 and make conservatives feel intelligent again.
So far, he seems to be only conservative able to rain down detailed analyses and “the vision-things” in paragraphs. Faster than you could say “EH?”
- Posted by RajFollowing in the path of the great Republican leaders–Abraham Lincoln (savior of the Union and freer of the slaves), Dwight Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander in WWII), we now have for our consideration for president, Sarah Palin (towel tease).
- Posted by tomThis towel story just seems flat-out unbelievable. It reeks to high hell of a sexist hoax.
- Posted by RobertMatt,
- Posted by NickPheasOne factor you’ve not mentioned in the gas price is that Bush’s economic policies forced the value of the Dollar through the floor. That’s what you get when you spend like there’s no tomorrow and reduce the tax take at the same time.
Since the oil is priced in bucks, but produced overseas the price will tend to go up to compensate for the devaluation of the controlling currency.
Dave,
Please consider that Bush had only been in office less than a year and that Clinton and other adminstrations had allowed Bin Laden a free pass and that the attack on 9/11 had been planned for quite some time. I do think Bush should get credit. If people could learn to have a civil discourse instead of name calling and other partisan tactics maybe the whole country could begin to work together and find solutions to problems. I don’t hear any solutios, just a bunch of negativity.
Can we all just see how things go with this adminstration before we begin to criticize Obama the way the folks have demonized Bush? It is called common decency and civility and something this country seems to be sorely lacking.
- Posted by tjomacI am 67 years old, a retired school teacher and a ranch wife in MT. I think she would be a great President because she has “grit” and not part of the CFR insider group. She is a real American and stands up for America and not ashamed to do so. She is not out to destroy Capitalism as Obama is wanting to do.
- Posted by verabeth johnsonWhen asked about the towel incident she said, \”I was just excited to show them that I had finally figured out what the \’Bush doctrine\’ was\”!
- Posted by RodMatt is an idiot because the far-right in Europe is closer in line with the left liberals here than with our right wing conservatives.
First off Clinton using polls to make decisions some times was a GOOD thing. The President is there to do OUR bidding. That’s what you crazy Republicans don’t get. Youthink he’s there to just do what he/she sees fit to do. But the reality is we are his Boss.
I’m not going to give a single ounce of credit to Bush for keeping our country safe. He didn’t keep it safe on 9/11 and just because we didn’t get attacked again you honestly think he should get credit for that?
No the credit on that goes to the CIA, FBI, NSA, and other people. Bush hasn’t done anything productive for our country but infringe on privacy rights and destroy the economy while he and his friends got richer.
- Posted by DavePalin and her supporters are drunk on their own kool-aid! If anything this election should be a wake up call for them! A majority of America has rebuked them for their narrow mindedness and divisive politics!
- Posted by RobI would like to know why Reuters didn’t post my last comment referring to beer, but will let Matt put “f*cking” in his comments. Please either post my last comment or remove Matt’s. Thank you.
- Posted by El HeffeSure, bring back Palin for 2012, this way Obama will be guaranteed to stay in the white house for another 4 years! Great news for all man-kind!
- Posted by YeppersMatt:
I find it particularly frightening when Republican Party members demonstrate such a blatant paucity of understanding for even the most basic of political concepts. You clearly haven’t a clue as to what socialism is.
And for those in the GOP who find Palin’s hockey Mom charm refreshing and look forward to her ascendance within the party: demand better. I personally want my leaders – no what their party affiliation is – to be significantly more intelligent than some jack-ass like “Joe the tax-dodging Plummer” and you all should expect the same. Remember: modern conservatism was born from people like William F. Buckley Jr.; an intellectual giant by any party’s measure. Mr. Buckley would almost certainly characterize Mrs. Palin’s lack of knowledge as dangerous even for governorship, let alone the executive branch. His brand of intelligent oversight among conservatives has now been replaced by leaders ill-prepared for even the simplest of questions: What magazines do read? Is Africa a country of a continent? Does being the Mayor of Wasilla make one qualified to be President of the United States of America?
But even more striking than Palin’s alarming lack of savvy, is the gullibility of GOP members to have accepted her candidacy with such unflinching and blind loyalty. It demonstrates only allegiance to their party - not to America. How can conservatives accept such mediocrity – at best – from those chosen to lead them? It boggles the mind. Palin’s appointment was an ideal opportunity for GOP members to question authority, and a one-word question - “Why?” - would have sufficed.
Wake up, conservatives. We have a country to run: not a church.
- Posted by Patrick