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How Internal Battles Divided the McCain and Palin Camps
NY Times ^

Posted on 11/05/2008 8:53:08 PM PST by mathwhizz

Advisers in the McCain campaign, in suggesting that Palin advisers had been leaking damaging information about the McCain campaign to the news media, said they were particularly suspicious of Randy Scheunemann, Mr. McCain’s top foreign policy aide who had a central role in preparing Ms. Palin for the vice-presidential debate.

As a result, two senior members of the McCain campaign said on Wednesday that Mr. Scheunemann had been fired from the campaign in its final days. But Rick Davis, the McCain campaign manager, and Mr. Salter, one of Mr. McCain’s closest advisers, said Wednesday that Mr. Scheunemann had in fact not been dismissed. Mr. Scheunemann, who picked up the phone in his office at McCain campaign headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, responded that “anybody who says I was fired is either lying or delusional or a whack job.”

Mr. Scheunemann was referring to widely disseminated criticism by Mr. McCain’s advisers in the final days of the campaign that Ms. Palin, as first reported in Politico, was a “whack job.”

Whatever the permutations, the advisers said they strongly believed that Mr. Scheunemann was disclosing, as one put it, “a constant stream of poison” to William Kristol, the editor of the conservative Weekly Standard and a columnist for The New York Times.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: mccain; palin; randyscheunemann; scheunemann
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To: headstamp 2
The real story of this campaign will be how absolutely terrible the female candidates were ultimately treated by the press and the party establishments.

I had a discussion with my oldest nephew this past May about how women are still discriminated against in business. He was incredulous and insisted it wasn't so. It's nothing to gloat about, but after the Palin campaign, I'm definitely going to email him and ask him if he still believes women are treated equally.

81 posted on 11/05/2008 10:10:58 PM PST by Albion Wilde ("Stand up and fight. We're Americans, and we never give up."--John McCain)
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To: tuckrdout

McCain has clout, as a long-term senator. He’s a player in the Senate, hardly a johnny-come-lately with no real power in the party.


82 posted on 11/05/2008 10:14:26 PM PST by mrsmel
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To: mathwhizz

I wouldn’t believe ONE WORD the Old Grey Lady has to say about ANYTHING that has to do with Republicans. They want to try to rip the Party apart so that we won’t be an effective force against their Chosen One.


83 posted on 11/05/2008 10:25:10 PM PST by SuziQ
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To: mathwhizz

So who are these ‘advisors’ who were saying this about Mr. Scheunemann?


84 posted on 11/05/2008 11:35:05 PM PST by SuziQ
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To: St. Louis Conservative

Kinda seems as if they don’t want Sarah to be successful, doesn’t it? Kinda seems like the people who ran the whole campaign didn’t want to win, as a matter of fact....kinda brings a little clarity to what happened in this race....think Obama had an inside into the opposition camp?


85 posted on 11/06/2008 12:15:23 AM PST by tuckrdout (~ 'Daily example is the most subtle of poisons.' ~)
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To: mrsmel

Have you not been here long? Republicans hated John McCain, and have for years! Rush, Hannity, Dobson, Robertson, Coulter, Bush, Santorum, Lott....no one liked him. Most FReepers could not stand him. He stabbed his own party in the back, numerous times. He had more clout with the press, and the Democratic Sentators, than he did with his own party! You see how far THAT got him. Brutus couldn’t have done better, than these “friends” did to McCain.


86 posted on 11/06/2008 3:26:35 AM PST by tuckrdout (~ 'Daily example is the most subtle of poisons.' ~)
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To: mathwhizz
Paying attention to the New York Times is like listening to a portable radio with fading batteries. The words become more indistinct, unintelligible and fade away.

The Times will file for Chapter 11 within four years; my prediction

87 posted on 11/06/2008 4:02:00 AM PST by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
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To: St. Louis Conservative

Early on, I said this campaign reminded me of the days when a “popular” student ran against a “geek” for Student Council president. Now, sadly, the follow-up, looks just the same - like a bunch of middle school students sniping at each other.


88 posted on 11/06/2008 4:03:00 AM PST by REPANDPROUDOFIT
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To: uptoolate

So, when is some really clever reporter going to think of checking out how much Obama and Biden spent on their wardrobes? I guess that would be way to simple. Journalism is soooo much more complicated than that.


89 posted on 11/06/2008 4:06:03 AM PST by REPANDPROUDOFIT
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To: ExTexasRedhead

“IMO, the problem with Republicans is that they don’t have the guts and gonads to fight our enemies using their tactics back on them. McCain was too soft and didn’t expose the Socialist for what he is. What’s coming to Americans will expose him soon enough. It’s just too bad we all have to suffer too.”

After Pickett’s Charge on the third day of Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee Said “It was my fault” and took all the blame for the defeat. It WAS his fault but he was man enough and had honor and character enough to admit it.

John McCain is a mean-spirited, vicious little troll.

Only TWO things made him only SLIGHTLY palatable as a candidate - Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. Obama because he is SO dangerous, and Palin because she was so refreshing, positive and doctrinally straight on conservative issues.

For that low-life McCain to be attacking Palin NOW through his campaign surrogates is despicable. His campaign people ran a ridiculously incompetent campaign and since McCain was the man they were working for, HE stands culpable.

Sarah Palin has a great career ahead of her if she wants it. She is poised, intelligent, and carried herself with dignity and grace in the face of brutal, vicious attacks by the leftist media - and, apparently, by destructive criticism from within the McCain camp from the mental and political pygmies running that operation.

As far as conservatives in the Republican PArty are concerned, unless we can take over the Party leadership, we should leave the party, otherwise we will be spinning our wheels AGAIN in four years dealing with baggage from RINOS and Demcorat sycophants who infest the highest levels of that political organization.

This election WAS stolen - stolen by Bush II’s incompetence, stolen by the economic collapse generated by DEMOCRATS, and stolen by a miserable, twisted, aging, little gargolye who never should have been running for President in the first place and who conducted a despicably inept campaign from the get go.


90 posted on 11/06/2008 4:14:04 AM PST by ZULU (Non nobis, non nobis Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. God, guts and guns made America great.)
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To: Dionysius
LOL, So you say! I think the voters have spoken.
91 posted on 11/06/2008 4:16:04 AM PST by org.whodat ( "the Whipped Dog Party" , what was formally the republicans.)
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To: papasmurf
Then try running for a local office. How about something to do with registering voters.
92 posted on 11/06/2008 4:33:09 AM PST by org.whodat ( "the Whipped Dog Party" , what was formally the republicans.)
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To: mathwhizz

93 posted on 11/06/2008 4:51:06 AM PST by Diogenesis (Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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To: St. Louis Conservative
Well, Sheneumann and Kristol have been Palin loyalists, as is Fred Barnes. As far as I can tell, Nicole Wallace, Rick Davis, and Steve Schmidt (perhaps others) are the ones who had problems with her.

It was Schmidt who was partially responsible for bringing her on board, and he became one of the biggest critics - he implied to a Fox News reporter on Tuesday that he was not happy with Palin, and he was mainly responsible for not allowing Palin to speak after McCain did. She apparently had a speech prepared and he nixed it.
94 posted on 11/06/2008 5:41:22 AM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: ExTexasRedhead

I have no problem with fighting fire with fire.


95 posted on 11/06/2008 6:04:23 AM PST by SouthTexas (Remember, it took a Jimmy Carter to bring us a Ronald Reagan!)
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To: tubebender

Bill Kristol is a Palin supporter. He was right- McCain’s people undercut Palin and continue to. McCain ignored this and continues to.


96 posted on 11/06/2008 3:34:42 PM PST by PghBaldy (My City Pittsburgh poll (D) was nearly empty; mom's Pittburghs suburb poll (R) was JAMMED)
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