Blog: Dermot Cole
Palin prepares to tell her story to nation
Published Wednesday, September 3, 2008
This is from the Wall Street Journal today about the McCain/Palin ticket and the speech tonight:
The speech is "a chance for her to actually get out and tell her story and for people to see beyond some of the media fog that's existed in the last 48 hours," said McCain campaign manager Rick Davis.
Gov. Palin flew to Minnesota Sunday night with former presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. She made minimal small talk, sitting behind the prominent pair of former fellow Republican governors and opting to study her notes, read her BlackBerry and whisper with her staff.
In Minnesota she has stayed out of the public eye, a contrast with Democratic vice-presidential pick Sen. Joe Biden, who milled about the convention in Denver last week. Gov. Palin refused media interviews and canceled plans to appear at the Republican National Coalition for Life Tuesday.
She spent Tuesday in her hotel suite meeting with campaign aides and working on her speech. She had private sessions with Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and members of the pro-Israel group AIPAC, said people familiar with her schedule. An AIPAC spokesman said Gov. Palin told its members she would "work to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Israel."
Gov. Palin met with the campaign's top political advisers, including Mr. Davis, senior strategist Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, Sen. McCain's closest aide. The campaign released a photo of her sitting with Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, the wife of her running mate, but didn't provide any other details.
She has been cramming on Sen. McCain's positions in preparation for a debate against Sen. Biden, who has been involved in national and international affairs for over three decades. She met with Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who handles domestic policy for the McCain campaign, and Randy Scheunemann, who directs foreign policy.
"She has to familiarize herself with every position John McCain has held over a number of years. That takes work and briefing," one McCain aide said.
The Journal also mentioned the team of McCain advisers sent to Alaska to deal with issues in the 49th state:
In Alaska, the McCain campaign has tried to control the flow of information as liberal bloggers and the media mine her past.
A team of public-relations aides has settled into the state and asked Gov. Palin's friends and family to avoid speaking to the media. In a conference call with friends and local activists on Monday, the campaign suggested that media requests be funneled through the campaign to make sure "we said supportive things," according to one participant.
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