Sarah Palin to address Republican convention tonight
In advance of her prime-time speech, the McCain campaign labels questions about its VP vetting process a 'faux media scandal designed to destroy' the GOP's 1st female running mate.
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- First-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, catapulted onto the national political stage last week when Republican John McCain chose her as his running mate, makes her prime-time debut tonight when she addresses the Republican National Convention.
In advance of the speech, McCain's campaign fired back today at media questions about the vetting process that led to her selection, calling press inquiries a "faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee" for vice president.
"The McCain campaign will have no further comment about our long and thorough process," said campaign strategist Steve Schmidt, lashing out at "the old boys' network" that he says runs media organizations. "This nonsense is over."
New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who speaks to the delegates before Palin, defended her against charges of inexperience. "Barack Obama has never governed a city, never governed a state, never governed an agency, never run a military unit, never run anything," he said on CBS. "Sarah Palin has been a mayor. She's been a governor. She has a record of reform. She has a record of leadership. She's run a budget. So, why are all these questions for her? Has anybody ever asked Barack Obama, 'Can you bring up your two kids and be president of the United States?' They are asking, 'Can she be vice president and be a mother?' Come on."
The McCain campaign plans to echo that message in an ad to be aired today arguing that Palin's executive experience over the last 21 months overseeing thousands of state employees, 14 agencies and Alaska's $10-billion budget have better prepared her for the vice presidential role than Democrat Barack Obama's tenure as a junior senator.
The Obama campaign dismissed the McCain camp's efforts to make executive experience the template.
"Look, if executive experience is truly important on the Republican side maybe she should run for president and John McCain should be her vice president," said communications director Robert Gibbs, dismissing the case as "borderline ridiculous."
With the conservative base already rallying to her candidacy, Palin is expected to talk about her role as a reformer in Alaska, where she defeated an entrenched member of the Republican establishment and eventually opposed earmark spending (though she initially supported it) for that infamous "bridge to nowhere" that linked Ketchikan to an island with an airport and 50 residents.
