If the two unquestioned inevitabilities in life are death and taxes, a third could be that when a presidential candidate picks a running mate hardly anybody has heard of, the news media are going to find out everything there is to know about that person.
Which makes the overreaction of John McCain's campaign to the coverage of the Republican's vice presidential choice, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, so curious.
“The vetting controversy is a faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee for the 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 of this country,” said Steve Schmidt, senior member of the all-male McCain campaign high command.
So far, none of the issues raised about Palin seems likely to inflict serious or long-term damage.
Her inexperience is less of an issue in a year when voters are plainly more concerned about shaking up the way things are done in Washington. That her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant is hardly a disqualification. And the controversy over her firing of the head of the Alaska state troopers does not yet have the whiff of serious scandal.
So why the reaction?
Veteran Republican political consultant Rich Galen thinks he knows.
Sexism is a sore spot for many women who believe Hillary Rodham Clinton was mistreated. And beating up on the news media is always a sure-fire way to appeal to conservatives.
“This is part of a very clever strategy to lead the Democrats into a trap that will end up with them dumping on Governor Palin and paying a very heavy price,” Galen told the Associated Press.
The joke's on . . .
From the online edition of Reason magazine comes this delightful little nugget.
It seems Fox News yakker Sean Hannity was carrying on about the coverage of Palin's daughter, Bristol:
“They tried to make the attack that she has a young daughter, pregnant and engaged. Is that fair that they would attack that? I mean, I don't remember Chelsea Clinton being attacked. I don't remember Al Gore's children being attacked. I thought there was a general rule that children of candidates ought to be left alone.”
Well, sometimes.
Chelsea Clinton was the butt of this joke in 1998:
“Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?
Because Janet Reno is her father.”
And the joker? None other than John McCain.
Speaking of jokes . . .
No subject, including this one, is out of bounds for late-night comedians.
David Letterman: “Here's good news: The Palin family crisis that we were talking about on Sunday and Monday, that has been solved now and today the baby is being adopted by Angelina Jolie.”
Jay Leno: “Governor Palin announced over the weekend that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant. And you thought John Edwards was in trouble before. Now he's really done it.”
Both sides of the aisle
It appears Joe Lieberman might not be as much of a turncoat as many Democrats believe.
The U.S. senator from Connecticut and 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee left the Democratic Party to become an independent two years ago and on Tuesday delivered a ringing endorsement of John McCain at the Republican National Convention.
Lieberman is also believed to have been a finalist to be McCain's vice presidential nominee.
Campaign finance records show that Lieberman wrote a $100,000 check to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on top of $15,000 he donated last March.
Lieberman continues to caucus with the Democrats, giving them a precarious 51-49 lead in the Senate.
The donations are widely seen as a move to hold onto his chairmanship of the powerful Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee if, as expected, Democrats gain several Senate seats and Lieberman's support becomes superfluous.
“Senator Lieberman supports both Democrats and Republicans and he gave to the committee as a senior member of the caucus,” said Lieberman spokesman Marshall Wittmann.
Democrats leading
So far, last week's Democratic National Convention is proving a bigger draw in the television ratings war.
Tuesday night's session featuring Lieberman and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee was watched by more than 21 million people, according to the Nielsen Ratings.
More than 26 million viewers tuned in last week to Day 2 of the Democratic convention featuring Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
Important stuff
Superfluous campaign press release headline of the day:
“Mrs. Cindy McCain to Attend Tribute to Cindy McCain Luncheon.”
Convention fact
California has the largest delegation with 173 delegates. Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands have the smallest delegations with 9 delegates each.
Compiled from news service reports.
