Bush Administration Contacts Obama, McCain, Biden On Iraq Troop Deal — But Snubs Palin
Bush Administration Contacts Obama, McCain, Biden On Iraq Troop Deal — But Snubs Palin
This week, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Barack Obama (D-IL), and Joe Biden (D-DE) all were contacted by Defense Secretary Robert Gates or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice regarding the Iraq security agreement.
In today’s White House press briefing, spokesman Dana Perino explained that the adminstration contacted the candidates “to keep them equitably informed.” “One of them is going to win the election, and they will be taking over and having to deal with these issues,” Perino explained. But nobody called Gov. Sarah Palin. In today’s State Department briefing, reporters got a chuckle out of Palin being left out:
Q: You called Senator Biden, you called McCain. Did you also call Governor Palin?
McCORMACK: No. If you hadn’t noticed, she’s a governor. Not a senator or a congressman.
Q: She’s a vice presidential candidate.
McCORMACK: Right.
Q: She also has extensive foreign affairs experience. (LAUGHTER)
McCORMACK: Right. I explained to you the reasoning behind the phone call.
Q: Maybe if this has to do with Russia, you would have called her.
Watch it:
While Sean McCormack insisted the apparent snub was not intentional, it’s puzzling that Palin was left out of the administration’s effort to build support for the agreement. As the AP noted, “presumably Palin is an important political figure too. And, like Biden, she has a son currently serving in Iraq who would be directly affected by the so-called Status of Forces, or SOFA, agreement.”
Is it because of Palin’s lack of foreign policy potential? In a September interview with CNN, Rice was reluctant to say Palin has “enough experience” on foreign policy. “Well, obviously — Of course she doesn’t have that,” said First Lady Laura Bush last month regarding Palin’s foreign affairs experience.
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43 Responses to “Bush Administration Contacts Obama, McCain, Biden On Iraq Troop Deal — But Snubs Palin”
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OUCH!
October 17th, 2008 at 4:58 pmI want to buy that questioner a round.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:59 pmHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
Way to legitimize Nazi Barbie!!
October 17th, 2008 at 5:00 pmthump thump
Sarah says, "Ouch!" as the bus rolls over her.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:01 pmPalin's job in the hypothetical McCain administration presumably would be to stand on one of the Aleutian Islands and keep watching for Putin to rear his head.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:05 pmAmerica is all red right now....from the embarassment the Republicans have caused the country.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:05 pmNo need to inform Mrs. Palin, she'll simply read (and poorly at that) what the speech writers tell her. No though process required.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:07 pm#7, though = thought
October 17th, 2008 at 5:07 pmAs amusing as the "extensive foreign affairs experience" remark is, this strikes me as a non-story. Three of the four candidates are senators. They were informed. The fourth is not a senator. She was not informed.
That explanation makes a whole lot more sense to me than that they were snubbing Gov. Palin.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:07 pmNeed to know basis. When your brain lacks the capacity to know, there's no need to know.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:09 pmI want to buy that questioner a round.
I'll have to disagree with you on this one. This sounds like a case of a reporter trying to be a comedian while the comedians (Letterman, Stewart and Colbert) have been actually doing the reporters' jobs for months.
Instead of trying to make a minor point at the direct expense of a White House spokesman, the reporter should be doing their job more effectively in the broader sense.
This election will not rise nor fall over the question of whether or not Failin' Palin has been kept in the loop on the Iraqi security agreement. It will rise or fall based upon the real truth overcoming the politically-motivated republican allegations of ACORN's voter fraud; comparison between the candidates on policy, character and judgement; etc.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:09 pmHilarious!
October 17th, 2008 at 5:12 pmThanks for the laugh, TP! I'm outta here!
Have a groovy weekend, all!
Ralph @9 -
That was my first thought too - she's not a Senator. If the Bushco Administration was seeking input on the Iraq agreement, then no harm, no foul.
But - Perino says it's “to keep them equitably informed.” Not input, just information being dispersed is what I read.
Ouch. That'll knock some of the stay out of her Aquanet.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:20 pmI guess Palin doesnt have the security clearances [experiences] a senator does.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:22 pmThe question should not be why omit Palin, but why include Biden. Just what did Perino say?
In today’s White House press briefing, spokesman Dana Perino explained that the adminstration contacted the candidates “to keep them equitably informed.” “One of them is going to win the election, and they will be taking over and having to deal with these issues,” Perino explained.
Perino said in effect that the next President will be either McCain, Obama or Biden. In other words, the White House is anticipating the possibility that Obama will be assassinated and that Biden would become the winning nominee. They are not anticipating that McCain will go belly up before the election. Thus, to be sure you inform the incoming president, you inform McCain, Obama and Biden, but there is no need to inform Palin. The FBI did release those dudes with the beer, the arsenal, and the expressed desire to kill Obama, no?
October 17th, 2008 at 5:23 pmPalin is worse than Quayle when will she be going home for "personal" reasons. Is she so dumb when not told mccain moved out of Michigan. I almost feel sorry for her being used so badly. Mccain's team are not even keeping her in the loop for basic issues.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:32 pmralph the wonder llama Says
October 17th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
As amusing as the “extensive foreign affairs experience” remark is, this strikes me as a non-story. Three of the four candidates are senators. They were informed. The fourth is not a senator. She was not informed.
______________________________________________________
Ah, but were they informed as "Senators" or as "Candidates"?
I think it might be a little of both:
"The calls this week were part of the Bush administration's campaign to line up political support for a compromise deal with Iraq that cedes some authority over U.S. forces, and a courtesy to the presidential hopefuls on whose watch the deal would take effect."
I suspect that Obama and McCain, because they are the ones running for President, would have been invited to the party regardless of what office they held today. Biden, on the other hand, might not have been asked to the briefing as a Vice Presidential candidate, but certainly would as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Palin is neither a Presidential candidate, nor does she have any Congressional influence. And while the White House would probably never admit this publicly, she might have been invited if A) there was any reasonable chance she would be elected Vice President (particularly if her running mate requested her presence there) and B) she was remotely qualified to do anything other than read a teleprompter.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:32 pm.....what if mccain had been a governor and palen a senator? Would the presidential nominee have been left out and the vp nominee allowed to attend?
Don't smell right to me.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:33 pmIt is no wonder her staff keeps her away from the news. That had to hurt!
I actually think that Bush should put off any further negotiations on the agreement until after the election and then turn it over to the new President. The agreement doesn't have to be in force until the end of December and whatever is agreed to will affect the new President. If Bush had any honor or concern for this country he should just cease discussions and then turn them over to Obama after the election.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:33 pm“One of them is going to win the election, and they will be taking over and having to deal with these issues,”
Another mission soundly accomplished buy dick & co., inc.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:33 pmSpeaking of Bible Spice, it appears that one of her rabid fans assaulted a reporter! Perhaps that's why the SS won't let them mingle with crowds?
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/greensboro_reporter_assaulted_at_rally
October 17th, 2008 at 5:34 pm"Bush Administration Contacts Obama, McCain, Biden On Iraq Troop Deal — But Snubs Palin"
lol Priceless. That should be a hint to I-see-Russia-from-my patio Palin
October 17th, 2008 at 5:36 pmPalin is a Wolf in Sheep's clothing...a theocratic plant, worse than Bush, worse than Cheney, she actually wants the end times and just might think it is her duty to bring it about.
So, I would snub her also.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:38 pmtexasbob Says
October 17th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
The question should not be why omit Palin, but why include Biden. Just what did Perino say?
__________________________________________________________
I suspect the real reason is a bit less dramatic -- Biden is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and it's customary to invite the person holding that title to this type of foreign policy meeting.
I doubt it has to do with the White House automatically assuming Obama will be assassinated. But Perino could have given a better explanation.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:39 pmPalin is a joke regarding her experience on foreign affairs.
What is not a joke is the very likely event she would become president if the rapture ready and greedy steal the election.... (again).
October 17th, 2008 at 5:41 pm# 17, 24 misshusseinmolly Says: ...
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Yeah that seems like the most plausible explanation. If the briefing was specifically intended for the presidential candidates and their running mates theres no reason to snub Palin just because her lack of qualifications and experience or that shes only a governor. Unless the briefing included classified information and they couldnt get clearance for Palin or something
October 17th, 2008 at 5:42 pmOT
October 17th, 2008 at 5:50 pmThe Chgo. Tribune has endorsed a Democrat, Obama, for the first time since 1847. So the LATimes. So the NYTimes. So the WaPo. So, the Republican rag, Chgo. SunTimes.
In Ohio, The Blade in Toledo and the Dayton Daily News;
the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
The Tennessean of Nashville,
the Wisconsin State Journal.
The Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times,
and in California the Fresno Bee, Sacramento Bee, Bay Area News Group-East Bay dailies,The Herald of Monterey, The Santa Cruz Journal and The Sun of San Bernardino
New Bedford Standrd-Times in Massachusetts.
Obama endorsements are 2 to 1 for McCain.
For what they are worth, collectively, they are impressive.
The bottom line is that it is humiliating for palen. Simply because of the way things went down in the press briefing room and no one in the bush admin cared enough to try to avoid that embarrassment for her.....
October 17th, 2008 at 5:54 pmAt least the Bush administration vetted Palin - and found her untrustworthy enough to hide intel from her...
http://www.sunstateactivist.org/ssablog/
October 17th, 2008 at 5:54 pmMissmolly's theory makes perfect sense to me. If the presidential candidates were briefed, and Joe Biden was briefed as a committee chairman, than it stands to reason that, were Sarah Palin the presidential nominee and McCain the VP, then Sarah would have been briefed, but not McCain.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:56 pmOT but, here's more on the reporter being assaulted at a Palin rally. I can't help but wonder why, if they can swiftly remove pro-Obama protesters, they don't remove pro-Palin/McCain persons who "act out".
http://blog.news-record.com/staff/capblog/archives/2008/10/report_from_pal.shtml
October 17th, 2008 at 5:57 pmok.....but I mean what if mccain was the presidental candidate and was a governor....and palen was vp candidate but a senator.
the criteria mentioned in the q/a session indicated that she was disqualified from attending because she was just a governor.
just odd all round don't ya think?
October 17th, 2008 at 6:02 pmThey could have at least sent her a world map.
October 17th, 2008 at 6:40 pmSean also revealed that Daffy Duck was not informed.
October 17th, 2008 at 6:49 pmIs it possible that Sean may go down in history as the dumbest and most boring State Department spokesman in history?
So who's your candidate?
October 17th, 2008 at 6:51 pmEven the White House knows Sarah Palin is clueless. Most know by now the First Dude Todd just let's his bimbo wife suck the men in with her flirting and he takes over while no one is looking. Todd's not much better then Sarah in the brains department but the scam has work so well she became Govenor and now running for President aka VP.
October 17th, 2008 at 7:12 pmOh, don't worry. She can hear all she need to know from the briefing ... from Alaska. ;-)
Cheers,
October 17th, 2008 at 7:41 pmNotice that the first rationale was that they were candidates for prez and vice prez and thus needed to be in on this. It was only after Palin's physical absence was noted that they switched to saying the reason was that they were senators.
Dumb Question: As the repub prez apparently snubbed the repub VP, should I read somethign into that ?
October 17th, 2008 at 10:04 pmooo I bet that cut her perky little nose off--good thing she spouts enough lies to grow it back Pinocchio style in no time
October 17th, 2008 at 11:05 pmNo, They COULD NOT contact Palin as Lorne Michaels has a NOTORIOUS "No cell phones" policy on the SNL set, and falinPalin did not want to upset the free publicity she was about to receive.
j/k
October 18th, 2008 at 10:51 amIt's my understanding that Palin is treated like a secretary by the McCain campaign.
October 18th, 2008 at 11:07 amShe will probably find out by reading all those dog gone newspapers.
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