Barack Obama would fire Daily Koz and his cronies, if they were employed by the Obama campaign; and Politico and Reuters and...

More from our pals at politico, BEN SMITH'S TURN at bat!

September 01, 2008 - Categories: Sarah Palin

Obama on Palin

Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown reports: At a press avail in Monroe, Mich., Barack Obama on Palin: "Back off these kinds of stories." "I have said before and I will repeat again: People's families are off limits," Obama said. "And people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. So I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18 and how a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn’t be a topic of our politics."

On charges that his campaign has stoked the story via liberal blogs:

"I am offended by that statement. There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us," he said. "Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I thought there was somebody in my campaign who was involved in something like that, they would be fired."

Yeah, Right. Sure. Call me cynic. Someone is leaking something somewhere (yoo - hoo, AMERICABLOG!)

No, it is not us, says AmericaBlog:
John Avaroisis writes:

How John McCain forced me to write about the weird story of Sarah Palin's daughter's pregnancy

John Aravosis (DC) · 9/01/2008 03:39:00 PM ET · Link Make a comment · reddit · FARK · Digg It!

In a seeming effort to divert attention from Sarah Palin's increasingly troubled bid for the vice presidency, an unnamed McCain campaign staffer today blamed her woes on "liberal bloggers."The McCain staffer claimed specifically that liberal bloggers were pushing a story that last April, Sarah Palin had taken her unmarried and underage daughter's baby as her own. The thing is, I never pushed this story, nor did Makros, nor did Josh Marshall. We're three of the top "liberal" blogs, and we never touched it. ((((((WHA--------??? They did not spring it, but they certainly had their hands on it!)))) So, sorry to disapppoint. Let me walk you through what each of us has said about this story.

1. Me. AmericaBlog. I've received a slew of emails the past few days, tipping me off to this story. I refused to write about it because I didn't buy it. Here's an example of what I wrote to one tipster on Saturday:

"I've seen the story, but I'd like to see more facts before even considering writing about it. Investigating, sure - everything is worth investigating, in principle, but a number of readers have written in about this story, asking us to link to this, and to date I'm not yet convinced. I want McCain to lose, don't get me wrong, I just don't like publishing this kind of thing without firm evidence that something is awry."

2. Markos. ((((OMG! Markos Moulitsas Zuniga-- aka Daily Kos!))) Here's what Markos had to say about the story today:

I don't think the evidence is there to claim Trig is Bristol's son, as some have speculated

(((( but John, Markos ran with the story --------wow! And he is a--the-- major liberal blogger, and I picked up his "baby - mama" reference as did DRUDGE). I am confused. This is what you posted:

Sunday, August 31, 2008
"Sarah Palin is NOT the Mother" ((( the title of this DailyKos blog that accuses Bristol, a completely fit-looking adolescent teen, of having a "baby bump" in a photo they allege was taken March 9th of this year)))) "Sarah, I'm calling you a liar" wrote blogger ArcXIX. "And not even a good one. Trig Paxson Van Palin is not your son. He is your grandson. The sooner you come forward with this revelation to the public, the better. " *

3. Josh Marshall. (TPM Cafe)

We haven't touched it. But you probably know there have been internet-based rumors claiming that Sarah Palin's newborn son Trig is actually the son of her 17 year old daughter, Bristol.

So, neither Markos, Josh nor I were willing to touch this story, and in fact all three of us pooh-poohed it. (((but it was on Kos, and he touched the story, and you blogged the story, you and Reuters and Politico et al huffed and huffed and blogged....))))

As for the Obama campaign, who McCain is now claiming is behind this story, they never pushed the story to us, and we never pushed it to them.

And since, as rumor has it, we've been nicknamed OBAMAblog, if someone were to get the inside scoop from the campaign, you'd think (and we'd hope) it might be us. And Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post, who Joe kind of beats up a lot, so he's not necessarily pre-disposed to defending bloggers, had this to say about Obama pushing the story to blogs:

Some Republicans have already insisted that the Obama campaign is behind the rumor-mongering about Sarah, Bristol and Trig -- although in our experience the campaign has not pushed the story AT ALL, in fact they have been encouraging reporters to focus on the issues of difference between the two candidates rather than personal stories.

So, sorry to disappoint, but the Obama campaign's track record isn't exactly one of embracing oppo attacks on John McCain - much to our chagrin.

One final hole in McCain's story - the claim that one of the top liberal blogs pushing this story was a blog "with Barack Obama's name in" it. There is no top liberal blog with Barack Obama's name in it, or any other liberal blog I know of. Thus the danger of Reuters repeating non-specific allegations from unnamed sources.

John McCain's first major decision as our possible future president and commander in chief, the selection of the person who would take over our country should he leave office, has been an unmitigated disaster. It's understandable that he's trying to deflect the blame. And rather sad.

Labels: john mccain, sarah palin

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*TownHall a right to the blog side, wrote: Photos of Bristol with detailed commentary about her abdomen are contained in the post.Not only is the DailyKos disgustingly inspecting Bristol's midriff with all the fervor of LA paparazzi examining J-Lo's or Jennifer Aniston's washboard stomachs for evidence of a "bump," the DailyKos is wrong on when the photo was taken. It was taken, and published, by the Anchorage Daily News in 2006. Baby Trig, a child with Down's Syndrome, was born on April 18, 2008. That's a long time for a teen girl to be carrying a "bump" which looks nothing more than the curve of a tight sweater. Shortly after Palin was announced as McCain's VP, bloggers at the Kos started ginning up the rumor Palin faked her pregnancy, allegedly to cover for an illegitimate grandchild, because she looked so fit and trim in photos taken a few months before giving birth.