The Do-Over

Something strange is going on.

Republican vice presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin is canceling fundraisers.

Gov. Palin had been scheduled to appear at two fundraisers and a rally in California next Thursday and Friday. "The change of plans came as a shock to party insiders," the San Francisco Chronicle reports today. Local GOP officials were busy distributing 15,000 tickets for her rally in Orange County on Friday.

The fundraisers were set to raise millions for the Republican National Committee and the state party. Demand for the $1,000-a-head tickets was so strong that both events had been moved to larger venues -- the Southern California fundraiser from the Lincoln Club to the Orange County Performing Arts Center, and the Northern California event from a private home to the Santa Clara Convention Center.

The fundraisers have been postponed until after the vice presidential debate on October 2.

Governor Palin has also canceled a fundraiser scheduled for Thursday in Virginia, and the campaign says Cindy McCain will replace Palin at two fundraisers on Wednesday in Washington state and Wyoming.

Something's wrong.

Either John McCain is panicked that he can't draw an enthusiastic crowd by himself, or Sarah Palin needs much more studying-and-cramming time than the campaign wants to admit, or somebody found something in Alaska that's about to knock her off the ticket.

On Thursday, Todd Palin said he will refuse to cooperate with a subpoena for his testimony in the so-called Troopergate investigation, even though the Palins had earlier promised to cooperate fully because, they said, they had done nothing wrong and had nothing to hide.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported Thursday that officials in the Alaska state government are refusing to answer reporters' questions and referring them to McCain campaign aides instead. "The McCain campaign is demanding that it becomes the de facto source for answers about the operations of Alaska's government during the past 20 months," Anne Sutton reported from Juneau.

Hmmmm.

Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney should keep their cell phones on.


Copyright 2008

Editor's note: You might be interested in the earlier post, "The case of the governor's husband."

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