McCain attacks media over Palin

McCain attacks media over Palin
John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin at

Minneapolis airport, Minnesota
Sarah Palin will be formally nominated as the party's VP

later this week

John McCain's US presidential campaign has angrily

condemned the media for questioning the way his

running mate Sarah Palin's candidacy was vetted.

Mrs Palin is preparing a key address to the Republican

National Convention - days after she revealed that her

unmarried daughter, 17, was pregnant.

Mr McCain's team denied claims it had not checked her

background thoroughly.

Mr McCain is due to be nominated on Wednesday as the

party's presidential candidate for the 4 November

election.

'Nonsense'

Mrs Palin will make her key speech at the convention in

St Paul, Minnesota, on Wednesday.

Ahead of the address, a written statement from senior

campaign adviser Steve Schmidt said the "nonsense"

over the vetting process for Mrs Palin should end.


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Bridget, Jack, James, and Meghan

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"This vetting controversy is a faux media scandal

designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee

for 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," the

statement said.

Mr Schmidt said there would be "no further comment

about our long and thorough process" in checking Mrs

Palin.

The Alaska governor announced on Monday her

17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was pregnant, and would

have the baby and marry her boyfriend.

It has also been revealed that an attorney has been hired

to represent Mrs Palin in an Alaska state ethics

investigation.

The case involves alleged abuse of power.

Mrs Palin is being investigated by state lawmakers over

the dismissal of a state public safety commissioner,

whom she allegedly sacked because he did not dismiss

her brother-in-law, a state trooper, involved in a

contentious divorce and child custody battle with her

younger sister.


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McCain adviser Carly Fiorina on Sarah Palin

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Sarah Palin told US network CNBC she had "nothing to

hide". Her deposition is expected to be scheduled soon.

There have also been reports that Mrs Palin sought

special financial favours for her city and state -

something that the McCain campaign is against.

It has also been reported that her husband once belonged

to a fringe political group in Alaska, with some members

supporting secession from the United States.

Mrs Palin was elected governor of Alaska in 2006 and

before that was mayor of the small town of Wasilla,

Alaska.

She is due to be formally nominated by delegates as the

party's vice-presidential choice later this week.

'Dangerous world'

Sarah Palin's selection as vice-presidential nominee has

caused great excitement among social conservatives and

evangelical Christians gathered at the convention, says

the BBC's Adam Brookes in St Paul.

But across the broader Republican Party, there seems to

be some unease at the choice of someone who is an

unknown quantity, he says.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who made a

failed attempt to win the Republican nomination for

president, defended her in a television interview for the

CBS Early Show.

He said she had more experience than Democratic

candidate Barack Obama.

"I would say 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.

The party's four-day convention opened on Monday,

although it was initially curtailed because of the threat of

Hurricane Gustav to states on the southern US coast.

On Tuesday, President George W Bush told delegates

that Mr McCain was "a great American", describing him

as a president ready to make tough decisions needed "in

a dangerous world".

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