In Defense Of Patrick Appel

by Chris Bodenner
In response to the reader who knocked Patrick for assuming that discrediting Andrew was one reason why Palin refused to release her medical records, I'd like to remind all readers of a fundraising email she sent to her supporters in late September:

Friends, in the course of a few weeks, the Obama-Biden Democrats have launched attack after attack on me, my family and John McCain. They're desperate to win and they'll no doubt launch these attacks against other reformers on our ticket.

Greg Sargent:

I didn't remember any attacks on Palin's family from Obama, Biden, or their top supporters. So I asked the McCain campaign what this was a reference to. Here, according to a McCain campaign aide, are the attacks on Palin's family from "Obama-Biden Democrats" that the email refers to:

1) Obama finance committee member Howard Gutman questioning Palin's parenting and her willingness to take on the Veep candidate role when her family is so consuming -- a comment he subsequently apologized for.

2) Andrew Sullivan's demand that the McCain campaign release medical records putting to rest rumors about the birth of Trig Palin.

3) A user diary on DailyKos, which is of course the site of leading Obama supporter Markos Moulitsas, raising questions about that pregnancy.

And that's it.

Of course Andrew wasn't the sole motivation for Palin's cat-and-mouse game; Patrick never said so.  But it's pretty indisputable that The Dish was a significant factor, for better or worse.  Sargent's reporting proves that raising money off the media backlash and calling out Andrew by name were explicit tactics by the McCain campaign. It's not aggrandizing Andrew, it's just fact.