Palin: good news for the McCain coffers, but the gossip won’t stop

Day one of the the Republican convention may have been a wash-out because of fears over Hurricane Gustav, but it did not stop the rumour mill turning in St Paul, Minnesota with gossip - and even some facts - about John McCain's vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

On the plus side, the McCain team credited public enthusiasm over the selection of 44-year-old Palin for a sudden upturn in campaign fundraising.
Since the announcement on Friday, McCain has raised $10m, boosting his August takings to a monthly record of $47m. For the first time, McCain's coffers look as healthy as his Democratic rival's.

Otherwise it was mainly negative news on the Palin front, with a slew of personal and legal revelations that might have caused more damage if the American media's eyes had not been fixed on New Orleans.

The biggest revelation, as reported here yesterday, was that Palin's unmarried 17-year-old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant. While the Palin family confirmed that Bristol would marry the father and have the baby, the revelation forced McCain's aides to defend their vetting procedure of the little-known Alaska governor. Spokesman Tucker Bounds said that McCain had learned of Bristol Palin's pregnancy during the vetting process. "He did not consider it a disqualifier."

But questions about the thoroughness of the checks into Palin's background only increased when unsubstantiated reports circulated that a team of Republican lawyers was heading to Anchorage to perform extra scrutiny on Palin.

On the blogosphere, the big gossip was that Palin's Down's Syndrome baby, Trig, born in April, was not actually hers but her daughter Bristol's. It was thought to be in an effort to stop this rumour that the McCain team decided to announce the news of Bristol's pregnancy.

Tame by comparison was a report that Palin's husband, Todd, was arrested for drink driving more than 20 years ago.

One hard fact to emerge was that Palin has hired a lawyer to defend herself in an investigation in Alaska into an allegation that she abused her power as governor by pressuring a police commissioner to fire a state trooper who had been married to but divorced her sister. Palin says the allegation is "outrageous".

FIRST POSTED SEPTEMBER 2, 2008