Sarah Palin’s attacks on Barack Obama’s patriotism provoked a spike in death threats against the future president, Secret Service agents revealed during the final weeks of the campaign.
The Republican vice presidential candidate attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of “palling around with terrorists”, citing his association with the sixties radical William Ayers.
The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling “terrorist” and “kill him” until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric. But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further. The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Mrs Palin’s attacks. Michelle Obama, the future First Lady, was so upset that she turned to her friend and campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett and said: “Why would they try to make people hate us?”
The revelations, contained in a Newsweek history of the campaign, are likely to further damage Mrs Palin’s credentials as a future presidential candidate. She is already a frontrunner, with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, to take on Mr Obama in four years time. Details of the spike in threats to Mr Obama come as a report last week by security and intelligence analysts Stratfor, warned that he is a high risk target for racist gunmen. It concluded: “Two plots to assassinate Obama were broken up during the campaign season, and several more remain under investigation. We would expect federal authorities to uncover many more plots to attack the president that have been hatched by white supremacist ideologues.” Irate John McCain aides, who blame Mrs Palin for losing the election, claim Mrs Palin took it upon herself to question Mr Obama’s patriotism, before the line of attack had been cleared by Mr McCain.
Is this just more piling on? It doesn’t sound right to me that the Secret Service would make a public statement like this.
John, you really have a thing for Palin, don’t you?
#55, gq,
You talk about Republicans being hate mongers while you and your like counter with the same hate and despise of this woman and anyone who doesn’t think like you do.
The “hate” is for the person spewing the hate on others. For some reason right wing nuts like you can’t understand the difference. Here is a hint, she whips her crowds into screaming things like “kill him” while those left of Attila the Hun call her on it.
I have always suspected (Mr. Mustard and Mr. Fusion) are one in the same person. Their style of hate and douchery is too similar to be 2 different people.
LOL, not a chance.
And no, I am not gay, I am a very satisfied, self confident straight. BUT I do love gays. They are humans deserved of all the protections, love, and good intentions I extend to all groups that don’t include hate and denigration as their main theme. Too bad that doesn’t include neo-cons and asswipes like you.
I have little time for those that decry groups that are because they were born that way. There is nothing wrong with being born with brown skin, blond hair, female reproductive genitalia, or an affinity to someone of your own gender.
I just had to say this, thank god we were spared four years of John & Sarah’s House of McPalin. A situation dramedy that you couldn’t merely tune out, and ignore. I think Palin and her ilk up in the froze north, are still on McCarthyism time. That is to say, fifty years behind the rest of the nation. So glad that history has yet to repeat itself, in my lifetime.
#58 and #67
Sorry about the gay thing, I had you confussed with Uncle Dave and Eideard.
58 – As far as the “new around here” thing? It’s just a fake blog, not real. JCD has talked about this in the past, maybe you haven’t seen all the ads? I’ll go slower, It-is-here-to-make-money-for-John. That’s why the majority of the stories are political/religious/NSFW.
67 – You’re kidding right? You’ve bought into the whole “gays are not mentally ill” thing?
When Obama, in his acceptance speech mentioned McCain by name as a heroic America, a low, but polite cheer ran through the crowd.
As McCain gave his concession speech and mentioned Obama, boos rose loudly from the crowd. He pressed it down with his hands, but it showed a continuing side of his campaign that he and Sarah had purposefully, with malice of forethought, TRAINED them to utter.
It is the Republican way: Solicit mob-like derision, loud intemperate negative reactions for the news cameras to suck on. That’s what sways America. This is a political battle. Anything goes.
If Obama dies at the hands of an assassin, Mr. McCain and Ms Palin have only their own intolerance to blame.
Small mind values.