More on the e-mails

Posted by thetrail

Posted: November 2, 2006 - 7:14 pm

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A little more on the e-mail chain debate that has both Palin and the Knowles campaign expressing outrage today.

The Knowles camp held a press conference before noon, with Knowles campaign manager Leslie Ridle, spokeswoman Patty Ginsburg, campaign rural coordinator Sarah Scanlan and Democratic former state Sen. Georgianna Lincoln.

As I noted earlier today – both sides are saying the other is playing the race card.

“Sarah Palin accused the Knowles staff of racism. This is a McCarthy-ite tactic of the lowest order,” Ginsburg said.

Later, Palin said the Knowles campaign, not her, was raising the race issue.

“When my opponent accused me of using race in this election, he did sink to a new low,” she said.

As they spoke, the Knowles supporters stood next to a giant copy of a transcript from yesterday’s Dan Fagan show, in which the first question posed to Knowles and Palin from the public was about Knowles mailers on rural issues:

...

Caller (to Palin): … “Tony’s mailing out mailers all over rural Alaska saying that you’re anti-Native, anti-subsistence and anti-rural …”

Knowles: “I didn’t … hey, there’s no anti-Native in that, let’s if you’re gonna ask the question, clean it up.”

Fagan: “Well give me an example Scott, of what you say is anti-Native.”

Knowles: “It doesn’t say that at all.”

Caller: “That’s what I’ve been … well, irregardless, what’s your position on that, and aren’t you’re married to a Yupik man of Yupik decent and, you know, are you anti subsistence?”

Palin: “Well, you know, I’ve seen the flier, yeah, that talks about … being, you know, anti-rural. I think what you’re referring to, though, the anti-Native e-mails that have come from at least one person on his campaign staff on the payroll there. Yeah, it’s pretty offensive …”

...

It’s important to note that Knowles seems to be talking about a campaign flier here at the beginning, while Palin is talking about the e-mail chain. Palin’s line about anti-Native e-mails coming from the campaign staff is a sticking point with the Knowles campaign.

(The Knowles camp also said they thought this call into the radio show was a plant from the Palin campaign, while Palin spokesman Curtis Smith says that’s not true.)

...

On the radio program, Palin also said: “… Yeah, it’s offensive to see that stream of e-mails being circulated around by a member of Tony Knowles’s staff on the campaign. Yeah, that’s kind of hurtful. But, um, no, I think that we need with our subsistence impasse that the state of Alaska has faced for all these years, we need to finally unite around this and resolve to resolve the issue.”

Fagan: “Well let me ask Gov. Knowles, do you have staff member issuing anti-Native…”

Knowles: “Absolutely not. That is just fabricated. It’s made up.”

Fagan: “What do you base that on Sarah?”

Palin: “Sarah Scanlan who is a name on those e-mails and your running mate ... your running mate’s campaign manager, one of the treasurers is Georgianna Lincoln. Those two names, Tony, on those circulated e-mails.”

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Lincoln was an honorary chair of Ethan Berkowitz’s campaign for lieutenant governor during the primary. The Knowles camp says she’s now simply a supporter of the Knowles-Berkowitz ticket.

Scanlan is the campaign’s rural coordinator. Her name does appear in one of the e-mail chains that’s bouncing around. Scanlan’s e-mail is from Oct. 6, and it shows Scanlan sending out a list of questions that appeared on an Anchorage Press questionnaire. The list shows that Palin did not answer several rural-related questions.

Scanlan said at the press conference that she was simply responding to a request for information. The e-mail her name shows up on is not one of the more pointed e-mails that Palin has been talking about.

Those two e-mails are the ones that say “What color and where do you have to live to be important to this candidate?” and ask: “If Natives and 18 of the top businesses in Alaska aren't important to her (Palin), who is? Obviously, not Alaska Natives and their corporations.”

They were written by two women who Ginsburg and Ridle said they didn’t know.

As for Lincoln’s e-mail, it criticized Palin on her stance on subsistence and for not attending the Native Get Out the Vote candidate forum in Fairbanks. It was a reply to the e-mail that criticized Palin for not meeting with Native corporation CEOs. That earlier e-mail, not Lincoln's, said: “If Natives and 18 of the top businesses in Alaska aren't important to her, who is? Obviously, not Alaska Natives and their corporations.”

Lincoln's reply was then picked up by someone and sent along in a chain of responses.

Palin held her own press conference a few hours later. (I wasn’t there, but listened over the phone – albeit with a bad connection -- and talked to Palin later.) Part of Palin’s beef is that Lincoln appeared to be encouraging people to circulate the message that Natives aren’t important to her.

Palin read a passage from Lincoln’s e-mail: “Pass your note and others like them on to your friends ...”

Lincoln said she stands by her message and that she wasn’t calling Palin anti-Native, but looking to draw attention to the candidates’ stands on the issues.

Lincoln said: “I am offended that she (Palin) is using my name to say that I accused her of being anti-Native.”

She called on Palin to apologize to her.

Palin responded later in the day, after her own press conference, that she doesn’t have anything to apologize for.

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Here’s a more complete transcript of the radio exchange, provided by the Knowles campaign today:

Caller: Yeah, hi, uh, Sarah. Tony’s mailing out mailers all over rural Alaska saying that you’re anti-Native, anti-subsistence and anti-rural….

Knowles: I didn’t…hey, there’s no anti-Native in that, let’s if you’re gonna ask the question, clean it up.

Fagan: Well, give me an example Scott, of what you say is anti-Native.

Knowles: It doesn’t say that at all.

Caller: That’s what I’ve been … well, irregardless, what’s your position on that, and aren’t you’re married to a Yupik man of Yupik decent and, you know, are you anti subsistence?

Palin: Well, you know, I’ve seen the flyer, yeah, that talks about, um, being, you know, anti-rural. I think what you’re referring to, though, the anti-Native emails that have come from at least one person on his campaign staff on the payroll there. Yeah, it’s pretty offensive because you’re exactly right I’m married to …

Knowles: No, no, wait a second, wait a second. You can’t get away with that saying anti-Native, anti-Native emails from a person on staff or anti- rural. It’s a factual thing that states out that you don’t support the constitutional amendment to protect subsistence. That’s a fact. You’ve stated it many times. The question, there’s two question marks: do you support tribes and do you support the Katie John decision? We don’t know so you can clear it up right here. Do you support tribes?

Palin: Absolutely.

Knowles: You do? So you support the millennium agreement that I initiated to support tribes? You do?

Palin: I do and we talked about that at AFN, Tony.

Knowles: And do you support the Katie John decision?

Palin: Tony, we talked about this at the AFN.

Knowles: No, we didn’t talk about it. So do you support Katie John?

Palin: Are you gonna answer Scott’s question, or was the question to me? He asked if I’m anti-Native, he asked about those flyers.

Knowles: Who did?

Palin: The caller Tony, the caller.

Knowles: No, he said that I said that you were anti-Native.

Palin: Who was the question to Dan?

Fagan: Well, let’s try answer both questions. First of all…

Palin: And let me answer the question. Anti-Native, absolutely not. As the caller just pointed out, my husband is Yupik, my children are Native, we are raising them to cherish their native heritage there. So, yeah it’s offensive to see that steam of emails being circulated around by a member of Tony Knowles’s staff on the campaign. Yeah, that’s kind of hurtful. But, um, no, I think that we need with our subsistence impasse that the state of Alaska has faced for all these years, we need to finally unite around this and resolve to resolve the issue.

Fagan: Well, let me ask Governor Knowles, do you have staff member issuing anti-Native…

Knowles: Absolutely not. That is just fabricated. It’s made up.

Fagan: What do you base that on, Sarah?

Palin: Sarah Scanlan who is a name on those emails and your running mate…your running mate’s campaign manager, one of the treasurers is Georgiana Lincoln. Those two names, Tony, on those circulated emails.

Knowles: They’re, they’re both Inupiat Eskimos and you’re saying that they are saying that you are anti Native?

Palin: I’m surprised you haven’t seen the stream of emails, Tony, but we’ll forward them to ya. But no, I’m not anti-Native and those who need the resources most there, with that subsistence impasse, let’s let them harvest it first and we can do that.

Knowles: “You say that they’re saying that you’re anti-Native”

Palin: “We’ll send you the emails, Tony, yes.”