RNC Picks Up $1 Million After Palin Speech

Sarah Palin’s speech to the convention Wednesday night energized conservatives, allayed concerns of some nervous party insiders – and inspired excited Republicans to donate a cool $1 million to the Republican National Committee’s effort to elect John McCain.

The donations, which came in over the Internet in the hours after the speech, will add to the massive war chest that the Republican Party has built up for the fall contest. A Republican aide leaked us the news that the Republican National Committee ended the month of August with $75 million in the bank.

That’s more than the total that the Democratic National Committee and Barack Obama had in the bank at the end of July. Neither Obama nor the DNC have released their cash on hand figures for August. But the DNC had just $5 million in the bank at the end of July. Meanwhile, Sen. Obama would have been foolish to keep much money in the bank at the end of August because all money raised for the primary campaign had to be spent by the time he officially became a general-election candidate at the Democratic convention last week.

Sen. McCain had $32.8 million in the bank at the end of July, but probably has a zero balance now.

The RNC says donations began pouring in over the Internet soon after Palin began speaking. McCain also got a few last-minute donations. Once McCain accepts the Republican nomination for president tonight, he will no longer be allowed to accept private donations because he as opted to accept $85 million in federal financing for his campaign.

One of the those now inspired to donate to the McCain cause is Aimee Berger, a 42-year old uber-housewife, who voted for Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the Republican primary. Berger had planned to vote for McCain, but until last night said she wasn’t going to open up her pocketbook. “Governor Palin has showed America, and women, and our daughters that you can do anything,” she said.

McCain, Palin invoke live footage of 9/11 planes crashing in RNC video

The Boston Globe has reported that decency and good taste have been abandoned by John McCain, Sarah Palin and the Republican Party after they aired footage of a plane crashing into one of the towers on September 11th, 2001 in one of the videos shown at the Republican National Convention this evening.

From the Boston Globe:

One of the most enduring taboos in American politics, the airing of graphic images from the September 11 attacks in a partisan context, died today. It was nearly seven years old.

The informal prohibition, which had been occasionally threatened by political ads in recent years, was pronounced dead at approximately 7:40 CST, when a video aired before delegates at the Republican National Convention included slow-motion footage of a plane striking the World Trade Center, the towers' subsequent collapse, and smoke emerging from the Pentagon.

The September 11 precedent was one of the few surviving campaign-season taboos. It is survived by direct comparisons of one's opponents to Hitler.

Original here

Alaska police union files complaint against Palin

The GOP candidate for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, may be facing yet another ethics investigation back in her home state of Alaska. An ethics complaint obtained by NBC News was filed Wednesday by the police officers union in Alaska, requesting a probe into possible wrongdoing by the governor or her office. It was brought on behalf of state trooper Mike Wooten, an ex-brother-in-law of Palin who is at the center of the "Troopergate" scandal.

The complaint alleges that the governor or her staff may have have improperly disclosed information from Wooten's personnel records. The complaint alleges "criminal penalties may apply."

John Cyr, director of the union that filed the complaint, told NBC News, "It seems obvious to us somebody has improperly accessed [Wooten's] personnel file."

The McCain/Palin campaign Thursday launched a spirited defense when contacted by NBC News. They say the personnel files were not protected; a campaign source says Wooten himself had previously signed a waiver allowing a divorce lawyer to obtain his personnel records. The campaign then sent a copy of that waiver to NBC News, which reads "I hereby waive any privilege I may have to said information to said attorneys."

The issue concerns disclosures about Wooten's records made by a Palin aide - Frank Bailey - in a February 2008 phone conversation. The police officers' union complaint claims the transcript of that conversation clearly indicates there was improper access to Wooten's records.

The McCain/Palin campaign, in a response to NBC News, provided a family twist to the story, saying the governor's husband - Todd Palin - was the source of that information to Bailey. They say the information came from divorce proceedings, and that Gov. Palin never improperly accessed any records.

Taylor Griffiths, a spokesman for McCain, said "When you're a real reformer like Sarah Palin, who isn't afraid to take on entrenched political interests, scurrilous attacks and empty allegations come with the territory."