It's Time (ha ha) for Joe Klein and Steve Schmidt to Take This Outside

Joe Klein is pissed. I suppose with good reason. The McCain campaign has spent the past few days freaking out about the media's coverage of the whole Palin thing. And, they've decided that the best way to make the press fall in line is to shame them into it:

"So what's going on here? Two things. McCain is just plain angry at us. By the evidence presented in the utterly revealing Time interview, he's ballistic. This is a politician who needs to see himself as the man on the white horse, boldly traversing a muddy field...any intimations that he's gotten muddied in the process, or has decided to throw mud, are intolerable.

The second thing is more insidious: Steve Schmidt has decided, for tactical reasons, to slime the press. He wants the public to believe that there is an unfair--sexist (you gotta love it)--personal assault going on against Palin and her family. This is a smokescreen, intended to divert attention from the very real and responsible vetting that is taking place in the media--about the substance of Palin's record as mayor and governor."

I don't know if Joe Klein is actually reporting from St. Paul, but if he is; Schmidt better watch his back.

The Barackopolis

McCain press guy Brian Rogers sent out an interesting "Campaign Memo" yesterday. These memos are usually desperate attempts to set (low) expectations for whatever McCain campaign event is coming up and to generally kick Obama in the nuts (electronically).

This one was a little different:

To: Interested Parties
From: Brian Rogers, Deputy Communications Director
Date: August 27, 2008
Re: Proper Attire For The Temple Of Obama (“The Barackopolis”)

Today, workers at Invesco Field are putting the final touches on the newest wonder of the modern political world -- The Temple of Obama (“The Barackopolis”). It is upon this pulpit that Barack Obama will tomorrow night address thousands of screaming, adoring fans. There may be some confusion among the press about the venue and appropriate dress code for Barack Obama's big speech. To help out, we wanted to provide the following tips on appropriate attire. The toga may have gone out of style centuries ago, but after Obama's temple speech tomorrow night, they’re sure to be flying off the racks.

And then he attaches some pictures of different toga styles with captions. A little lame, but hey, it's the Republicans here. They aren't exactly known for their sparkling satire.

Anyway, on my long walk to the media tents this morning, I ran into these guys. It appears they've taken Rogers's joke one step further:

2:1 odds says they actually do have a toga party tonight.