McCain camp blames media for Palin controversy

The McCain campaign came out swinging Wednesday against the media over the controversy and coverage swirling around vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Republican National Committee Victory 2008 chair Carly Fiorina, former Massachusetts governor Jane Swift and several other high-profile GOP women accused media outlets, liberal bloggers and the Obama campaign of sexism. In a sometimes testy exchange with the assembled reporters, Fiorina and others criticized liberal Web sites and other unspecified media outlets for accusing the Alaska governor of faking a pregnancy, being part of "fringe groups" and for releasing her Social Security number on the Web. "We have seen supermarket tabloids that not only support Barack Obama putting these smears on the cover but also shout with massive headlines about sex and babies and lies," Fiorina said. McCain campaign manager Rick Davis scolded the media for its initial reporting on Palin and her life. "Certainly, her record deserves scrutiny, but we ought to look at her record," Davis said. "The salacious nature of how these outlets have tried to throw dirt at our candidates has been inappropriate."