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Mitt Romney, Tom Rath in NH

Why was I NOT surprised when I heard news that NH's premier Republican "moderate" Tom Rath could be behind some of the smears of Sarah Palin? Writes Erick at Redstate.com,

Tom Rath is the former Attorney General General of New Hampshire. He's also been a Republican National Committeeman. He is not the type of guy people should treat lightly.

I am, consequently, rather disturbed that several people, both inside and outside the McCain campaign — trusted people — tell me Mr. Rath is responsible for the Newsweek story about Sarah Palin's temper tantrum in New Hampshire.

To recap, Newsweek reported Palin refused to go on stage with Senator Sununu and Jeb Bradley because of their pro-choice politics and opposition to drilling in ANWR. Later, it was revealed that Palin had been on stage with them and, in fact, had appeared on stage with several pro-choice candidates without incident. Oh, and she was running mates with John McCain, a man who opposes drilling in ANWR.

In any event, Rath is one of those who hitched his wagon to Mitt Romney. It is, however, people in the Romney camp pointing fingers at Rath, in addition to McCain staffers.

I called Mr. Rath at his office to ask him about it. I said I was calling about the latest Sarah Palin smear. He seemed to know which one I was talking about. He vigorously denied the charge, said he had never met Sarah Palin before, and was not responsible for it.

I guess the question then is why are people close to Mitt Romney and John McCain looking disapprovingly in his direction?

As I've noted in posts from a while ago, Rath is

what I would describe as a "country club" "Rockefeller Republican". Always looking for the deal. The consummate party man. I guess I'm a bad Republican to feel a "party man" loyalist is in some way bad- so be it. When have I heard Rath say anything in defense of Republican principles lately? Has he defended the war? Supported the troops? Written a letter? Of course not- he's too busy being that genteel diplomatic, deal making sort. Don't rock the boat.

And of course, Sarah Palin has shown she will rock the boat. Up in Alaska, when it turned out that it was REPUBLICANS who were behaving badly, she wasn't afraid to point the bony finger at them. And Sarah is unabashedly pro-life, which isn't really up Tom's alley. Consider what the American Spectator had to say about Mr. Rath back in '06:

according to pro-life sources in New Hampshire, Rath has actively attempted to smear pro-life candidates visiting his state. When Sen. Sam Brownback, who many believe will decide to make a decidedly uphill run for the Republican nomination, made an initial foray into New Hampshire, he was greeted by a mass-mailed letter attacking him for being a leader of the opposition against the Miers nomination, and the scuttlebutt was that Rath was working behind the scenes twisting arms for signatories.

Seems a little "behind the scenes work" is something he's somewhat familiar with. One wonders if Rath was out practicing a little "handiwork" on behalf of his former boss? This isn't above him... or his former boss.