Palin Affair? Enquirer Knows?

It’s the hot rumor and if you see it here, I’m going to blame Howard Kurtz for this trash. He wrote:

John McCain's top strategist today denounced a report in the National Enquirer, hours after it was published, as "disgraceful.""The smearing of the Palin family must end," spokesman Steve Schmidt said in an e-mail distributed to journalists.

The Enquirer, which exposed John Edwards's extramarital affair, cited unnamed sources in alleging that the Alaska governor had an affair with a business associate of her "fisherman husband," Todd Palin -- the story doesn't say when -- and that he found out and severed relations with the man. "The allegations contained on the cover of the National Enquirer insinuating that Governor Palin had an extramarital affair are categorically false," Schmidt said. "

It is a vicious lie. Governor Palin is the most popular governor in the country. She is a proven leader, an accomplished executive, a champion for ethics reform, and a fighter against corruption. The efforts of the media and tabloids to destroy this fine and accomplished public servant are a disgrace. The American people will reject it."

The mainstream media might well have ignored the unsubstantiated allegation, as they did for eight months in the Edwards saga. But the McCain's team quick response in defending the Arizona senator's running mate had the effect, intentionally or otherwise, of giving the story more prominence.

Schmidt, who told The Washington Post Tuesday that the news media are "on a mission to destroy" Palin, lumped the media and tabloids together in his blast against the Enquirer.