Sources: McCain Campaign Manager Wanted Sarah Palin Muzzled
As you probably know, there’s a war raging today between conservatives and top McCain campaign officials over who was secretly trying to undermine Sarah Palin from within the campaign last year.
As Politico details today, the war pits McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt, who claims to have been one of Palin’s chief defenders inside the campaign, versus Bill Kristol, who accuses Schmidt of regularly trashing Palin behind her back to reporters.
I have my own little nugget to contribute: Two McCain camapign sources tell me Schmidt was a leading proponent of keeping Palin muzzled and preventing her from talking to even conservative media — a claim that seems to undercut Schmidt’s claims of confidence in her.
This also raises serious questions about the lack of confidence the campaign’s most senior people had in Palin’s competence — even as they worked nonstop to put her within a heartbeat of the presidency.
“There were people on the campaign who wanted Palin to hold more conference calls with people we knew were her friends,” one senior McCain communications aide tells me. “We felt she was a very strong asset with the ideological media — everything from conservative journals of opinion to talk radio. It was dismissed out of hand by top brass, especially Schmidt.”
A second campaign staffer tells me that Schmidt was a leading figure in the camp that “thought Palin was beyond helping.” Result: Palin spoke out much less than internal supporters wanted.
Schmidt declined comment. If this is true, confidence in her among McCain’s top people was apparently so abysmally low that they didn’t even want her to talk to friendly right wing outlets. And the woman could have become president.
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But we knew this. The only surprise is that some in McCain’s camp finally admitted it. The insult is that McCain attempted to treat the nation like dumb children that only want to see a women on the ticket. The insult is that the entier Rushpublican party approved of the scheme.
Greg: We know this is beyond pathetic. Kristol is a buffoon. The McCain Team: Clowns Inc. The Palin Team: Nutheads Inc. Vanity Fair: vanity???????
What is so sad is she is still a major figure in the GOP. It would be embarrassing having a president whose staff is such rookies they fall for radio pranks and who doesn’t care about the details. She grabs me as a leader who manages via the “gut check” and not by facts or how many people would be negatively impacted. I like how she spoke out for defense in AK without realizing AK is as secure today as it was under Bush & the money Obama cut was for next years budget so would have no impact on the current NK threat. She must think we can buy new missiles off the shelf.That is scary to be so out of touch and in charge.
So what happens when the GOP establishment loses to Palin in the 2012 primaries?
Instead of silencing her, he should have just not picked her as his running mate. He was so concerned with trying to appear progressive like Obama and Hillary that he would try anything. I still believe if he would have picked a well-qualified and proven person to be his running mate, he would have stood a much better chance of winning. I did not like the choice of Palin to start and said it would not work. In fact it backfired. Oh well, lesson learned I suppose.
It’s been great fun watching this little internecine battle play out. But, on the other hand, what does it say about Kristol that he is STILL pushing Palin forward?
http://www.runnersworld.com/photo/sarahpalin/home.html…“wearing that baby like a brooch”
ericvsthem: if that happens, we watch the train wreck commence.
When most guys look at Palin there not thinking of her as a possible President Belive me!! There thinking of something else Completely!@!!
I buy your contention about Schmidt’s lack of faith in Palin, but I’m curious why he didn’t chose to go on the record with VF. Palin only source of popularity is from the increasingly small base of the GOP. What does he have to lose by coming forward with this thoughts on her.
It baffles me WHY the main stream news media continue to pop her into the spotlight. I am tired of it, aren’t the rest of you? It is obvious (and proven) she has an IQ of about -39, but the neo-cons still plug her along like she is some kind of Ms America. Drop her Republicans! She is killing your party worse than the psycho hypocrits that secretly leave their state for days to smoosh and romance, and come back and say, I’m sorry — Govern time! Leave me alone! Oh btw, and there are others… hee hee hee hee…
Above, Wade says, “Oh well, lesson learned I suppose.”
What leads you to believe anybody in the Republican party has actually learned anything?
Schmidt made the right decision. She is a compulsive liar, or at least, not terribly scrupulous about facts, and just because she give an interview with a conservative, doesn’t mean clips won’t appear on youtube and the MSM. Schmidt realizes this and until he could impress this lesson on to Palin, the gag order was absolutely appropriate….now, whether she should have been on the ticket at all is another story.
Is it perhaps more important to trace the decision-making process of how SP was actually chosen? Was McCain pushed into it? Who really pulled the strings for SP? And Why?
Get a life people…..There will be women in government and they will not all be far left. And to the guy that thinks men are thinking *** when they see Palin…yes sir, we still have Neanderthals in this country, and you are one of them.