You are not logged in. Please register or login.
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
Re: Knives out for Palin: McCain aides tell tales of Diva
Months of bubbling frustration with Sarah Palin from within the McCain campaign finally exploded in the wake of their ticket's crushing defeat as Republican insiders began making embarrassing allegations about the Alaskan Governor.
Unnamed McCain aides have told the media that Palin wasn't aware that Africa was a continent, and her family behaved like a band of "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus (an upscale American clothing store) from coast to coast."
Newsweek magazine, which had insider access to the McCain/Palin ticket on the agreement not to report anything until after the election, said that Palin spent well beyond the US$150,000 on clothing that was previously reported.
Other McCain insiders told news outlets that Palin, the former mayor of small town Wasilla, Alaska, could not name the three countries in the North American Free Trade Agreement -- Canada, the U.S. and Mexico -- and that was from the governor who promoted negotiating experience with Canada throughout the campaign.
Jennifer Skalka, editor of The Hotline on Call, a political reporting blog, told CTV Newsnet that significant issues between the John McCain and Sarah Palin camps are just now coming to light.
"Obviously there was a lot of friction between them, and between their camps going into the home stretch,' she said Thursday.
"The losing campaign needs to figure out how to spin the loss and they'll hang a lot of it around her neck . . . but it comes right back to John McCain picking her without vetting her.
"She was very green, she was very inexperienced."
The embarrassing revelations come on top of a prank phone call played on Palin last week by a Quebec comedy duo who pretended to be French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The prank, which showed Palin to be naïve and ill-informed, lit up the Internet on the weekend before Election Day and reportedly became a source of incredible tension between the already-dueling McCain and Palin camps. An aide to Palin, Steve Biegun, gave the call the go-ahead without contacting McCain's handlers or the U.S. State Department.
The Los Angeles Times has reported that McCain's top strategist, Steve Schmidt, organized a conference call after the prank and demanded to know why anyone would have agreed to the phone call and failed to clear it with top staff.
Biegun took responsibility.
"I was fooled," he told the L.A. Times. "No one's going to beat me up more than I beat myself up for setting up the governor like that."
More embarrassing revelations
The leaked stories about Palin are appearing in publications such as Newsweek, the New York Times, and even right-wing Fox News.
Among the revelations:
Insiders say they become queasy after realizing she was desperately unqualified and ill-prepared.
They say they tried to bring her up to speed on the political issues, but she refused to make any preparations leading into the devastating interview with CBS's Katie Couric.
After that interview, Palin threw angry temper tantrums, which involved her throwing paperwork and making some aides cry.
She met two senior male aides in her hotel room wearing only a towel.
A senior aide told Newsweek that she was told to buy three suits and hire a stylist before the Republican national Convention, but instead Palin went on a shopping spree in costly stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.
Palin's husband, Todd Palin, received between US$20,000 and US$40,000 worth of clothing.
During the campaign, Palin's youngest daughter, seven-year-old Piper, was photographed carrying a US$790 Louis Vuitton bag.
Newsweek said that the purchases were provided by a wealthy donor, who was flabbergasted when he actually saw the bills. Aides also told the magazine that Palin staffers were instructed to buy her clothes on their credit cards, which only came to light last week when they went to the McCain campaign for more than $20,000 worth of reimbursements.
The allegations are in striking contrast from the self-proclaimed "hockey mom" who tried to blue-collar America as a common-sense, small-government spending politician.
But Palin insiders deny the claims, saying the governor was shocked by the high-prices of the clothing and that no aides were instructed to use their own credit cards.
On Wednesday in Phoenix, Palin said: "There is absolutely no diva in me."
Regardless, a Republican party lawyer is reportedly on his way to Alaska to inventory and recover the clothes still in the Palins' possession.
Election night tensions
When it became apparent that Obama had won the U.S. election, Palin met up with McCain at a Phoenix hotel with a concession speech in hand that she wanted to deliver.
She was told by McCain top two aides that a speech by her would be inappropriate as vice-president nominees do not traditionally speak on election night, which she reportedly did not take well.
By election night, the relationship between Palin and McCain had deteriorated so much that the pair were hardly talking according to aides.
"I think it was a difficult relationship," a top McCain campaign official told the New York Times. "McCain talked to her occasionally."
Re: Knives out for Palin: McCain aides tell tales of Diva
Bullshit. They're just trying to pass the buck for running such a disastrous campaign and losing to an inexperienced clown. Only way I'll believe any of this garbage is if they cough up some actual proof.
Alright, it's not sufficient proof. But would you really be surprised?
Re: Knives out for Palin: McCain aides tell tales of Diva
James Lofton wrote:Bullshit. They're just trying to pass the buck for running such a disastrous campaign and losing to an inexperienced clown. Only way I'll believe any of this garbage is if they cough up some actual proof.
Alright, it's not sufficient proof. But would you really be surprised?
Considering we knew this was coming, I'm not surprised that they're attempting to smear her. As far as the substance of the article, yes I would be surprised. We know the clothes thing is true, but whats wrong with it? If they offer her a blank check to get clothes, she's obviously gonna cash that blank check. I love how they act like some innocent donor wanted her to buy an outfit but she runs up a 150 thousand dollar bill. Yeah, sure. Thats not how things work. She was authorized to spend that amount.
A conservative woman who's been fucking the same guy since high school walks in a room full of strange men wearing nothing but a towel? Doesn't know Africa is a continent, which is something you learn in 2nd grade? Doesn't know anything about NAFTA, which has been in place almost 20 years?
Only the liberals and the gullible will buy this garbage.
They're just trying to destroy her because they know its over for them. McCain will never run again, and these douche bags who ran his campaign wont be getting a similar job anytime soon.
They've taken a scorched earth policy, and they can cram it up their asses.
Everyone knows Palin wasn't ready. They should say they feel it was a mistake to pick her instead of using these tactics.
Re: Knives out for Palin: McCain aides tell tales of Diva
I was more referring to her continued display of ignorance and lack of experience.
All that other shit is immaterial. A vice president needs to know her shit, and clearly she didn't, and that was the utter failure of the republican campaign. They scored some points with the young, sexy and female factor, but they should've known her lack of ability in pretty much everything apart from that.
I relish in this. Not because it's necessarily all true or because I have something against her, but because airheads like that should be kept far away from the most powerful official position in the world. Do you fancy the prospect of Pamela Anderson being in control of 10.000 nuclear warheads? (putting it on the edge here)
- Randall Flagg
- Rep: 139
Re: Knives out for Palin: McCain aides tell tales of Diva
I have to agree here. McCain may have ran a poor campaign, though I think claiming that is a cop out too, but Palin is obviously not too bright. The countless interviews and even the debates show that. Let's call a spade a spade. It's known that McCain only spoke to her for 15 minutes prior to offering her the VP spot. The same reasons you were asking for her for the months leading up to the announcement James are the same reasons she was picked. It is a safe assumption to belive that a governor is well read and able to discuss important issues. This was obviously not the case with Sarah Palin and from day one she started an uproar. I honestly wonder if she even told McCain her 17 year old daughter was pregnant?
if Palin is the future of the GOP, take this as my final divorce from the Republican party. I'm already a dues paying Libertarian, now the GOP will never get a vote from me.
- NY Giants82
- Rep: 26
Re: Knives out for Palin: McCain aides tell tales of Diva
This is nothing but McCain's aides covering their own asses. Remember they still want to get jobs, and if they can pass the buck to someone else, that helps them.
She didnt know Africa was a continent? Give me a break. She is NOT stupid.
Palin was the ONLY reason the Republican base ever got excited. Without her, McCain would have gotten beat even worse.
Re: Knives out for Palin: McCain aides tell tales of Diva
Do you fancy the prospect of Pamela Anderson being in control of 10.000 nuclear warheads? (putting it on the edge here)
Nice analogy, but Pamela Anderson has never been governor, which is the easiest(and most common) stepping stone to the presidency. Only reason Obama is president elect is because he didn't have a governor opposing him. Senators rarely win the presidency.
I have to agree here. McCain may have ran a poor campaign, though I think claiming that is a cop out too, but Palin is obviously not too bright. The countless interviews and even the debates show that. Let's call a spade a spade.
Its obvious she wasn't ready and most definitely squandered her buzz, but I think claiming she's 'not too bright' is a bit far fetched. They didn't promote her right, and the McCain campaign was a joke long before Palin entered the picture. I'll admit she doesn't have a huge grasp on the issues, and in hindsight shouldn't have accepted the VP spot. However, she isn't dumb and if people make the mistake to throw her into the short bus crowd, its gonna bite them on the ass. To this day liberals say Reagan was a moron, but that "moron" is the greatest president in history.
if Palin is the future of the GOP, take this as my final divorce from the Republican party. I'm already a dues paying Libertarian, now the GOP will never get a vote from me.
If not Palin, then who? Its not like the GOP is drowning in solid presidential candidates.
Re: Knives out for Palin: McCain aides tell tales of Diva
Palin was the ONLY reason the Republican base ever got excited. Without her, McCain would have gotten beat even worse.
Yeah, everyone forgets that the ONLY time McCain was leading Obama was when Palin energized the base. McCain was gonna sink no matter who he picked. Palin at least gave him a snowball's chance in hell.
