Top McCain Aides: 'Palin Simply Knew Nothing About National And International Issues'

The McCain campaign continues to snipe at each other over the handling, and subsequent effect, of Sarah Palin on the campaign trail. According Nicole Wallace, a senior McCain aide who is one of Palin's handlers and helped to orchestrate her initial rollout, there is an 'organized campaign to lay blame' for things at her feet. Robert Draper, however, offers a defense of Wallace, saying she's kept quiet about things that a couple of McCain higher-ups have leaked to him, and that Wallace was in a very unenviable position:

I'm sympathetic to Eskew and Wallace, and not just because they're decent people. They've held their tongue from leaking what a couple of McCain higher-ups have told me--namely, that Palin simply knew nothing about national and international issues. Which meant, as one such adviser said to me: "Letting Sarah be Sarah may not be such a good thing." It's a grim binary choice, but apparently it came down to whether to make Palin look like a scripted robot or an unscripted ignoramus. I was told that Palin chafed at being defined by her discomfiting performances in the Couric, Charlie Gibson, and Sean Hannity interviews. She wanted to get back out there and do more. Well, if you're Eskew and Wallace, what do you say to that? Your responsibility isn't the care and feeding of Sarah Palin's ego; it's the furtherance of John McCain's quest for the presidency.

Draper also reports that McCain snubbed Palin during a long ride on the Straight Talk Express.

Comments

[bonchesva]

Are you kidding! The reasons McCain chose Palin had NOTHING to do with her KNOWLEDGE.
He thought he'd get Hilary Clinton supporters.
He thought men would vote for them because Palin is cute, at best.
He thought women would vote for them just because he has a woman on the ticket.
All of this has backfired!
Look at Obama. He could have easily chosen Hilary Clinton to be his VP running mate and easily gotten all of her supporters, but Obama chose the running mate who has the most KNOWLEDGE! What a concept!

[watchingthings]

I think the reason they brought in "Joe the Plumer" is so she wouldn't look quite as uninformed as she really is.

[MarsAmbassador]

That's a ridiculous assertion. I'm not even IN politics and I know infinitely more about foreign affairs and geopolitics than her. She had never even heard of the Gaza Strip. She knows nothing about anything. Alaskans will followup on the 2 Troopergate ethics investigations, the new ethics investigation where a complaint was filed today in relation to her charging Alaska taxpayers for her kids to travel with her and how she went back and changed all her expense reports to say the kids were invited when they were not, the email scandal, the outstanding tax issue, the per diem issue, the fact they had the same contractors build their house that built the arena and one of the suppliers that has admitted to providing materials for their house is also a sponsor of Todd Palin's snowmobile team. Not to mention there's still outstanding questions about Sarah actually being the mother of Trig. She wasn't showing even after 7 months and Bristol was pulled out of school (they said for mono) during what was the last 4-5 months of Sarah's so-called pregnancy with Trig. And Sarah won't release her medical records, probably there won't be anything about checkups during the phantom pregnancy at all. Plus there is still no public record of where Trig was actually born and when. It's off the books, just like the construction of their house. While she was mayor of Wasilla, Sarah removed the requirement to file building permits. So there's no paper trail.

[afraid]

yes but that combined with her wish for war to hasten the end times makes me just a tad leery...

[smag]

Personally, I am not surprise that Palin does not have a lot of experience in Foreign affairs. Reminds me of Clinton, Bush, Carter and Reagan. Gov are hired to govern the state and not foreign affairs. Is this too deep for some of you.

[john pa]

It's laughable, and an insult to the leaders you listed, to compare any of them to Sarah Palin.

There is a difference between inexperience and ignorance. Many on the far right will learn this very soon...

or not.

[smag]

Would you care to specify just how you know that she is ignorant and specifically ignorant in what areas other than Foreign affairs as we have covered? Ignorance is the absence of knowledge and stupidity is the failure to use wisely that knowledge that you do posses. Many are honestly ignorant of something’s such and advanced mathematics or do you simply wish to spew insults because it makes you feel good. Have you been able to accomplish similar things that she has been able to accomplish?

[debuci]

Bill Clinton was a rhodes scholar and remains a very astute student of international affairs.

Sarah Palin didn't even have a passport till this year. He has zero intellectual curiosity and does not seem to mind that people perceive her as blatantly so.

[MakeAWish]

She should get her own mega church and preach from the pulpit to people of similar mind.

[DoTheMath]

Excellent idea.

[btanner]

We all know you're attractive. But you're like the Marilyn Monroe of politics. No major studio would have picked Marilyn Monroe to run their studio. Likewise, we wouldn't want you to become President of the United States either. You're still pretty though, just not presidential material. Sorry. That's your reality. To deny it would be truly disastrous for our country :-(

[BobSF94117]

She seems to know plenty about the "culture war".

[Revolt916]

McCAIN HAS NO CONTROL OVER HIS CAMPAIGAN WHATSOEVER, NO WONDERED THEY HID PALIN FROM THE PRESS FOR SO LONG GEE McCAIN SHOULD ASK JOE THE PLUMBER TO BE HIS RUNNING MATE WHILE HE STILL HAS TIME BEFORE NEXT TUESDAY.

[ZellaBee]

Yes. can you imagine what his White House would be like? Moe, Curly and Larry would fit right in!

[maggsa]

This is how I see McPalin selling the campaign to Americans by making them believe they would be better off with them and I believe there are so many dumb Americans buying it. I saw McCain say that its ok to give the money to the rich like in the last 8 years but its not ok for the rich to give the money to the poor. Are Americans that dumb they could believe this? So its not ok for the middleclass to get health and and education or is this only for the rich? Can someone put a muzzle on Palin ? The woman can't stop yapping and she says nothing nothing at all. Is it not embarassing? Then I changed the station to Fox News Program in the morning and God can I puke. Where do they get the journallists? Is there a school in America that produces such nasty crap? If Obama gets in, the first thing he should do is nuke Fox News. If McPalin get into the Whitehouse its going to be like, Abbott and Costello - who is on first base?

[SD leaker]

So Palin doesn't know anything about international politics, and she said on TV that lsrael can do all the vvars it wants. Proof that AlPAC controIs US politics.

[bobbyperu]

Why am I not surprised?

[GTFOOH]

Who cares? She can field dress a moose and that's good enough for Johnnie Mack!

[HeatherP]

are links allowed anymore? If so,

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=25304692&blogID=443862373

thank you.

[JayDDrew]

Let me get this straight:
Sarah Palin knows nothing about international issues.
Sarah Palin knows nothing about national issues.
Eureka!
Sarah Palin knows about ALIEN issues. McCain is looking forward to solving our economic crisis by importing jobs from and exporting products to Mars! Man, how could we have been sooo stupid to consider voting Democrat? It is most definitely time for change!
McCain Palin: a space rocket in every garage, a Martian butler/gar­dener/nann­y in every home!

[cvarner]

This just in.. water is wet...

[TheTruthInLove]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!