Nicolle Wallace: Palin Just Made Things Up, 'Bizarre Fixation' On Campaign (VIDEO)

Former McCain campaign staffer Nicolle Wallace tore into Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" Tuesday night, saying the book was "based on fabrications" and exhibited a "bizarre fixation" on past events.

In her book, Sarah Palin wrote that Wallace pushed her to sit down with Katie Couric to boost the anchor's "self esteem."

Wallace gave a statement to "The Rachel Maddow Show" calling the anecdote total fiction. "The notion that there was a conversation that I tried to cajole her into an interview with Katie Couric is fiction," Wallace said. "I am not someone who throws around the word self-esteem. It is a fictional description."

As for the book in general, Wallace said, "I think she has a legitimate complaint that things could have been better conceived. A book about that would have been painful, but not unfair. What she gets wrong is this personalization that Steve Schmidt and I were lone villains ... She hated me from the beginning. I try not to take it personally. The fact is, she wrote a book based on fabrications ... This book is a bizarre fixation on things that everyone else has moved on from."

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Comments

[cybersense]

08:39 AM on 11/20/2009

I know that some people really like Sarah Palin. I watched and paid attention to her, and found some very real problems with Sarah. My biggest problem with her was that she always seemed unsure of herself, and it always look as though she was unsure of everything. kind of like a kid who doesn't know how to follow or lead. That "death panel" ordeal really pissed me off because she took no time to understand or read what the bill was about at that time and she just used "gossip" like information to spread it even more. This woman is not looking out for anyone but herself. That is clear. She doesn't have a lot of respect for others either - does what she wants without earning that respect and expects others to think well of her. No - she should not be candidate for any political office. She could get a job on Fox news, but I am really sure who time there would eventually be fittered out. Glenn Beck would have more ratings after a couple of weeks.

[Overbluff]

09:24 PM on 11/19/2009

Can't Nicole Wallace understand that the McCain campaign was in the tank from the get go? If she is such an expert, why on earth did she sign on with him?

It doesn't really matter who the vice president pick was, John McCain was not going to get elected. She picked a loser to tie her star to.

[AhnAmuru]

05:19 PM on 11/19/2009

Well, it's nice to see them have a good fight - hope it goes on until 2013.

[ibwilliamsi]

05:11 PM on 11/19/2009

"I think she has a legitimate complaint that things could have been better conceived." Yes. John McCain could have chosen a more qualified running mate.

[BryantG]

02:58 PM on 11/19/2009

Totally off topic but, I have a major crush on Ana marie Cox.

[Gregorius Mercator]

02:42 PM on 11/19/2009

So not only is she incompetent, but she's also paranoid delusional. Maybe her resignation was a secret way of avoiding admitting to medical leave?

[bellabeach]

01:41 PM on 11/19/2009

Her book is about getting back at the people who made her look foolish....it only helps to make her look more foolish!

[toocoldout]

12:29 PM on 11/19/2009

I actually believe Sarah on this one. Of course they were expecting a folksy sympathetic interview from Katie because they are both professional women who have been ridiculed by the media. And of course the campaign aid will not admit she blundered. Just my opinion.

[HHUA]

03:26 PM on 11/19/2009

Soooo, you actually believe that the McCain campaign was more concerned about "Katie Couric's self-esteem" than getting elected?!!!

Elections are about getting elected PERIOD, and NO ONE would ever put the considerations of a news commentator before that objective (least of all Sarah Palin!). The fact that you would even entertain this ridiculous notion is seriously delusional, as you would rather believe a pathological liar than trust "reason".

[toocoldout]

03:59 PM on 11/19/2009

No I believe that the McCain camp (or at least Sarah) thought it would be a friendly chit-chat between working moms & not a serious hard hitting interview.

[jalowe1957]

12:19 PM on 11/19/2009

Got sodium penethol?

[timberdoodle]

11:28 AM on 11/19/2009

What is America's infatuation with a person such as Silly Sara? She is basically a backwoods hillbilly without any creditability and a sordid past that was only exposed through the National Enquirer?

Plain and simple she is an air head and a real challenge to intelligent women who actually merit attention for their accomplishments.

[ozwald888]

01:03 PM on 11/19/2009

Sorry Timberdoodle, I must disagree.

It's clear, palin isn't smart enough to be a backwoods hillbilly. I'll bet cash money she hasn't even read her own book….. You know? The one her "ghostwriter" wrote for her.

[mollybeejay]

05:34 PM on 11/19/2009

LOL

[Milash]

07:13 PM on 11/19/2009

Have we established that she can actually read?

[ibwilliamsi]

05:37 PM on 11/19/2009

We have a saying in our family that has a long story behind it, but actually needs no explanation. "If you don't want people to look at you, you shouldn't dance on the roof." You just can't not look at her.

[twopac]

09:47 AM on 11/19/2009

Anybody in McCain's close inner circle that would never reveal his secret knows that Johnny regrets with a passion letting anybody talk him into picking Palin. That inner circle would be his daughter Meghan who was very outgoing with her opinions and protector of her dad. Now Meghan is quiet as a church mouse. His inner circle also includes his wife Cindy and not one peep from her regarding Palin. Meghan and Cindy will not speak up for the people who sweated bl00d for their father / husband and they do not speak up for Johnny.

Palin now seems like the ex girlfriend that won't go away and as much as you stay quiet in hopes that she goes away, the nightmare gets worse and stranger almost to a point where you have to get a restraining order.

Who are the true victims now? Palin is set for life with money, fame and opportunities, the McCain's are set for life with their fortunes and can keep their heads buried in the sand regarding the campaign and it won't affect them. The victims are McCain's staffers who are left to defend themselves. The McCain staffers are the modern fired Alaskan (AK) librarian, the AK Walter Monegan - troopergate. The staffers are the arch en@mies of Palin and she will bring them down too.

That odor you smell is Palin’s GOP and Alaskan bridges burning away leaving her last bridge of opportunity which is as a host with F0X.

[SaltySaltillo]

09:58 AM on 11/19/2009

becoming a host on Fox is not a bad way to go out... you have any idea how much money they make? They are part of the "upper east side media elite" even if they pretend they aren't when they come to work. Palin could buy a lot of moose meat on her paycheck.

[ElsaIndy]

08:32 AM on 11/19/2009

McCain should never have chosen SP. Why in the world did he chose her? She sunk him. It was unpatriotic to choose her. She is totally unfit for public office. She is a "quitter" leaving Alaska during an economic crisis when it was not fun to be governor choosing to make money instead. She is a demogogue and could well become our Eva Peron. How could McCain do this to us?

[ShakeYourComplacency]

06:05 AM on 11/19/2009

Anyone from the outside can see that someone like Wallace from McCain's campaign is more believable than a bitter, book-selling media hog like Sara Palin.

And I totally believe that she hated the staff from the start, because she couldn't manipulate them. Sarah wanted to do what made her look good, not her ticket. But unfortunately, McCain's staff had one job - to get him elected. Their job was not to help her sell books or get a job on fox. She was supposed to be a VP, period.

Sarah wanted her 15 minutes and you betcha she got it, and it paid off financially for her, so much so that she was able to quit Alaska and high tail it out there once she had enough name recognition. I think she definitely did it at McCain's expense.

[MidwestProgressive]

11:17 PM on 11/18/2009

Don't you love it when conservatives turn on each other! It's quite entertaining.

[Melissa]

11:18 PM on 11/18/2009

I believe Palin.

[lazercat2008]

11:31 PM on 11/18/2009

needs a Lobotomy.

[Kache]

11:46 PM on 11/18/2009

What? You really think that Nicolle Wallace gives a damn about Katie Couric's "self esteem"? Get real Melissa!

[hearmeloudandclear]

10:10 PM on 11/18/2009

I did not like Nicolle....though I thought she would be smart enough to see who she was working with --- ...a person of limited intelligence. Like her or not....Palin's intelligence is limited and she was not then and IS NOT NOW ready to be President of these United States.... On the other hand, PTA Prez might work for her.

I am amazed that people can still say - with a straight face, no less - that Palin could be a serious contender for the highest office in the land. Come on..... !!

I do think that some are afraid to talk negatively about her -- afraid now that Sarah will "git 'em" in another book or something.

Andrea?