Defeated Palin makes triumphant return home; GOP infighting grows

SFGate (home of the San Francisco Chronicle) ^ | Thursday, November 6, 2008; 18:57 PST | Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

[Gondring]

Gov. Sarah Palin returned home in defeat to Wasilla, Alaska, today - leaving behind eyebrow-raising tales about towel-clad appearances and internal campaign feuds. [...]

Among the stories reported by Fox News and Newsweek magazine:

-- She showed up in front of John McCain campaign aides "wearing nothing but a towel";

-- She sent campaign staff on a shopping spree for her family that insiders described as the "Wasilla hillbillies looting Nieman Marcus from coast-to-coast";

-- She was so shockingly ignorant of basic civics that aides prepping her for her single debate realized she didn't know that Africa is a continent and not a country, nor could she identify the countries that comprise North America. [...]

On election night, the New York Times reported, Palin showed up at McCain's election-night gathering in Phoenix ready to read a concession speech. It goes against campaign protocol for a vice presidential candidate to speak on election night, and the move was vetoed by McCain strategist Steve Schmidt. [...]

"She didn't know the nations involved in the North American Free Trade Agreement," NAFTA - a key agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada," he said GOP insiders told him. She also "didn't understand that Africa was a continent and not a country" and asked for explanation about the difference between South Africa and Africa, he reported. [...]

And the lingering matter of her wardrobe spending continues - a Republican party attorney has been assigned to look into Palin's designer clothing purchases and, reportedly, to retrieve the expensive items. [...]

"An angry aide ... said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books," according to the magazine.

Still, conservative leaders downplayed those reports, insisting that base voters were deeply impressed by Palin and her contributions to the ticket.

[ClaudiusI]

If Palin was such a firebrand, then how do you explain the fall in GOP turnout this time around?
It's amazing that we're here on the verge of having conservative voices silences by the Fairness Doctrine, and we have many people on these forums saying that all critics of Palin should be silenced.
He Who I Will Never Name Again was trying to create a new Republican party in his own image: a RINO party. Palin was his Pierre Laval.
Now that the King of The RINOs has fallen, I suggest it's time to dispatch with all of his foolishness and start over; we cannot win his way. And that means abandoning Palin, who honestly never belonged on the national stage to begin with.
Because if you stick with Palin, and God forbid she in the nominee in 2012, we will lose.

[Gondring]

Part of the complaint was that she didn't understand government structures, and the responsibilities of municipal, state, national governments...civics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8VOciA8LxY

What I wonder is whether it was just that her views on these things differed from McCain's aides' views. For example, perhaps she understood American Exceptionalism, but doesn't believe in it?

[ClaudiusI]

Well, that’s what I get for trying to “get down” verbally.

[Heart of Georgia]

***”Wasilla hillbillies looting Nieman Marcus from coast-to-coast”***

This statement reveals all we need to know about those who are doing this. They are classless in a way that true hillbillies are not, and I come from a long line of West Virginia hillbillies and know a lot about the subject, lol!

It also says a lot about anyone who would report it as news - that means you Carl Cameron, BOR, and whoever else is involved.

[weston]

Remember Alinsky’s rules? Infiltration is paramount. If you don't think Obama had a person inside McCain's camp, you are naive indeed. They must freeze and belittle Governor Palin. She must become the SNL character in the minds of Americans. This is the only way to be free from her threat.
She is a threat. They are not stupid. They saw the masses of people she attracted. Obama had to bus and offer free concerts and food to match the amount of people she drew.

These accusations of the towel and Africa are blatantly false. But SNL will pick them up and their water will be carried.

[Perdogg]

The original quote I heard on that was that she was wearing a bathrobe.

[Just mythoughts]

The same folks who would be scandalized by such behavior if it were a Dem, or a neighbor, are enthralled that "she's just normal folk" and behaves so casually--and decorum is irrelevant.

NO.

The scandalous behavior is to throw into the lions den the very person that kept the nominee from a complete trounce. I remember lord John McCain in a primary debate boast loudly as former Chairman of the Commerce Committee he did NOT know about the economy? Nothing out of Sarah's mouth compares to that level of idiocy!!!!

[Perdogg]

Nicole Wallace.

[GOPsterinMA]

This election re-emphasised something that some (me included) forgot: IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID!!!!!!

I didn’t think Bush I would have lost to Clinton. He did. I really thought Palin/McCain were going to put it out; they didn’t. McCain would have really only managed a Jimmy Carter like 5-8 states without Gov. Palin. However, I still maintain she’s been Quayled. However, I don’t think it’s from the Romney camp. Until it can be proven I will not accept it is from Romney.

Which brings me back to IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID!!!!!! To defeat the Dems, we must do what must be done. If that means going with a Romney as a person with an economic background, so be it.

Neither Ronald Reagan or many of the people who voted for him are on this planet any more. It sucks to admit it, but that is the reality. The Republican Party must change if it is going to be relevant again. Otherwise, it will go the way of the Whigs and Federalists.

[DiogenesLaertius]

I think you’re right. She was a big reason soft republicans bolted. Mac was suppose to play big in the suburbs but they thought she was a yahoo and voted against him. I thought originally her unfavorables were due to massive oversampling of democrats but from exit polling and the most accurate pollsters repeated that story.

Her rollout was not great, and I do think McCain was probably too hasty in his rollout of her.

McCain seemed to make bad decisions all around and had poor management. He had poor employees too. Tucker Bounds was awful. Rick Davis never really impressed. Only schmidt did a good job but mac undermined everything he did with poor message discipline.

But c’est la vie. You elect a RINO, the conservative base stays home and the “moderates” are notoriously unreliable and break on whatever is foremost in their mind. IN this case, it was sadly the economy.

Also Mac had no groundgame to speak of apparently. Pretty sad.

[Harry Wurzbach]

Geez, for someone so shockingly ‘ignorant’ she more than held her own with the Vice President-elect of these United States in a 90 minute debate. I guess we’re supposed to give all the kudos to her debate prep team.

Cameron is a douchebag.

[Gondring]

If the audit ends up supporting the claims, would that be “Palin-bashing”?

[Perdogg]

I am going to have trouble getting to sleep with those images in my head - down boy! :)

[ABQHispConservative]

Only one? What was her role in the campaign? Did she work with Sarah?

[Gondring]

...kept the nominee from a complete trounce...

Agreed she did that.

But on the other hand, it's sticking our head in the sand if we just refuse to examine both positive and negative information that becomes available.

Yes, this is a hit piece...but is there truth in it? I believe there very well could be some.

[TAdams8591]

Have you been reading who was responsible for this? There was at least a dozen threads about the culprits today. It had nothing to do with Mitt or his people. Those rumors can be put to rest. I suggest we thin people like YOU who perpetrate lies even after they've been disproven, from the herd. You've been doing to Governor Romney what some of McCain's people and the MSM have been doing to Governor Palin.

I have never believed ANY of the lies about Sarah or Mitt. They are despicable.

[Perdogg]

According to David Frum.

[The_Reader_David]

Yes, yes, but the article labeled the geographical questions as ‘civics’. One wonders about someone bandying accusations of ignorance while in the same sentence exhibiting their own.

[Just mythoughts]

Remember Alinsky’s rules?

I have made myself aware of Alinsky's rules and lord John McCain used them most perfect over the past 7+ years in his quest to pay back conservatives for electing Bush. I will NEVER forget or forgive lord McCain dishonor for RUMMY. So this activity is NOT a new thing out of lord McCain.

Infiltration is paramount. If you don't think Obama had a person inside McCain's camp, you are naive indeed. They must freeze and belittle Governor Palin. She must become the SNL character in the minds of Americans. This is the only way to be free from her threat. She is a threat. They are not stupid. They saw the masses of people she attracted. Obama had to bus and offer free concerts and food to match the amount of people she drew.

Oh I have no doubt of cooperation within the McCain camp and the liberals.... McCain smacked down anybody who dared to call Bama and his camp anything but honorable.

These accusations of the towel and Africa are blatantly false. But SNL will pick them up and their water will be carried.

Well the description of what supposedly took place seems to be ever evolving.

[weston]

Listen to the radio interview with her today on another thread. You’ll know that these things were totally false.