The rough morning story line on Sarah Palin:
The "rogue diva'' of the McCain campaign is starting to look out for her own future now that the Republican presidential nominee's prospects are in doubt. Or, as the New York Post puts it:
"Sarah Palin is the rogue elephant in the GOP war room.''
The paper suggests "the maverick mom is distancing herself from John McCain and blowing off the advice of senior Republican aides, convinced they're damaging her reputation and ruining the campaign. Things have gotten so tense between Palin and her traveling staff, an insider said, that she's overruling their advice - which was evident last week when she ignored GOP aides piling into waiting cars at a Colorado event and strolled over to the press corps for an impromptu talk.''
A campaign official privately tells the paper: "She's now positioning herself for her own future. Of course, this is bad for John. It looks like no one is in charge."
ABC News, among others, notes that, in an interview with CNN, one McCain adviser anonymously called Palin "a diva" who is "playing for her own future" political prospects.
""She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," the advisor told CNN. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. Also she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: divas trust only unto themselves as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."
Another McCain aide anonymously told Politico that Palin has been "going rogue" by criticizing strategic decisions by the McCain campaign, such as their use of robo-calls against Sen. Barack Obama in recent weeks, and the decision to pull out of the state of Michigan in early October.
(Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin pictured at a rally in Fort Wayne, Ind., Saturday, AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
ABC: The report in Politico cited tensions between the Palin and McCain camps, saying that Palin had become frustrated with McCain top advisors Steve Schmidt and Nicole Wallace. The two aides were key in formulating the early media strategy for Palin, limiting her to two major interviews with network news anchors Charles Gibson and Katie Couric -- both of which were widely criticized.
Schmidt and Wallace do not regularly travel with Palin, although they have during critical moments, including when she returned to Alaska for her first network interview with ABC's Gibson, and during her week of secluded debate preparation at McCain's ranch in Sedona, Arizona.
Wallace told ABC News: "If folks want to lay this at my feet and throw me under the bus, my belief is that the graceful thing to do is to lie there."
The Post sums up the story:
"In speeches, Palin has contradicted her running mate's positions on issues, telling a Christian news outlet last week that she would support a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, which McCain opposes.
"Though McCain once said he considered Obama's relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright to be an old issue, this month Palin said, "I don't know why that association isn't discussed more."
"Palin also publicly stated that she thought it was a mistake for the campaign to give up on Michigan, and that she thought voters were annoyed by robocalls - which McCain uses extensively.
"The last straw for the vice-presidential candidate was the raft of criticism from the $150,000 worth of high-end clothes the Republican National Committee bought her, a campaign source said.
"Palin showed how much that gaffe got under her skin yesterday at a rally in Sioux City, Iowa, telling the crowd she'd stepped off the plane and donned a warm, cream-colored jacket.
"And it's my own jacket," she said.
"A McCain insider told The Post that relations between Palin and some of the campaign aides with her have soured. "She's lost faith with the staff. She knows the $150,000- wardrobe story damaged her," the insider said.
But the novice vice-presidential candidate is partly to blame, the campaign official sniped. "She's an adult. She didn't ask questions about where the clothes came from?" the source said. "She's now positioning herself for her own future. Of course, this is bad for John. It looks like no one is in charge."
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/10/sarah_palin_rogue_diva_elephan.html
The "rogue diva'' of the McCain campaign is starting to look out for her own future now that the Republican presidential nominee's prospects are in doubt. Or, as the New York Post puts it:
"Sarah Palin is the rogue elephant in the GOP war room.''
The paper suggests "the maverick mom is distancing herself from John McCain and blowing off the advice of senior Republican aides, convinced they're damaging her reputation and ruining the campaign. Things have gotten so tense between Palin and her traveling staff, an insider said, that she's overruling their advice - which was evident last week when she ignored GOP aides piling into waiting cars at a Colorado event and strolled over to the press corps for an impromptu talk.''
A campaign official privately tells the paper: "She's now positioning herself for her own future. Of course, this is bad for John. It looks like no one is in charge."
ABC News, among others, notes that, in an interview with CNN, one McCain adviser anonymously called Palin "a diva" who is "playing for her own future" political prospects.
""She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," the advisor told CNN. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. Also she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: divas trust only unto themselves as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."
Another McCain aide anonymously told Politico that Palin has been "going rogue" by criticizing strategic decisions by the McCain campaign, such as their use of robo-calls against Sen. Barack Obama in recent weeks, and the decision to pull out of the state of Michigan in early October.
(Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin pictured at a rally in Fort Wayne, Ind., Saturday, AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
ABC: The report in Politico cited tensions between the Palin and McCain camps, saying that Palin had become frustrated with McCain top advisors Steve Schmidt and Nicole Wallace. The two aides were key in formulating the early media strategy for Palin, limiting her to two major interviews with network news anchors Charles Gibson and Katie Couric -- both of which were widely criticized.
Schmidt and Wallace do not regularly travel with Palin, although they have during critical moments, including when she returned to Alaska for her first network interview with ABC's Gibson, and during her week of secluded debate preparation at McCain's ranch in Sedona, Arizona.
Wallace told ABC News: "If folks want to lay this at my feet and throw me under the bus, my belief is that the graceful thing to do is to lie there."
The Post sums up the story:
"In speeches, Palin has contradicted her running mate's positions on issues, telling a Christian news outlet last week that she would support a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, which McCain opposes.
"Though McCain once said he considered Obama's relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright to be an old issue, this month Palin said, "I don't know why that association isn't discussed more."
"Palin also publicly stated that she thought it was a mistake for the campaign to give up on Michigan, and that she thought voters were annoyed by robocalls - which McCain uses extensively.
"The last straw for the vice-presidential candidate was the raft of criticism from the $150,000 worth of high-end clothes the Republican National Committee bought her, a campaign source said.
"Palin showed how much that gaffe got under her skin yesterday at a rally in Sioux City, Iowa, telling the crowd she'd stepped off the plane and donned a warm, cream-colored jacket.
"And it's my own jacket," she said.
"A McCain insider told The Post that relations between Palin and some of the campaign aides with her have soured. "She's lost faith with the staff. She knows the $150,000- wardrobe story damaged her," the insider said.
But the novice vice-presidential candidate is partly to blame, the campaign official sniped. "She's an adult. She didn't ask questions about where the clothes came from?" the source said. "She's now positioning herself for her own future. Of course, this is bad for John. It looks like no one is in charge."
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/10/sarah_palin_rogue_diva_elephan.html
