Why did they accept that? What was wrong with them? Why did Wallace even let the interview go forward? They say she knows nothing, the Gibson interview was a mess. (not in the movie but in reality) And they let palin with no prep being obsessed with her phone and Alaska go forward? And then when it is a horrible campaign ruining disaster they keep her? Why?
shareI guess this is on a million times this month because it's one anniversary but what dumb stupid morons Schmidt and Wallace were!! Then palin then McCain. no McCain is the biggest moron in American political history because he hired Schmidt and Wallace and then Schmidt lobbied for palin and then McCain sees the couric interview and then does nothing!
shareWallace apparently tries to call it off (in theMovie at least). She called Steve and says `I don't think she should do it... she's having a mini meltdown...` but Steve wouldn't let her, advising her to just prep in in the ride over. Idiots
shareMy take - stepping back a little and taking it from the top, to start with:
Picking Palin as the running mate was the real mistake. I suppose it's somewhat understandable (McCain was going to lose anyway, and needed a Hail Mary), though that doesn't mean it's excusable.
Once they'd picked her, they couldn't dump her. Obviously, nothing that involves a contrafactual "what if" is entirely clear, but dumping her would've hurt the campaign a lot more than keeping her did. It also would've been more harmful in a broader sense, as she wouldn't just have been a rogue, but a rogue-martyr with an axe to grind (or bury in the back of other politicians). The only downside to not dumping her was the possibility that (a) they'd win and (b) McCain would die in office. The likelihood that even one would occur was slim, but both? Not likely, and not McCain's greatest concern, personally, in any event.
Keeping her on the ticket but dodging interviews is a tougher call, and something that - in retrospect - might have been the right decision. On the other hand, the Couric interview - much as it made Palin look foolish - didn't necessarily hurt McCain's chances all that much. People really vote for the President, not the Vice President. And - if you're going to do any interviews - Couric doesn't seem like the worst choice. Anyway, she's not the hardest-nosed interviewer in the world. Back on the first hand, it apparently fueled disaffection between Palin and the rest of the campaign. But that part was pretty hard to foresee.
If you step back a bit, the real problem wasn't Palin looking foolish, but eventually "going rogue." Whether doing the Couric interview (and others) made that more or less likely to occur is hard to say. It's not hard to imagine Palin going even more rogue if she perceived herself to be a powerful and charismatic politician (being exposed only to admiring crowds and never anyone critical) who was being held down by the campaign.
A lot of conservatives were demanding McCain dump her. Conservatives! Some conservatives and Republicans went on TV to say they would have voted for McCAin but could never ever risk Palin being president! There were so many! Buckley, Krauthammer, Parker, McKinnon, Murphy, Noonan etc etc! These were professional Republicans and conservatives all unanimous in their voting for McCain because of palin or palin should be removed by McCain. People paid to be Republicans on TV or in print all saying bad things about the guy who they were being paid to argue for Mccains presidency! Then you had people like Colin Powell! Republicans created him as a presence in the party and he said No to McCain because of palin. His meet the press appearance was all anti palin! Mccain would have united republicans by dumping palin and picking a qualified conservative woman of whom there were so many!
The Couric interview destroyed Palin and why all those conservatives were constantly demanding palins removal. Those people are paid to be Republicans but couldn't fall in line. So that was reflected at the voting booth when tons of republicans and independents felt they had no choice but to vote for Obama because Mccain like BUSH with IRAQ couldn't admit he had his own version of Iraq with Palin. An electoral Iraq and he didn't fix it!
The movie then shows you McCain and Schmidt hired a doctor to secretly observe her mental illness! I mean talk about giving a gift - everyone would have been united in supporting McCain removing her from the ticket!
After blowing it by picking her, they had nothing but bad choices to choose from, all of them awful.
- Keep her on: we saw what happened.
- Replacing her: would open McCain to criticism of faulty judgement (he's known to be reckless already), and would leave them exposed to Palin payback and backstabbing (which we know now she is perfectly capable and eager of).
They were doomed, plain and simple.
It was far worse judgment to put palin in charge of nuclear weapons than removing her from the ticket. Remember McCain had a doctor he secretly hired to follow her Around his Arizona BBQ because of all the reports of her potential mental illness. All he had to say was that she went into catatonic stupors and had to be removed. He couldn't have predicted her going into catatonic stupors!!!
share"It was far worse judgment to put palin in charge of nuclear weapons than removing her from the ticket. "
You're missing the point of her pick. She wasn't picked because she was qualified, she was picked to get the GOP base moving (they hated McCain and he feared they would sit election day out) and HOPEFULLY shave a couple points of women vote off from Obama.
"All he had to say was that she went into catatonic stupors and had to be removed."
And replace her with whom? The GOP base would retaliate by sitting out election day, and she would haunt them with a vengeance making McCain a worse laughingstock than her nationwide. They couldn't remove/replace her at that point.
Retaliate? McCain campaign had a doctor secretly observe her because of multiple witness testimony to palins catatonic stupors. You think palin supporters wouldve been mad that she was removed because of possible metal illness? They wanted her Vice President so much they would have been fine with her catatonic stupors? What if she became president and had to deal with nuclear weapons? They could have replaced her with any religious right winger who didn't suffer from catatonic stupors. Marilyn musgrave, Michelle Bachman, mike huckabee, Mary fallin - so many alternatives.
share"You think palin supporters wouldve been mad that she was removed because of possible metal illness?"
You CLEARLY have never been in one of her rallies, or seen one online. Her supporters are crazier than she is.
"They could have replaced her with any religious right winger who didn't suffer from catatonic stupors."
Not all right wingers can work the crowds. You would need a televangelist. Her main talent was precisely that: she knew just how to play the GOP base.
"Marilyn musgrave, Michelle Bachman, mike huckabee, Mary fallin - so many alternatives."
Half those choices are crazier than her (Bachman) or luckwarm (Huckabee). If there were truly so many VIABLE alternatives, they would have picked them instead.
They may be crazy but with proof of catatonic stupors and nervous breakdowns they would have still accepted her for VP? Your not just talking about believing crazy things but having catatonic stupors and nervous breakdowns. All Palin's were not having catatonic stupors and nervous breakdowns. They would surely have supported removing her because of her mental illness of catatonic stupors and nervous breakdowns.
Huckabee and Bachmann can work crowds and got elected to major offices because of their ability to do so.
They thought Palin was special but didn't know she would have catatonic stupors and nervous breakdowns and the campaign would have to hire a doctor to secretly observe her at a BBQ!
Schmidt and Wallace were deliberately sabotaging Palin's campaign. Whether they were motivated by secret bribes from the MSM or by leftist ideology (while posing as right wingers), they were sabotaging it. I'd urge everyone here to read Palin's book Going Rogue. It's VERY revealing. Nicole Wallace knew that the first Couric interview was a disaster, yet she immediately set up a second one. Then she arranged for Couric to ambush her again outside that stadium when she was already exhausted and not at her best. Couric would ask the same questions over and over again as a hostile reporter and use the worst snipets she could get to aire on TV.
When another Palin staffer confronted Schmidt for leaking negative information to the press, he threatened to give the press even more negative garbage about Palin.
If Schmidt and Wallace were true Republicans and Palin was that bad, they would hide from the liberal press to avoid embarrassment. Instead they gladly participated in making this movie and have interviews to the liberal press slamming Palin. They were never in her side note were they interested in seeing her and McCain win.