ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (CNN) -- With 10 days until Election Day, long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense, they are spilling out in public, sources say.
Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."
A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged roll-out.
McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan.
A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.
"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "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."
A Palin associate defended her, saying that she is "not good at process questions" and that her comments on Michigan and the robocalls were answers to process questions.
But this Palin source acknowledged that Palin is trying to take more control of her message, pointing to last week's impromptu news conference on a Colorado tarmac.
Tracey Schmitt, Palin's press secretary, was urgently called over after Palin wandered over to the press and started talking. Schmitt tried several times to end the unscheduled session.
"We acknowledge that perhaps she should have been out there doing more," a different Palin adviser recently said, arguing that "it's not fair to judge her off one or two sound bites" from the network interviews.
The Politico reported Saturday on Palin's frustration, specifically with McCain advisers Nicolle Wallace and Steve Schmidt. They helped decide to limit Palin's initial press contact to high-profile interviews with Charlie Gibson of ABC and Katie Couric of CBS, which all McCain sources admit were highly damaging.
In response, Wallace e-mailed CNN the same quote she gave the Politico: "If people want to throw me under the bus, my personal belief is that the most honorable thing to do is to lie there."
But two sources, one Palin associate and one McCain adviser, defended the decision to keep her press interaction limited after she was picked, both saying flatly that she was not ready and that the missteps could have been a lot worse.
They insisted that she needed time to be briefed on national and international issues and on McCain's record.
"Her lack of fundamental understanding of some key issues was dramatic," said another McCain source with direct knowledge of the process to prepare Palin after she was picked. The source said it was probably the "hardest" to get her "up to speed than any candidate in history."
Sure, OK. Let's take a look at what you've got here.
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (CNN) -- ...key aides to Sen. John McCain...sources say.
Several McCain advisers... A Palin associate...McCain sources say...A second McCain source says...said this McCain adviser. A Palin associate... this Palin source... a different Palin adviser recently said...all McCain sources admit...two sources, one Palin associate and one McCain adviser...said another McCain source...The source said...
Respected journalists like Robert Novak don't need to source their information.
But anybody critical of the Republican party is printing worthless bullshit if they don't.
I guess this just shows that the McCain campaign is full of pussies who are afraid to speak on the record.
Mikey wrote:Respected journalists like Robert Novak don't need to source their information.
But anybody critical of the Republican party is printing worthless bullshit if they don't.
I guess this just shows that the McCain campaign is full of pussies who are afraid to speak on the record.
They're too busy updating their resumes to speak on the record.
"Once upon a time, dinosaurs didn't have families. They lived in the woods and ate their children. It was a golden age."
—Earl Sinclair
"I do have respect for authority even though I throw jelly dicks at them.
Mikey wrote:Respected journalists like Robert Novak don't need to source their information.
But anybody critical of the Republican party is printing worthless bullshit if they don't.
I guess this just shows that the McCain campaign is full of pussies who are afraid to speak on the record.
But at least you know who Robert Novak is and the circles he travels in - articles like that, picked up off the wire are worthless.
