Sarah Palin Was Right #11: Palling Around With the McCain Campaign

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In light of Sarah Palin's decision to title her forthcoming memoir Going Rogue and recent statements critical of the 2008 GOP VP candidate made by senior McCain Campaign strategist and advisor Steve Schmidt, let's rewind a few months to July 10. A report last summer by Atlantic columnist Marc Ambinder, from the pages of Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson's "extremely well-reported history of the 2008 presidential campaign" -- The Battle for America -- puts both Sarah Palin's wording for her book title and her remarks on the stump about "palling around with terrorists" in proper perspective:

Whose idea was it for Gov. Sarah Palin to attack Barack Obama as a guy who "pals around with terrorists?" Palin's camp has always insisted that the McCain high command endorsed the stratagem, while folks close to McCain have accused Palin of going "rogue" and pointed to the "pals around" attack as an example of how Palin simply could not be controlled.

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But on the subject of linking Obama to ex-Weatherman Bill Ayers, it turns out that Palin hadn't gone rogue. Balz and Johnson answer this question pretty definitively. They've obtained an e-mail from campaign adviser Nicolle Wallace sent to Palin on the morning of October 4rd, with an attached New York Times article about Obama's relationship with Ayers:

"Governor and Team: rick [Davis], Steve [Schmidt] and I suggest the following attack from the new york times. If you are comfortable, please deliver the attack as written. Please do not make any changes to the below without approval from steve or myself because precision is crucial in our ability to introduce this."

McCain HQ had suggested the following line:

"This is not a man who sees American as you and I do -- as the greatest force for good in the world. This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country."

At the event, Palin said this:

"Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country. This is not a man who sees America as you see America and as I see America."

Schmidt has never denied ordering this attack, although others in the campaign told me at the time that Palin had instigated it.

We blogged about this back on July 10, but Ambinder's revelation, which should have been a blockbuster of a news story, was not widely reported by the Democrat-Media Complex. God forbid that they report anything which vindicates Sarah Palin!

- JP