WEBVTT - The Palin Interviews, 10 Years Later: Part One 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:13.480 It was two ladies and gentlemen, the governor of Alaska 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:19.360 and the next Vice President of the United States, Sarah Palin. 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.840 Sarah Palin burst onto the national scene ten years ago, 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:28.600 and nobody had seen anything quite like her. Thank You. 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:34.000 Her coming out party was in St. Paul, Minnesota, at 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:37.960 the Republican National Convention. I will be honored to accept 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:43.520 your nomination for Vice President of the United States. One 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:48.360 of the great convention speeches that anybody will ever deliver. 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:52.920 I accepted Paul to help our nominee for president to 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:57.280 serve and defend America. Her speech was better than John mccains. 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:00.200 Her speech was the best speech of the convention. I 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:03.080 might add that in small towns, we don't quite know 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:06.160 what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:10.360 working people when they're listening, and then talks about how 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:13.399 bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:18.840 people aren't listening. I was so happy for her. She 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:23.680 nailed it. I ask you to join our cause and 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:28.280 help America elect a great man as the next President 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:42.119 of the United States. And after the party was over, 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:45.039 it was time for Palin to hit the campaign trail 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:49.600 and meet the press. Do you consider yourself a feminist. 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:54.880 I do feminists who believes in equal rights, and I 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:59.080 believe that women. This month marks ten years since my 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:03.240 interview with Sarah Palin actually interviews plural. We had a 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:07.800 total of four separate conversations. If it doesn't pass, what 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:12.520 is the alternative that the as I say, in action 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:14.960 is not an option. We have got to shore up 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:19.440 our economy. This is crisis moment for America. Really, the 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:22.400 rest of the world also looking to see what the 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.200 impacts will be if America were to choose not to 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.640 shore up what has happened on Wall Street because of 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:33.760 the the ultimate adverse effects on Main Street, and then 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:37.480 how that affects this globalization that we're a part of 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:40.560 in our world. So the rest of the world really 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:43.320 is I've done thousands of interviews during the course of 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:46.800 my career, but this one perhaps had the greatest impact. 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:51.360 It was everywhere all over the internet and oliver people 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:53.160 for a long time. That is one of the most 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:55.800 pathetic pieces of tape I have ever seen. For someone 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.200 aspiring to one of the highest officers in this country. 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:01.440 Palin is clearly out of leave and she has become, 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:05.040 as you noted, an object of ridicule, in part because 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.519 of that Katie Couric interview, which was a real turning 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:10.280 point in her kid The interviews were even spoofed on 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:13.040 s N. L Amy Pollard did her best Katie Curic, 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:17.880 and famously, Tina Fey channeled Sarah Palin Katie, I'd like 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:27.240 to use one of my lifelines. I'm sorry, I want 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:32.640 to phone a friend. Sarah Palin was mocked because of 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:36.320 what she didn't know, but maybe despite her lack of 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:40.680 policy detail, she actually knew more about the American electorate 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:44.520 than we realized. What if Sarah Palin was a sign 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:49.920 of things to come? We tend to prefer candidates who 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:52.840 don't talk about us. One way in Scranton and another 0:03:52.880 --> 0:04:01.160 way in San Francisco. This weekend next week and a 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.200 two part special, we're looking back at the rise and 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:08.200 fall of one of the most captivating candidates in recent memory. 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:11.840 We'll talk about the interview that was literally heard around 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:14.720 the world and the impact it had on the two 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.520 thousand eight election. We'll also take a look at the 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:21.240 American political scene today, Are you ready to make America 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:26.279 great Again? And we'll consider the path Sarah Palin may 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:30.080 have paved for the current President of the United States, 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:34.359 God was the United States America and our next President 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:39.680 of the United States, Donald J. Trump. Answer spinning Media 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:49.480 answer spinning. This is gonna be sold much funding. So, Katie, 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:51.560 back in two thousand and eight, as you know, I 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.720 worked with you at CBS as your political producer, and 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.800 we spend a lot of time getting ready for those interviews. 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:00.520 And since then we've actually spent even more more time 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:04.880 thinking and talking to people about those conversations. And Brian, 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:07.719 we should mention that one person we didn't talk to 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:11.760 for this podcast is Governor Palin herself, but not for 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:14.719 lack of trying. We did reach out and we asked 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.840 her if she'd like to participate, but we still haven't 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:21.560 gotten a response. In order to understand Sarah Palin, you 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:26.000 first need to understand the McCain campaign. Steve's here, How 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:30.719 are you? How are We sat down with Steve Schmidt, 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:34.120 a Republican strategist who had worked on the campaigns of 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:38.560 George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I've never talked about 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:42.280 any of this stuff in the first person. Steve first 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.800 got involved in the McCain campaign back in two thousand 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:47.799 and seven, when it looked like the Arizona Senator wasn't 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:50.640 even going to be a serious contender for his party's 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:55.080 presidential nomination. His campaign had collapsed in the summer of 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:58.600 two thousand and seven, and he had gone from front 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:03.400 runner to last play completely broke. The National Press Corps 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:07.240 was assembled in Manchester waiting for him to arrive. He 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:09.960 came in on a Southwest Airlines flight in the back 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:11.960 in the middle seat, you know, when are you getting 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:15.560 out of the race? And he called me, you know, 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.960 and I helped lead, you know, a comeback that he 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:22.680 was a big comeback in the history of presidential nominations, 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:26.880 from last to first, but it was just completely overshadowed 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:30.599 by the historic nature of the Hillary and the Obama race. 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:34.560 The day that McCain becomes the nominee of the party, 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:38.760 essentially there's thirty five people working for the campaign, were 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:41.920 nine million dollars in debt, and the four senior people 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.960 were all volunteers. I was a volunteer all the way through. 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.920 By contrast, day that Obama becomes the nominee, there's two 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:52.479 thousand people working on the campaign. There's hundreds of millions 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.960 of dollars in the bank, it was like fighting the 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:57.599 Death Star. And you know, by the time we get 0:06:57.600 --> 0:06:59.560 to the summer of oh eight, when I take over 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:04.080 dated A responsibilities for the campaign, Barack Obama is in 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:08.359 Berlin Um speaking to hundreds of thousands of screaming Germans 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.640 in the Steuben plots wherever it is. Let me thank 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:16.160 Chancellor Merkel, and thank you to the people of Germany 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:23.360 for this extraordinary welcome. Thank you. You know we're watching 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:26.520 this on TV on a day where McCain has the 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:31.080 Straight Talk Express parked outside of literally Schmidt's sausage house. 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:36.680 Schmitt's house, no relation to Steve Schmidt, who is part 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:39.120 of our campaign, as we know, somewhere in Ohio, and 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:43.240 there's six old ladies standing out there, right, boy, and 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:46.280 they're like, you're in charge, right, You're to be in 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:55.960 charge now. And so we came back over that summer 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.400 really from a deficit of fourteen fifteen points, and we 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:02.560 were by the time the Democratic Convention gets ready to go, 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:07.960 we're in an even race. They came back in part 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:12.880 by highlighting Obama's lack of experience. He's the biggest celebrity 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:20.520 in the world, but is he ready to lead? I'm 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:25.600 John McCain and I approved this message. Steve Schmidt was 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:28.800 feeling pretty good about the gains the McCain campaign had 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.840 made over the summer, but he still knew the chances 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:36.120 of winning or slim. It was definitely a change election. 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.520 There's been three times in the last you know, at 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:42.120 that point a hundred and eight years, where the incoming 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.680 president's party had gotten a third term. So we knew 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:48.559 we were in difficult circumstances and we were going to 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.840 have to do something big and to throw the ball. 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:56.320 So remember that in two thousand eight, you have a 0:08:56.360 --> 0:09:00.880 flagging economy, a disastrous war in Iraq, and into R. W. Bush, 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:06.360 a very unpopular incumbent Republican president, and here comes Barack Obama, 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:09.600 who had defeated Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary and 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:14.120 a huge upset. He was young, He gave these soaring speeches. 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:19.200 His campaign's mantra of hope and change was electrifying voters, 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:24.040 and he presented America with the legitimate possibility of electing 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:28.200 the first African American president ever. So, yeah, Katie, I 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:31.160 think it's safe to say that McCain's team was feeling 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:34.440 the pressure. He said, we're not gonna win We're just 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.400 we're gonna go to the bottom of the of the drink, 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:43.400 so to speak, here really fast, no excitement, no sizzle. UM. 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:46.480 And I said, our our choices sucked. This process has 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:50.160 been bad. We don't have a viable choice now to 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:52.240 do what we need to do politically. And I said, 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:56.920 um to my ever lasting regret in these words slowed 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:59.680 down in my mind to to this day. And I said, 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:05.480 what about Sarah Palin? I said, I don't know much 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:09.200 about her other than she's the most popular governor in 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.840 the country. She's got an eighty six percent approval rating. 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:17.000 She's gone after the oil companies. She's feuding with all 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:21.160 these corrupt Alaska politicians, including the senators that McCain hates 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:24.920 their guts. I said, we should check her out, and 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:32.640 the rest is history. One of Steve Schmidt's closest colleagues 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:36.360 during that campaign was Nicole Wallace. They'd worked together in 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:40.760 California politics and for George W. Bush, it was Wallace 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:43.600 who was assigned to help Sarah Palin prepare for the 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:47.319 major moments of the campaign. How has it been ten years? 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.240 I'm scarred as though it was yesterday. Well, let's talk 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:52.840 about how you got those scars in the first place. 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:55.319 Tell us a little bit about the first day you 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:58.720 met Sarah Palin. What were your initial impressions. So I 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:03.480 didn't know who her McCain had selected, and I tried 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:06.040 to squeeze in a root canal, which is the kind 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.280 of idiocy you engage in on presidential campaigns in between 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:11.679 the two conventions. So I had raised home to New 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:14.160 York to have a root canal, and they called and 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:16.120 they said you have to be there for VP and 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:19.160 ounce and UM. And I threw a fit. And I 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:23.160 was on vicadin and antibiotics and out of my mind. 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:25.960 And I and I take a flight and we drive 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:29.440 to Middletale and I pulled up in front of it 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:31.280 and I said, there is no way Steve Schmidt is 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:34.000 staying here. This place is such a dumb We get 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:38.079 out and and Steve and Salter outside and Salter smoking 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:40.680 like two cigarettes with one hand, and I'm like, oh 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:43.160 my god, what are we done? And they they threw 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:45.640 open the door, and I'm three sheets to the wind 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.000 on vicadin. And I stared at her and I think, 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.920 I think of who is this? You know, she's beautiful, 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:54.960 but who is this? And and Steve said, Nicole, meet 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.880 the next Vice President of the United States, Sarah Palin 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.200 from the great State of Alaska. And I said, and 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:02.880 I said, nice to meet you. Congratulations. She had on 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.400 a black fleece and a black mini skirt and she 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:10.320 was just stunning and charming and charismatic. And I talked 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.320 to her for a minute and I said, excuse me, 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:15.800 and I walked out, and Steve followed me out, and 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:18.720 he said, what do you think And I said, oh, 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:23.120 she's great. She seems great. And he said there's a 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:25.679 couple of things. It's not going to be smooth. And 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:27.199 I said, well, I said, well, you know, the daughter 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:30.960 is pregnant. And I said, oh, okay, and I said 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:34.280 she's sixteen. I said okay, and then he and he said, 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:37.320 you know, he gave me a couple other red flags. 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:39.200 And I said, oh, yeah, I'm sure everything will work out. 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:41.719 And and she was. You know, she was a surprise 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.040 to me, as she was a surprise to the country, 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:47.920 a surprise to Wallace because she knew who McCain's first 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:53.160 choice for vice president actually was. The idea was that 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:55.560 McCain was going to go out and he was going 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:59.880 to say Barack Obama is a good man, and I 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:03.520 think he's gonna be President of the United States someday, 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:07.840 but not yet. He's not ready, and we have some 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:11.720 serious problems in this country. And then say, I'm seventy 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:15.360 two years old. I've spent every hour of my adult 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:19.000 life in service to the country, and if the American 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:23.160 people so honor me with it, I have one last mission. 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:26.560 For that mission, I've asked a great American, a great 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:30.080 member of the Democratic Party, to stand with me, Senator 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:33.920 Joe Lieberman. I'm going to serve one term only, and 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.439 we thought we had a chance with that. How close 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:41.880 did you come to extreme? Became extremely close. You might recall, 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:45.920 Joe Lieberman was besties with John McCain and along with 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:50.080 Senator Lindsey Graham, they were called the Three Amigos. Graham 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:53.400 was so excited about the Lieberman idea he just couldn't 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:57.200 keep it to himself. So what happened was Lindsey Graham 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:01.600 um floated this idea out at a meeting somewhere in 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:05.640 South Carolina with a lot of hardcore conservatives, and you know, 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:09.120 the answer was predictable, and literally within hours, you know, 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:12.720 President Bush had called Rove had called um your Russ 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:17.120 Limbaud called Hannity, and so we said, I can't do it. 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:21.120 So to be clear, but for Lindsay Graham's leak, the 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.720 ticket would have been McCain and Lieberman. There would have 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:31.600 been unhappiness, there may have been controlled rioting, but I 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.480 think we would have gotten it through. So the base 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.160 of the party was having none of Joe Lieberman. But 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:41.200 John McCain was still ready to do something big and bold. 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:45.480 Was this a real hail Mary? Yeah? For sure. He 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:48.440 felt like there was this little sliver of the electorate 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:53.040 that might be available. Um uh, people that that that 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:56.280 had been really hungry for a female Canada and Hillary Clinton. 0:14:57.120 --> 0:14:59.440 And you know, I wouldn't I wouldn't lay at all 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:00.600 on that. I think there were a lot of things 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:03.200 about Sarah Palin that appealed to John McCain, the maverick. 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:05.840 But but certainly, you know, putting a woman on the ticket. 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:08.280 It turned out to be important to him when he 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:12.040 selected her. Meanwhile, the Obama campaign learned of the choice 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:16.239 as they wrapped up their convention. Here's Obama chief strategist 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:20.440 David axel Rod and we got on the plane leaving 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:25.600 Denver the campaign plane and I got on my BlackBerry, 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:29.120 which is what we were carrying at the time, the 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:32.680 news that, uh, Sarah Palin had been chosen as the 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:35.120 running mate. And when you got that news, what was 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:39.560 your reaction. I was surprised. We had been doing research 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:43.720 on I think seven potential running mates for John McCain. 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:47.040 She was not one of them. I really didn't know 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:51.320 that much about her. I will say I went up 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:55.600 to the front of the plane and I grabbed Obama 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:58.920 and I told him, you know, he's big Sarah Palin 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:03.560 and m Biden ran over after a while and so 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.280 what's going on? And I told him and he said, 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:13.520 who's Sarah Palin? Yeah. I remember Senator Obama saying, in 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:17.600 his analytical way, now, that's very interesting why I think 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:20.040 he did that. And he's running through the reasons in 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:25.440 his own head. She's a woman, she's an outsider, represents change. 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:27.920 And then he paused and he said, but you know, 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:31.800 he said, this running for president thing, this is tough. 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:34.480 He said, you know, I think I'm a reasonably smart guy. 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:37.480 And it took me probably six months before I was 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:41.440 a halfway decent candidate. Uh, you know, maybe she's the 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:44.440 greatest politician since Ronald Reagan. And she could come right 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:48.840 out of it Alaska and handle this Maelstrom, he said. 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:52.360 But I'd give this about a month and then we'll know. 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:58.480 And I am especially proud to say in the week 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:03.720 we celebrate the anniversary of women's suffrage, devoted wife and 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:09.520 a mother of five, she's got the great integrity, good sense, 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:13.600 and fierce devotion to the common good. That is exactly 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:19.960 what we need in Washington today. I know that it 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:23.760 will demand the best that I have to give, and 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:33.320 I promise nothing less. I just thought, I don't know 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:36.000 how this is gonna work out, and I said so publicly, 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:38.640 and I was told quite explicitly. And I won't tell 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:40.840 you a boy who to shut the hell up. That's 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:44.520 a long time Republican polster and TV pundit, Frank Lents. 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:46.679 He actually spends a lot of time out in the 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:49.720 country talking to voters. So why do you think she 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:53.040 was picked? I think she was picked because people like 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:56.639 Bill Crystal thought she'd be amazing. Uh. There are a 0:17:56.720 --> 0:17:59.359 number of stories that were positive about her. In the 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:02.640 Weekly stand. Udered that Fox News had talked about her, 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:10.480 and there was that pressure from the conservative intelligentsia that 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:12.520 they should go with it, John McCain should go with 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:16.000 someone who wasn't necessarily from the intelligencia, that they should 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:18.240 go with someone who could really connect because everyone knew 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:21.840 that Barack Obama could connect. This is the time when 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:24.800 they started to say among Republicans that they wanted to 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:28.679 choose someone who could relate to people in the phone 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:32.200 book rather than people who taught at Harvard, Yale or Princeton. 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:34.359 But the boys were doing, we're out chopping wood, and 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:37.400 we're out hunting and fishing and filling our freezer with 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:41.119 good while to lasting game to feed our family. So 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:43.240 it kind of started with but we've never had it 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:46.919 in this kind of package before. We never had someone 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:50.479 who actually did pick up a gun and shoot bears. 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:54.320 We never had someone who could skin a fish or 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:58.480 some of the phrases that she used fish whatever you 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:01.760 gotta fish, skin of fish. I hate fish, so you 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:06.320 gotta understand I would find it morally and physically reprehensible 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:10.639 to do anything with a fish. But she could. And 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:13.160 that was what was different about her. She was real, 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:20.320 She was she was every American, and she was approachable. 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:26.560 She was relatable, and that is not typical. She's not 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:30.080 she's not from these parts, and she's not from Washington. 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:33.959 But when you get to know her, you're gonna be 0:19:34.040 --> 0:19:43.760 as impressed as I am. Tonight, we are still looking 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:46.919 at a major hurricane. There's no change there. The choice 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:50.000 of Sarah Palin was announced on a Friday, and her 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:54.159 first big test was the Republican National Convention, which was 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:58.320 supposed to start the following Monday, but it could be 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:01.720 up to twelve to six a storm surge. There was 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:08.040 a Category five hurricane that was forecast to hit New 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:11.120 Orleans on the day that Bush and Cheney were both 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:16.199 speaking at the Republican Convention with approval levels. It was 0:20:16.320 --> 0:20:20.480 also the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which served as 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:25.320 yet another reminder of the GOP's very unpopular incumbent. I 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:27.760 was like, you know what, when is somebody to tell me? 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:30.880 The Straight Talk Express hit the bubonic plague bus right 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:33.480 and then wiped out the city at Charleston. I mean, 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:36.600 it was just you couldn't you couldn't make it up. 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:41.919 It was the most intensive kind of communications crisis experience 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:55.679 I've had in my life. After a rocky start, the 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:59.719 convention was back on course. Let's get John McCain and 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:04.080 say her pent elected. It was day three. Rudy Giuliani, 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:08.480 Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee, all men. John McCain beat 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:13.000 in the primary spoke, and then it was Palin's turn. 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:17.800 The stakes could not have been higher, and I'm backstage 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:20.560 with McCain, who'se boy, goes, how's she gonna do in 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:24.280 the speech? I was like, it's it's gonna be okay, um, 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:30.520 not believing that necessarily right, ladies and gentlemen, the governor 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.479 of Alaska. I don't ever ever told the story, but 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:38.479 I walked her onto the stage and she was holding 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:41.200 my hand and she had tea, and the last thing 0:21:41.240 --> 0:21:43.280 she did was hand me her tea, and then I 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:45.639 let go of her hand and she goes to have 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:47.199 to go out there now. I said, she's gonna go 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:50.600 out there now, it's gonna be great, and oh god, 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:53.040 it gives me like the same like tightness in my 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:56.800 chest ten years later. But she went out there and 0:21:56.880 --> 0:21:59.040 I was standing so close to her that I was 0:21:59.080 --> 0:22:03.240 reading the prompt or alongside her, and at one point 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:06.359 someone held up a sign and covered the prompter and 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:10.440 I went, oh fuck, it's like don't cover the prompter, 0:22:11.119 --> 0:22:14.280 and Sarah Palin without missing a beat. That was when 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:17.280 she said, I love those hockey moms. You know they 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:19.720 say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:26.479 bull lipstick. That wasn't in the speed though it was 0:22:26.520 --> 0:22:30.080 a fan held up a sign and covered her prompter 0:22:30.160 --> 0:22:32.800 for a minute, and I, you know, died a thousand 0:22:32.840 --> 0:22:37.840 deaths in that moment. That impromptu zinger had convention goers 0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:41.160 eating out of Palin's hand. Katie, you and I were there, 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:44.239 and as you know, the speech was both funny and 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:47.240 very moving. No matter how you feel about Sarah Palin 0:22:47.320 --> 0:22:49.920 today back then, if you were in that convention hall 0:22:50.040 --> 0:22:53.520 or watching on TV, she definitely hit it out of 0:22:53.520 --> 0:22:58.480 the park. Our nominee for president is a true profile 0:22:58.560 --> 0:23:02.080 and courage and like that are hard to come by. 0:23:02.359 --> 0:23:05.520 He's a man who wore the uniform of his country 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:09.560 for twenty two years and refused to break faith with 0:23:09.640 --> 0:23:13.639 those troops in Iraq who now have brought victory within sight. 0:23:21.520 --> 0:23:24.080 And as the mother of one of those troops, that 0:23:24.240 --> 0:23:27.280 is exactly the kind of man I want as commander 0:23:27.359 --> 0:23:32.760 in ch I was in the back room with with 0:23:32.840 --> 0:23:36.480 John McCain. Here's Steve Schmidt again in about thirty seconds. 0:23:36.480 --> 0:23:39.800 In a minute in he goes, she's good, she's good, 0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:44.840 she's good. Another minute it was, and she's great, great. 0:23:44.920 --> 0:23:46.760 You know by the time another couple of minutes and 0:23:46.760 --> 0:23:51.320 he's like, she's she's she's she's sucking great. Meanwhile, poster 0:23:51.440 --> 0:23:54.439 Frank Lantz was up in the stands. I was in 0:23:54.480 --> 0:23:58.000 the box with the big donors. And I need to 0:23:58.040 --> 0:24:00.200 be careful about this because many of them have been 0:24:00.240 --> 0:24:03.200 married to or even three times. And when they saw 0:24:03.320 --> 0:24:07.359 her step out with a the shortest skirt ever that 0:24:07.480 --> 0:24:11.679 anyone has worn at a national well, let us just 0:24:11.720 --> 0:24:15.679 say that they remarked verbally about how short it was. 0:24:15.760 --> 0:24:19.439 So perceptions, reality and politics. If that's what they perceive, 0:24:19.520 --> 0:24:22.280 its ok. And they said things that today might have 0:24:22.280 --> 0:24:25.400 gotten them into trouble. But they were mesmerized by her. 0:24:25.480 --> 0:24:33.520 The convention was mesmerized by her. I guess, I guess 0:24:33.600 --> 0:24:38.880 a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, 0:24:39.160 --> 0:24:51.560 except that you have actual responsibilities. Here's a little news 0:24:51.760 --> 0:24:56.439 flash for those reporters and commentators. I'm not going to 0:24:56.520 --> 0:24:59.960 Washington to seek their good opinion. I'm going to Washington 0:25:00.040 --> 0:25:07.119 and to serve the people of this great country. To 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:12.520 this day, the loudest noise I have ever heard in 0:25:12.520 --> 0:25:18.760 my life created by human beings, was the sound of 0:25:19.359 --> 0:25:24.280 political ecstasy unleashed by one of the great convention speeches 0:25:24.359 --> 0:25:31.119 that anybody will ever deliver, Join our cause and help 0:25:31.240 --> 0:25:35.760 America elect a great man as the next president of 0:25:35.800 --> 0:25:47.880 the United States. She electrified that Republican convention. Everyone's high 0:25:47.920 --> 0:25:52.080 fiving each other. All the guys in that booth thought, 0:25:52.560 --> 0:25:56.280 this is going to be the next Margaret Thatcher, only 0:25:56.640 --> 0:26:03.040 approachable and relatable. I can't begin to illustrate just how 0:26:03.080 --> 0:26:06.359 excited the people in the box and all the people 0:26:06.400 --> 0:26:10.880 around me that this was the choice everyone walked out 0:26:10.920 --> 0:26:14.320 of They're thinking this may have been the most important 0:26:14.320 --> 0:26:19.920 speech that they had ever seen. And I remember afterwards, 0:26:19.960 --> 0:26:23.200 I saw John McCain too, and he he said the 0:26:23.280 --> 0:26:25.320 same thing. You know, she did great. And I said 0:26:25.320 --> 0:26:28.400 her prompter went down. He said it did and I said, yeah, 0:26:28.400 --> 0:26:30.199 it was blocked at one point and went down at 0:26:30.200 --> 0:26:31.800