WEBVTT - The Palin Interviews, 10 Years Later: Part Two 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:14.360 Oh, we knew we were in difficult circumstances and we 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:18.840 were going to have to do something big. To my 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:24.759 ever lasting regret, I said, what about Sarah Palin? We 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:27.760 tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:37.880 way in Scratton and another way in San Francisco. Today 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:40.920 on the podcast, we're bringing you the second episode of 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:43.680 our two parts special on the Sarah Palin Interviews I 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:46.720 did ten years ago this month on the CBS Evening News. 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:49.640 In the first episode, we heard the behind the scenes 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:53.360 story of how Paling got selected and three sheets to 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:55.240 the wind On vikeed in and I stared at her 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:57.880 and I think, I think, who is this? You know 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:01.680 she's beautiful, but who is this? And um Biden ran 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:05.520 over and he said, who's Sarah Palin? Then we got 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:08.720 the backstage view of palin celebrated speech at the two 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:11.680 thousand and eight Republican National Convention. I was in the 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.000 box with the big donors. I was in the back 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.000 room with John McCain and they were mesmerized by her. 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:19.600 A couple of minutes and he's like, she's she's she's 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:24.120 sucking great, right, Sarah Palin breathed new life into the 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:27.759 McCain campaign. But then it was time to answer some 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:33.399 real questions from the press. Why isn't it better Governor 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:36.960 Palin to spend seven hundred billion dollars helping middle class 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:41.520 families who are struggling with healthcare, housing, gas, and groceries. Ultimately, 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:44.760 what the bail out does is help those who are 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:48.000 concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:51.680 shore up our economy, helping the it's got to be 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:54.400 all about job creation to shoring up our economy and 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.640 putting it back on the right track. So this interview 0:01:57.680 --> 0:01:59.800 was famous at the time and got a lot of play, 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.200 but a lot of the behind the scenes stories we 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.560 heard in part one we're really fascinating and new to us. 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.160 That's right. A lot of advisers said they were telling 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:10.760 us things for the very first time. And by the way, 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:13.000 if you haven't heard the first part of this two 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:15.680 part series, now is a good time to hit pause 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:19.200 and give that episode a listen and then come back. 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:25.239 In this episode, we'll take a look at what came 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.400 after my interviews with Sarah Palin, the struggles of the 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:33.160 McCain campaign, Palin's decision to start quote going rogue, and 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.120 most of all, how she changed the game and ushered 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:39.840 in a new era in American politics. They say I 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:41.639 have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:44.120 where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:46.639 and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters? Okay? 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:54.520 Just like incredible. So the mccing guys are sitting around, 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:58.600 they've got a pullback saying they're losing, and they're freaking out, 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.640 and they're seeing all this average about how Obama's turned 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.520 off all the women. And somebody popped up through the 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:06.360 floor boards. I don't know if it was Steve Schmidt 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:10.280 or whoever it was, but somebody said, there's a woman 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:15.480 in Alaska who's really great. That's Republican political consultant Mike Murphy. 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:18.720 He was friends with John McCain and a top advisor 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:21.960 when the Arizona senator first ran for president back in 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:25.000 two thousand. That was, of course, when McCain made his 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:29.200 name riding the Straight Talk Express, but ultimately lost the 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:35.120 nomination to George W. Bush. Proudly accept your nomination. I 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:37.760 have said that I will support the nominee of the party. 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:42.480 I look forward to enthusiastically campaigning for Governor Busch for 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:45.280 the next six months, but when McCain finally won his 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:49.640 party's nomination in two thousand eight, Murphy watched from the sidelines. 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:53.360 At first she was new and interesting and pretty and 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:58.000 not a typical grumpy, old white Republican guy. But I uh, 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.560 I think the first act was that new splash of excitement, 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:05.280 and then the second act was unraveling the meltdown, the 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.600 true Hollywood story of Sarah Palin, and that that was 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:13.720 It's cruel but interesting to watch somebody who was incapable 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.920 melt under constant media scrutiny, and then the professional kind 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:21.600 of Tina Fey comedy while just grinding away. We don't 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.960 know if this climate change, WHOSI what's it is man 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.760 made or if it's just a natural part of the 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:32.600 end of days. But those SNL sketches were not the 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:36.520 only thing grinding away at Sarah Palin. The media was 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:40.520 relentless with the interviews she has done are raising eyebrows. 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:43.880 The most recent with Katie Curran. Excerpt from an interview 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:47.320 with Katie Kuric. Here's the question, is Governor Sarah Palin 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:51.720 qualified to be president? And remember, around the same time 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:55.240 Palin was starting to draw some serious scrutiny, the global 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:59.680 economy was collapsing, and McCain had a big announcement to 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:04.560 make tomorrow morning, I'll suspend my campaign and return to Washington. 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:08.839 As part of that campaign suspension, McCain requested that the 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:13.840 presidential debate, scheduled for two days later, be postponed. His opponent, 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:18.160 Barack Obama, pushed back, it's my belief that this is 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:21.080 exactly the time when the American people need to hear 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:27.160 from the person who, in approximately forty days will be 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:30.640 responsible for dealing with this mess. It ended up looking 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:33.839 a bit like McCain was trying to duck the first debate, 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:37.799 or it was some kind of publicity stunt. Yeah, either way, 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.680 it wasn't a good look. McCain ended up going to 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:42.919 the debate, But the bottom line is that in the 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:46.360 three week period between the convention and that debate, he'd 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:49.000 gone from a dead heat in the polls to nine 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:54.240 points down. Post debate, Pale and did another interview with 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.200 you on CBS. That's right, Brian, but this time it 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:00.719 was a joint interview with John McCain. They hoped to 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:04.320 stem the damage from the first interview, but they couldn't 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:07.479 quite present a united front. Over the weekend, Governor Palin, 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:11.000 you said the U. S Should absolutely launch cross border 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:15.120 attacks from Afghanistan into Pakistan to quote stop the terrorists 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:18.400 from coming any further in. Now, that's almost the exact 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:21.560 position Barack Obama has taken, and that you, Senator McCain 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:25.160 have criticized as something you do not say out loud. So, 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:28.080 Governor Palin, are you two on the same page. We 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:31.560 had a great discussion with President. Then in early October, 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:35.640 bad news started to surface. In Alaska, Sarah Palin found 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:40.600 herself embroiled in trooper gate. Last July, Palin fired Alaska's 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:44.200 Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monaghan. He says he was fired 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.480 because he refused to fire Palin's former brother in law, 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.520 Mike Wootton, a state trooper. And then there was the 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:54.200 so called Bridge to Nowhere. On the campaign trail, Sarah 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:57.200 Palin said, thanks, but no thanks for that bridge to 0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.960 nowhere up in Alaska. If our state wanted a bridge, 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.720 we were going to build it ourselves. But as it 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:06.400 turns out, she actually did support that project, which really 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:10.440 undercut her image as this outsider who defied the wastefulness 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:14.440 of Washington, and then in mid October, leaks from the 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:19.640 McCain campaign about Governor Palin's erratic behavior and reports that 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:23.040 she had been spending lots of campaign funds on clothing 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.960 for her and her family, like a hundred and fifty 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:29.280 thousand dollars worth. A New York Times article from late 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:33.320 October noted a seventy five thousand dollar tab at Nemon 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:38.280 Marcus at about fifty thousand at Saxfith Avenue. All these 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:41.920 embarrassments really started to add up. It was pretty clear 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:47.800 the McCain campaign was falling out of love with Sarah Palin. So, Steve, 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:51.200 at this point, did you entertain any thoughts of replacing 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:56.360 her on the Republican ticket? Campaign strategist doesn't, I mean, 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:59.880 doesn't have that power right unilaterally. That's Steve Schmidt, a 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:02.920 senior McCain adviser. We heard a lot from him in 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:07.520 Part one. We had a conversation amongst a small group 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:13.680 after Lehman Brothers went down and the global economy collapse, 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:17.920 that this was something that we would talk about, we 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:22.040 would entertain, and that would only be on the basis 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:25.360 of upward momentum in the race, Brian. We were both 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:28.000 stunned when Steve Schmidt told us that, Yeah, Katie, I 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:31.360 thought this was absolutely incredible. In other words, Schmidt and 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.760 a small group within the McCain campaign agreed that if 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:38.080 it looked like McCain might actually win, they would go 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:42.240 to him to discuss dropping Sarah Palin. She was creating 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:46.400 not just political problems, but potentially legal ones as well. 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:51.000 Everywhere He's candidates go, they're they're handed, you know, a 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.760 jersey jacket. You know, there's some there's some gift that 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:58.400 someone gives. And you know, for McCain and Obama, who 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:02.720 were both senators, and ethics laws with felony provisions on it. 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:06.720 You have to take those items, log them in, send 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.360 them back to the campaign headquarters, and if the candidate 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:11.360 wants this stuff at the end of the campaign, they 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.040 can buy it, right, but you can't accept the gift. 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:19.000 And so in Palin's case, you had hundreds of thousands 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:25.640 of dollars of clothes purchases that were obscenely inappropriate. You 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:30.800 had no gifts being logged in, and each one of 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:35.280 these things was a felony violation right of Alaska ethics law. 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:38.840 And I honest to God, believed that if we were 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:42.800 somehow able to manage to win in this, she never 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.080 would have made it to the oath of office because 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.600 of the hundreds of felony violations of free gifts, free 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:51.760 ship and everything else that they grifted off of the campaign, 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:54.040 and it would all come out. So wait a second. 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:59.000 You had total confidence that if McCain were elected, Palin 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:03.079 would never have been come vice president. That's right by 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:08.000 the middle of it, because each pair of Ferragamo shoes 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:13.200 was a felony. That's a felony. The ethics laws of 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:17.560 the of the state were crystal clear. This seems almost 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:21.679 in this era of Trump, almost traite. But if the 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:25.480 McCain campaign was getting exasperated with Sarah Palon, it was 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:28.760 clear she was getting fed up too. I think that 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:33.520 there were probably moments and times where Sarah decided to 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:37.000 screw this, I'm just gonna do this the way I 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:40.959 feel it, which always got the more natural response from 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:43.360 the audience, and that was really evident a lot of 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:46.160 times when she and McCain were together. That's Michael Steele, 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:50.240 the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. He defends 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:54.000 Pale and style of aggressive campaigning, which was so different 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:58.200 from John McCain's more measured approach. Listen here as McCain 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:01.520 speaks with one of his supporters that town hall. This 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:05.280 is one of those classic McCain moments that was replayed 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:09.560 a lot when he died in August. I can't trust Obama. 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.200 I have read about him, and he's not He's not 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:18.480 he's a UM. He's an Arab. He is not no 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.600 no man, no man, He's a He's a He's a 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:27.000 decent family man, citizen that I just happened to have 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:31.000 disagreements with on on fundamental issues. And that's what this 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:34.120 campaign is all about. He's not, thank you, UM, we're 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.319 scared of an Obama presidency. I have to tell you 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:41.200 he is a decent person and a person that you 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:44.960 do not have to be scared as president United States. Now, 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:51.320 I just now, I just the thing is, McCain actually 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:55.280 had no problem going negative against Barack Obama, but there 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.679 were certain lines he just wouldn't cross. But for Palin 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.880 there didn't seem to be an lines. She didn't hesitate 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:06.319 to paint Obama as different from her and her supporters. 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:10.040 I am just so fearful that this is not a 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:13.040 man who sees America. This is not a man who 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:16.720 sees America. Man, you and I Derreica as you and 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:22.240 I see America. She used guilt by associations our opponents. 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:26.920 Is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pall 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:30.560 around with terrorists who targeted their own country, to work 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:34.080 with a former domestics with her former domestic terrorist kind 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:38.480 of targeted his own country. Press bashing this vs. Coming 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:42.600 from the lamestream media. Don't get sucked into the lamestream 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:49.280 media's lies about how conservative America's standing up for freedom 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:54.400 and her rallies were increasingly marked by volatile outburst. Washington 0:12:54.480 --> 0:12:57.440 Post reporting that when Governor Palin recounted the Obama and 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.800 Air's portion of her stump speech in Clearwater, one man 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:04.120 in the audience proposing to quote kill him whether the 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:14.640 remark was great, you're the terrorist ires of all the ires, 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:20.160 Palin never lifted a finger to tap down those feelings. 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:23.600 Do you think that was a mistake. You know, that's 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.240 a good question. I don't know. That's Michael Steele again. 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:28.960 Always in every campaign was the role of the vice 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:32.120 presidential candidate to be the attack dog. It's the attack 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:35.200 dog I'm the bad cop, you're the good cop. Mr. 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:39.400 Presidential nominee. Why is it so different? Because she hit 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:42.280 some hot buttons that people didn't want hit. So I'm 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:46.600 not going to place that completely on Sarah's shoulders because 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:51.800 there was some derivative benefit to the campaign for it. 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:54.520 It's interesting that Michael Steele, who was the first black 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:58.200 chair of the Republican Party, says Palin got too much 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:02.880 flak for her campaign rhetoric. Okay, I think what colors that, 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.000 if I can use that word, is the fact that 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:10.120 they were running against an African American UM. If Obama 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:14.000 was some white guy from Illinois, I don't think people 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:17.720 would have this take the same Umbridge um and see 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:24.000 the same level of dangerous rhetoric. But but Republican audiences 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:27.880 didn't shout treason, terrorists kill him about Al Gore and 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:38.360 John Kerry. No, they didn't. They shouted other things that were, 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:42.720 you know, just as reprehensible. Do you think Palin was 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:45.880 using race in some sense? She wasn't using race in 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.360 some sense. She was using race. This was he's not 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:53.080 one of us, he's different, He's one of them. That's 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:57.840 Jessica Gellen, who covered Palin for CNN was the community 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.360 organizer attack about race. I think that was about race 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:08.320 and class. How so he's organizing those people to get power, 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:15.640 and that's a threat. I think that's implicit. Well, if 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:18.320 Palin was using a dog whistle when it came to 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:22.040 issues of race and class, she was using a bullhorn 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:26.080 when it came to attacking the media. Jessica Yellen covered 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:30.240 many Palin rallies. The rally was set up was outdoors, 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.600 and she was on the podium and then there were 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:35.520 about seven thousand people there and then we're right up 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.520 against the crowd on these rafters, and at one point 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.960 she was rilling people up about the lamestream media and 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:45.040 how dishonest we are. And then she said, turn around, 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:47.360 turn around there, right there, and you look down. There's 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:50.360 a sea of people sort of you know, throwing their 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:55.600 fist and looking truly enraged. And I didn't feel necessarily 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:59.240 physically threatened. I just could sense they perceived us as 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:03.000 so hostile to what they value and so almost un 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:07.400 American in their eyes. And it was so oppositional to 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:10.440 everything that I've ever thought about America and how we 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.440 engage in politics. And I realized that there was this 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:19.000 real divide and it was being fanned. People didn't really 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:24.680 appreciate how intense and raw that emotion was and how 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:28.160 the media it was seen as connected totally with the 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:30.800 establishment and what is perceived as wrong in this country. 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:36.480 Don't get sucked into the lamestream media's lies about concerned 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:40.920 of America's standing up for not since Richard Nixon's VP 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:46.040 Spureau Agnew called the press nattering nabobs of negativism, had 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:50.880 a political figure so vilified the media. In contrast, John 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:54.960 McCain didn't go after the press. He courted them. Yeah, Katie, 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:57.760 wasn't it true that before the joint interview you did 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:01.400 with McCain and Palin, McCain made a point of complimenting you. 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.399 Yes he did. Brian. In fact, with Sarah Palin sitting 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:07.160 right next to him, he said, Katie, good to see you. 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:09.840 Thank you for that interview with Governor Palin. I thought 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:12.400 it was very fair. I just wish I still had 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:16.840 that on tape. Yeah, me too, But Sarah Palin was 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:21.199 an entirely different political animal. She was hitting notes that 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:26.000 other Republicans shied away from. Here's Mike Murphy. I think 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:30.000 it's more you can hear in McCain when he found 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:34.960 his instincts the old institution respecting music of the traditional 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:39.119 writer center Republican Party, and in her music which was 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:42.000 all by ear to the crowds, the primary voters who 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:44.960 would actually show up for the stuff, the music of 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:50.240 the anti institutionalism, the populism. So I mean, that's definite 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.399 evidence that the primary voters were moving away from the 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:58.640 old model, that that candidates like McCain, Bush Family, Bob Dole, 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:01.720 you know, had all grant it. So the difference between 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:07.399 Palin and her forerunners on the Republican ticket is that 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:11.879 those people you think showed more restraint in telling the 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:15.080 base what they wanted to hear. Yeah, yeah, they managed 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:19.240 the base, uh, because look at primary voters, they generally 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:22.240 would rather have the hot sauce. And both parties, by 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:24.880 the way, and so I think she started seeing primary 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:27.240 voters and gave them what they wanted, because once you 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:29.639 would feed off the crowd. And two it was in 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:32.240 her interest as she started losing faith in the campaign's 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.479 ability to beat the President Obama. And as much as 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:39.000 Palin excited the base and gave them plenty of hot sauce, 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:42.920 it just wasn't enough, and CNN can now project that 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:47.400 Barack Obama will become the President elect of the United 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:51.320 States with the McCain Palin ticket got of the vote. 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.359 He will be the first African American president. But Palin 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:59.040 was just getting the base warmed up after the break. 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:03.200 The Republic Again party is on fire in Chicago. Let's 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:06.520 listen in for a moment. A little bit earlier this sevenent, 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:11.879 I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Centator for pa. 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:28.360 I congratulate him. I congratulate Governor Palin. It's February two. 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:32.440 Barack Obama has been in office for just over a year. 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:37.879 The left is energized, and the president is center stage. 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:41.200 Here he is addressing the Winter meeting of the Democratic 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:44.560 National Committee. Let me be clear, I am not going 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:47.679 to walk away from health insurance reform. I'm not going 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:50.280 to walk away on this challenge. I'm not gonna walk 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:55.040 away on any challenge. We're moving forward. On the same 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:59.480 day as that speech, down in Nashville, another political celebrity 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:04.119 was take making a very different stage. It was the 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:09.879 first ever Tea Party national convention, and Sarah Palin was 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:13.639 the star. This was all part of that hope and 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:17.480 change and transparency. And now a year later, I got 0:20:17.480 --> 0:20:20.600 to ask the supporters of all that, how's that hopey, 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:25.080 changey stuff working out for you? She wrote a memoir, 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:29.159 Going Rogue, which incidentally sold two million copies, and joined 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:34.760 Fox News as a political commentator. Governor, can we trust them? Well? 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:39.880 Can I trust our federal government? Um? Is the bear Catholic? 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:42.480 Does the Pope live in the woods? No? I do 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:46.560 not trust our federal government. Her brand of politics was 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:50.680 gaining steam. Even John McCain had to respond. Running for 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:53.280 re election back in two ten, he was challenged by 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:56.520 a Tea Party candidate, and as a result, both his 0:20:56.640 --> 0:21:01.119 rhetoric and his record took a sharp right turn. Complete 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:05.919 the dang fins, Senator, you're one of us. I'm John McCain, 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:10.760 and I approved this message. A border fence That sure 0:21:10.840 --> 0:21:15.160 sounds familiar. Now let's fast forward a year to two 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:19.680 thousand eleven. Sarah Palin's back on Fox N Governor Donald 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:23.600 Trump was considering a run for the presidency. Uh says 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:28.800 that he's got investigators in Hawaii looking for President Obama's 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:33.560 birth certificate. What do you make of that? Well, I 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:37.800 appreciate that the Donald wants to spend his resources and 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:40.280 getting to the bottom of something that it so interests 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:43.040 him in many Americans, you know, more power to him. 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:46.960 Hallen wasn't just defending Donald Trump on the birther argument. 0:21:47.400 --> 0:21:50.760 The two were also breaking bread, or at least sharing 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:53.919 a pizza in New York City. Remember that, Brian, I do, 0:21:54.040 --> 0:21:56.520 and I remember that. People commented on the fact that 0:21:56.560 --> 0:21:58.719 he ate his pizza with a knife and fork. I 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:01.679 remember that as well. Who does that? Actually? I do 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:05.479 that sometimes too. Anyway, they seem to be pretty chummy, 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:09.080 and when Palin hosted a political talk show, she invited 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:12.040 Donald Trump to be her guest. I have to tell 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:14.760 you you are a terrific person and it's great to 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:17.879 be with you. Thank you for taking your valuable time 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:20.600 and share you with us. Thank you. It seemed like 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:24.160 they were two piece in a political pod, the antithesis 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:30.440 of policy walks, flamethrowing populace, antagonists of Obama, and vehement 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:34.960 critics of the press, except, of course, Fox News. So 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:37.959 it was no real surprise when two weeks before the 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:45.119 Iowa Caucuses in perfectly positioned to let you make America 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:50.119 great again? Are you ready for that? Iowa? Our next 0:22:50.240 --> 0:22:55.560 president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. Palin's endorsement 0:22:55.640 --> 0:22:58.679 was seen as a real boon to Trump's candidacy because 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:01.760 she still had a big following among the Republican base. 0:23:02.119 --> 0:23:04.720 That's right, and at that point, Brian, as you'll recall, 0:23:05.119 --> 0:23:08.639 very few people thought Donald Trump would ever get the nomination. 0:23:09.080 --> 0:23:11.840 But Palin seemed to be right back in her element 0:23:11.960 --> 0:23:15.919 at that press conference, particularly relishing the chance to needle 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:20.120 the national media. Hands are spinning, media heads are spinning. 0:23:20.680 --> 0:23:26.160 This is going to be so much fun. The surprising 0:23:26.280 --> 0:23:29.240 rise of Donald Trump made me reflect once again on 0:23:29.320 --> 0:23:32.439 those interviews I did with Sarah Palin. She might not 0:23:32.520 --> 0:23:35.600 have been able to name a single newspaper or magazine, 0:23:35.960 --> 0:23:38.920 but she did read where the electorate, or at least 0:23:38.920 --> 0:23:42.000 a significant part of it, was moving. She may have 0:23:42.080 --> 0:23:45.240 stumbled over issues, but she found firm footing on the 0:23:45.280 --> 0:23:51.000 political stage, where image and personality seemed to trump policy details. 0:23:51.400 --> 0:23:53.960 And Katie, she was really early to a trend that's 0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:59.040 exploded since the financial crisis, a declining faith in institutions, 0:23:59.520 --> 0:24:02.840 disdain for experts and elites, not just here in the 0:24:02.920 --> 0:24:05.720 US but around the world. I think that people in 0:24:05.720 --> 0:24:10.360 this country have had enough of experts with organizations any 0:24:13.480 --> 0:24:16.440 from organizations with acronyms, saying that they know what is 0:24:16.480 --> 0:24:19.560 best in getting consistently wrong. We've also seen more and 0:24:19.640 --> 0:24:23.440 more fear of the other Europe grappling with refugees and 0:24:23.520 --> 0:24:28.960 America with undocumented immigrants. Both Palin and Trump made these 0:24:29.000 --> 0:24:33.639 issues central to their message. Here's former Obama chief strategists 0:24:33.760 --> 0:24:38.840 David axel Rod. There's no doubt that Palin's appeal and 0:24:39.000 --> 0:24:44.639 Trump's appealed draw on racial resentment. That's not the entire story, 0:24:44.800 --> 0:24:47.960 but that's a that's a big piece of it. And uh, 0:24:48.119 --> 0:24:51.320 you know, in Trump's case, he could not have been 0:24:51.359 --> 0:24:54.480 more self conscious about it from the time he came 0:24:54.520 --> 0:24:59.800 down the escalator, you know, blasting uh and in the 0:25:00.040 --> 0:25:03.640 ugly a sort of way at at immigrants from Mexico. 0:25:03.920 --> 0:25:08.439 They're bringing crime, their rapists, and some I assume are 0:25:08.440 --> 0:25:14.199 good people. He went after the racial resentment vote. But 0:25:14.320 --> 0:25:17.600 we should point out there are two fundamental ways Sarah 0:25:17.600 --> 0:25:21.680 Palin was not like Donald Trump. One was her critique 0:25:21.720 --> 0:25:24.720 of Russia. It's true that her comments about Russia were 0:25:24.800 --> 0:25:28.240 ridiculed at the time, but Palin's assessment of Putin back 0:25:28.280 --> 0:25:32.000 in two thousand and eight feels spot on today, and 0:25:32.040 --> 0:25:34.600 we've got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia 0:25:34.640 --> 0:25:38.240 to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a 0:25:38.280 --> 0:25:43.080 smaller democratic country unprovoked is unacceptable and we have to 0:25:43.160 --> 0:25:46.159 keep I do believe unprovoked, and we have got to 0:25:46.240 --> 0:25:50.480 keep our eyes on Russia under the leadership. There the 0:25:50.560 --> 0:25:54.960 other difference. Oh yeah, Palin is a woman, obviously, and 0:25:55.000 --> 0:25:58.600 I wonder whether Palin's gender can help us understand why 0:25:58.720 --> 0:26:01.240 she was punished for her lack of knowledge in two 0:26:01.280 --> 0:26:04.960 thousand and eight, but eight years later, Donald Trump managed 0:26:05.000 --> 0:26:09.800 to get away with knowing very little, sometimes shockingly little. 0:26:10.560 --> 0:26:14.240 Don't believe those phony numbers when you hear four point 0:26:14.400 --> 0:26:20.440 nine and five percent unemployment, the numbers probably as high 0:26:20.520 --> 0:26:25.439