"For you, picking Sarah Palin was about winning an election, not necessarily about who's gonna be best as vice president." "My job is to give political advice." "We needed to do something bold to try to win the race." "If you had it to do over again, would you have her on the ticket?" " Hello." " They fuckin' hate me, Steve." "Who's that, sir?" "Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter." "They're dancing on my grave like it's fucking Mardi Gras." "That may be true, but there's an upside to being in last place." "You can say what you truly feel." " You think I've been holding back?" " I do, Senator." "The surge is working, but no one else is brave enough to say it." "Romney, Giuliani, Huckabee-- all your opponents are hedging." "Even you hesitated at the last debate." "A great man once told me," ""I would rather lose the election than see the country lose this war."" "And I meant it, Steve." "Then say it, sir." "John McCain doesn't say what's popular, he says what's right." "My advice would be to get some old pow buddies together and travel the country in a small caravan." "Stay in shitty hotels, do American legion halls," "V.F.W. Posts, have a few beers and enjoy yourself." "You're right, God damn it." "I don't know what the hell's wrong with me." "You get so caught up in winning," " you start to lose yourself." " It's gonna be easy because there's only one message you need to get across." "Yeah?" "What's that?" "John McCain puts country first." "Would you consider joining us?" "Even just for a few weeks?" "Senator, there is no one in this race" "I admire more than you, but I promised my wife that I would sit this cycle out." "I know that, Steve, but will you just think about it?" "Just do that." "Just think about it, will you?" "Of course, Senator." " You promise?" " I will, I promise." "Great, I'll call you tomorrow." " Okay." " Thanks, Stevie boy." "Fuck." "Senator McCain today re-shuffling his most senior campaign staff." "John McCain wins the New Hampshire primary, a huge comeback for the Senator from Arizona." "You hear them chanting behind me." ""Mac is back, Mac is back."" "A big win for John McCain in South Carolina, a win that he will relish." "The question on the campaign trail was:" "Can a souffle rise twice?" "John McCain wins the Republican presidential nomination." "What a historic night." "And they said we were dead." "Next stop" " The White House." "People of Berlin and people of the world, the scale of our challenge is great." "The road ahead will be long." "But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom." "We are a people of improbable hope with an eye towards the future, with resolve in our heart." "Let us remember this history and answer our destiny and remake the world once again." "Thank you, Berlin." "God bless you." " Thank you." "If he heals a sick baby, we're really fucked." "We're down by 15." "If his convention speech is as good as that..." "It'll be better." "Then we'll be trailing by 20 going into St. Paul." "It's an uphill battle, John." "Well, as chairman Mao was fond of saying," ""It's always darkest before it's completely black."" "Senator, it always concerns me when you quote chairman Mao." "This guy is raising money like he's some sort of a human ATM Machine." "John, if there ever was a time to run a reverend Wright ad, this is that time." " Absolutely not." " I agree." "There's footage of his own reverend saying "God damn America."" "It's the single best weapon we've got." "I want to run a fucking campaign that my kids can be proud of, and that precludes attacking a black reverend." "I think we're going about this all wrong." "This man is on the cover of every news magazine." "He's on the cover of every entertainment magazine." "He's got 200,000 people screaming for him in Berlin." "And what has he done?" "A man of no accomplishment has become the biggest celebrity in the world, and we keep trying to reach up and pull him down." "What we need to do is ask the American people a very simple question:" "Do you want a statesman to be your next president..." "Or do you want a celebrity?" "Try it." "He's the biggest celebrity in the world." "But is he ready to lead?" "With gas prices soaring," "Barack Obama says no to offshore drilling and says he'll raise taxes on electricity?" "Higher taxes, more foreign oil." "That's the real Obama." "Great job, Fred." "I thought we were the grown-ups in this race." "John, it's his girlfriend." "This is a cautionary tale, John." "It's what I'm talking about." " Let's watch it again." " No, I can't!" "Please." "Can you believe these guys?" "He wants Lieberman on the ticket." " Of course he does." " Disaster." "Or historic." " Or historic disaster." " John loves him." "It would be a strong move towards bi-partisanship." "Guys, the base is already concerned that John is not a true conservative." "Now, I don't think picking a pro-choice Jewish Democrat who just happened to be Al Gore's running mate is going to alleviate that concern." "Maybe we have McCain make a one-term pledge." "He announces in some huge speech that he and a Democrat are joining together for one term so that the parties can come together and solve this country's greatest problems." "Maybe, with a one-term pledge." "Nothing says country first like picking Joe Lieberman." "Well, if it's gonna work, it has to remain absolutely secret, right up until the convention." "If it gets leaked, the right will kill it." "John McCain's decision to put Joe Lieberman front and center at his convention has the unique distinction of unsettling both Democrats and Republicans." "I think the idea of him being the Republican vice-presidential nominee would split the convention." "In the cabinet, fine." "Not as V.P." "Bad choice." "Conservatives will bolt." "Comedy team of McCain and lieberman." "Maybe they'll play Atlantic city this summer." "Thank you." "So what the fuck happened?" "Lindsey Graham was trying to build support for the idea" " and it leaked." " God damn it, Lindsey." "Well, if it's any consolation, my numbers show that if you pick Lieberman or any pro-choice candidate," "40% of your core supporters will be less likely to support you." "40%." "And you gain very few independents." "Overall, it's a wide-net negative." "We've made a lot of calls." "Some people don't even think" "Lieberman can make it through the convention." "Others say, yeah, he can, but he's gonna rip the party in half." "But Joe is perfect." "We're both mavericks that are hated by the assholes in our own parties." "It could have a tremendous healing effect on the country." "We can't win without our base." "Lieberman is the right thing to do, but the wrong way to win." " Who all have we vetted?" " Romney, Crist, Pawlenty." " We're trying to vet Bloomberg." " Who can we win with?" " None of them." " None of them?" "John, Obama just changed the entire dynamic." "It is a change year, sir." "We desperately need a game-changing pick, and none of these middle-aged white guys are game-changers." "So... what?" "I just fuck off and die?" "Well, the data shows we have four things we have to do." "We have to win back the independents, we have to excite the base, we have to distance ourselves from the Bush administration, and we have to close the gender gap." "How bad is the gap?" "It's fatal." "You've got a 20% advantage with men, which is great, but a 20% deficit with women." "You've got to pick up 15% with females." "Because if you're trailing by more than five with them, you lose." "So find me a woman." "All right, ladies." "Who's it gonna be?" "Meg Whitman supports abortion rights." "Pro-choice, pro-choice." " Who are you?" " These solar arrays combined will allow us to produce 34 megawatts of power..." "To make sure that risk management is the best that we can do to secure..." "But as you know, the turnpike ends here in Augusta." "At that point..." "What was her name?" "Once Alaska is allowed to very responsibly and safely develop our resources, we'll lower costs of energy across the United States, and then we'd be able to secure the nation with a clean, domestic supply of energy." "And I say that, Charlie, even personally." "My one and only son, my 18-year-old, he just signed up for the United States army." "He's at boot camp right now." "And I'm thinkin', you know, this kid is doing all that he can within his power to help secure and defend the United States." "Every elected official had better be asking themselves, are you doing as much also?" "Are you doing all that you can?" "She's a star." "She's so passionately pro-life that at age 44, she decided to keep a child that she knew mid-term had down's syndrome." "And there's a lot more that the base will love." "She has an 80% approval rating in Alaska." " The highest of any governor in the country-- - 80%?" "And she got it by taking on the oil lobby and the Republican establishment." "She's the one who killed the bridge to nowhere." "I fought Ted Stevens for months on that stupid fucking bridge." "Plus, she is a devout Christian." "She's got a son about to deploy to Iraq, attractive mother of five." " She likes to moose hunt." " Moose hunt?" "This is a woman with a gun, John." "I mean, come on, the base is gonna be doing back flips." "What does Salter think?" "Uh, he's worried that she's a Creationist." "Yeah, and that's exactly why the base will love her." "Women will love her." "Plus, she gives you distance from Bush." "Furthermore, she's so outside the box that she helps you recapture the Maverick label, which will win back Independents." "She's everything we need." "You don't think she might be too outside the box?" "Huh." "Well, that's what makes her such a Maverick choice." "So is picking Lieberman." "That'd be pretty Goddamn mavericky." "Sir, we live in the age of YouTube and the 24-hour news cycle." "How else do you think a man who has absolutely no major life accomplishments is beating an American hero by double digits?" "He's simply sailing on his charisma and star power." "We need to create a dynamic moment in this campaign or we're dead." "You think she's that good?" "She could be." "And we can vet her in five days?" "We can." "The vet has to be as thorough for her as it was for all the other candidates." "Culvahouse says he can do it, so..." "The clock is ticking, sir." "If you are going to seriously consider the governor of Alaska, you have to call her now." "You know, Governor, these gas prices are killing us." "Oh, my goodness, don't I know it." "They're killing me and Todd, too." "Hey, how are ya?" "But once Alaska is allowed to very safely and responsibly develop our resources, we'll lower cost of energy across the entire nation." "You keep giving 'em hell, Governor." "Aw, thanks." "Nice talking to ya." "Mom, can we go on the roller coaster now?" "Yeah." "No, of course, honey." " Hey, Bristol?" " Yeah?" "Can you hold Trig?" "I'm gonna take Piper on the roller coaster." "Sure." " There you go, buddy." " Mom." " Just one second, hon." "This is Sarah." "Thank you for coming on such short notice, Governor." "Should this go according to plan, we will take you to meet Senator McCain at his compound first thing in the morning." "Now, if he chooses you to be his running mate, you will instantly become one of the most famous people on the planet." "Your life will be investigated, manipulated, distorted, and you will lose any semblance of privacy." "Knowing this, are you 100% committed to going forward with this project?" "Absolutely." "I have a servant's heart." "And if you really think I can help this ticket, if you really think I can help this country, then absolutely-- I'll do this with ya." "Your private life will be subjected to harsh, often unfair attacks." "Nothing can prepare you for how ugly this can be.Not" "I do understand that." "Here's the deal." "I went through a tough primary in Alaska, and I know how ugly it can get." "Well, Governor, things can get quite a bit rougher on the national stage." "I don't know, Alaska's pretty rough." "Now, you and Senator McCain have a difference of opinion on several issues." "He is pro-life, but he's in favor of exceptions in the case of rape, incest or a mother's life being at risk." " You are not." " That is correct." "I am unapologetically pro-life." "Senator McCain supports stem cell research." " You do not." " That's true, I do not." "John McCain would never ask you to contradict your beliefs, but we expect you to support his positions." "And we may ask you to appear in ads advocating those positions." "Do you have a problem with that?" "No, I don't." "Not at all." "Senator McCain can count on my full support." "I would be so proud to be a member of his team." "Do you reject the theory of evolution?" "I'm the daughter of a science teacher." "My dad showed me fossils growing up." "I know about evolution." "I accept evolution." "But I will never deny that I see the hand of God in this beautiful creation that is earth." "I'm really glad that you're asking me these types of questions." "Why is that?" "It's important that you know exactly what you're getting." "John, let me be very clear." "Every other vet we did was over a 4 to 8 week period." "This vet has been compiled in absolute secrecy in less than five days." "I understand." "Well, in doing a vet this fast, there's certainly the possibility that we may have missed something." "Yeah, I got it." "What do you think, A.B.?" "I like many of her answers in the questionnaire." "And in the interview, she hit some of my questions out of the park." "Now..." "There are more potential land mines with Palin than with the other choices." "She told us she has a teen daughter who's pregnant." "That should not prevent this from moving forward, but we don't know what else could pop up." "But are you impressed with her personally?" "I am." "She has a great life story and she's extremely poised and confident for someone in her situation." "But you have a candidate who's only been governor for 18 months." "Before that, she was the mayor of a small town with 10,000 people." "She undercuts your best attack on Obama that he's too inexperienced." "Well, that's played out." "We lose by five if we stick with experience." "You think she's ready to be president?" "I don't think she's gonna be ready on January 20th but I think she has the smarts to get there eventually." "Give me the bottom line, A.B." "High risk..." "High reward." "You shouldn't have told me that." "Why not?" "I've been a risk-taker all my life." " Hi." " Hi." "How are ya?" " Great." "Thanks so much for coming." "Thank you for having me at your beautiful house." "Well, come on in." "Please." "One of the things I'm most proud of, Sarah, is my independence." "And I'm very impressed with how you've bucked the Republican establishment in Alaska." "Well, I am wired to be kind of independent there also." "But I thought if I'm gonna truly run the state on behalf of the people, I'm gonna have to do it without that good ole boy network." "I love the way you squashed Stevens' bridge to nowhere." "Yeah." "I am pro-growth and pro-infrastructure for Alaska, but not at the expense of the American taxpayer." "I told Congress if we wanted a bridge, we'd build it ourselves." "You remind me of myself." "We're both reformers who are not afraid to thumb our nose at our own party." "Senator, you're an American hero." "I'm just Sarah from Alaska." "What do you guys think?" "I know a guy like Tim Pawlenty isn't exactly the game-changing pick you all seem to think we need," "But he's young, he's energetic." "He has solid conservative credentials." "With Pawlenty, we make the base happy." "And we know what the hell we're getting." "Pawlenty's ready to be president." "Steve?" "Well, there are unknowns with Palin, and certainly it could go bad." "But if it were me, I'd rather lose by 10 points going for the win than lose by one point and look back and say, "God damn,"" "we should have gone for the win."" "Our slogan's "country first."" "Lieberman and Pawlenty are country-first choices." "Sarah Palin will be perceived as a self-serving political maneuver." "You may not only lose the election, John." "You just might lose your reputation right along with it." "I'm not running for my reputation." "I'm running to be president." "Yes, sir." "It is absolutely crucial that not a single person know you're the pick." "Surprise of your announcement will stop any momentum" "Obama might get from his convention speech." "That's smart." "You seem totally unfazed by all this." "It's God's plan." "This election has never been about me." "It's about you." "You understand that in this election the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result." "Change happens." "Change happens because the American people demand it..." "Because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership and new politics for a new time." "You're about to meet our nominee." "You are the seventh and eighth person to know about this." " It's Steve." " Come in." "Because I've seen it..." "Hi." "Come on in." "I'm just watching Obama's big, fancy speech again." "Governor, this is Matthew Scully." " He'll be your main speechwriter." " Nice to meet you." "And this is Nicolle Wallace" " former White House communications director." " Hi." "How are you?" "And this is Governor Sarah Palin from Alaska." "Yes, of course." "Congratulations, Governor." "It's a real honor to meet you." "Great to have you on board." "Hey, come here." "Look it." "Look at this." "I didn't know we were running against a Greek God." "They sure do love him." " They're gonna love you more." " (America, we cannot turn back.)" "Governor, you are the nominee for the vice president of the United States." "You will no longer be carrying your own bags." "Yes, sir." "And never call me "sir."" "You can call me Steve, Schmidty," "Kojak, Potsie, Shithead, anything you want." "I will call you Governor or Ma'am." "Well, I don't curse, so I'm gonna have to call you Potsie." "Very good, Ma'am." "These gentlemen are secret service agents." "They will take you into the arena." "And if everything goes according to plan, they will be with you the rest of your life." "Everything's gonna change the moment you walk out that door." "Are you ready, Governor?" "I'm ready." "Breathe." "Welcome, Governor." "Thank you for that wonderful welcome." "I'm very happy today to spend my birthday with you and to make a historic announcement in Dayton a city built on hard, honest work of good people." "The person I'm about to introduce to you was a stand-out High School point guard, a concerned citizen who became a member of the PTA, then a city council member..." " Say a prayer." " ...then a mayor," " and now a governor." " Say a prayer." " Say a prayer." " Say a prayer." "...to celebrate the anniversary of women's suffrage, a devoted wife and a mother of five." "My friends and fellow Americans," "I am very pleased to introduce to you the next vice president of the United States," "Governor Sarah Palin of the great state of Alaska!" "Just have fun." "This is a fantastic rollout, Steve." "I can't believe you were able to keep it a secret." "I had to confiscate her kids' cell phones." "No hurry." "Thank you." "And I thank you, Senator McCain, for the confidence you have placed in me." "Senator, I am honored to be chosen as your running mate." "It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America." "But it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all." "We gotta get her ready for her convention speech." "She'll need a vocal coach, a foreign policy expert, hair and make-up consultants and a stylist." "No doubt." "Not, not too tight." "I love these Johnny Choos." " What do you think, Todd?" " It's cool." " Nice, Dad." " Mom, you look beautiful." "Aw, hey, look at you." "Look at your fancy shoes." " You look so awesome, Mom." " Yeah, it really looks good." " You look great, Willow." " Thanks." " So do you." " So good." "Look at Trig's little shirt." "Okay, if you all come with me." "It's time for your campaign photos." " Bye, Mom." " Okay." "Let's go, guys." " See you in a bit, hon." " Yeah." "Governor, this is your new staff." "Tucker Eskew, senior media advisor." " It's a pleasure." " Nice to meet you." "Chris Edwards, your deputy chief of staff." " Hi." " Hi." "And my husband, Mark Wallace, former ambassador to the United Nations." "He'll be a senior advisor." "We're all honored to be on your team, Governor." " The honor is all mine." " Shall we sit?" "Well, our first order of business, Governor, is we need to find out if there are any unexpected surprises." "The press are gonna be digging deep into your past, so we need to prepare answers about your background." "Oh, gosh." "I can't think of anything I haven't already disclosed." "The Wasilla librarian claims that as mayor she tried to ban books." "Is that true?" "What about the allegations that Trig is not really her child?" "Did she attend a pentecostal church where they speak in tongues?" "This source we talked to intimately involved in Palin's vetting admitted that aside from those they talked to involved in so-called troopergate, they didn't talk to any character witnesses in Alaska..." "Why was the vet so bad?" "Listen, granted, he only had a few days, but Culvahouse did clear her." " Oh, with what?" "Wikipedia?" " There's no way this vet was thorough." "What?" "What did he miss?" "He had troopergate." "He had "Bridge to Nowhere"." "No one went to Alaska to interview her colleagues, her enemies." "There was no political vet whatsoever." "These charges are such bullshit." "I mean, Trig isn't her baby?" "What, speaking in tongues?" " She does." " I don't care." "Is the first amendment no longer law here?" "Is she not entitled to her religious beliefs?" "You're missing the point, Rick." "John is getting slammed for making an irresponsible choice." " We picked her." " No, you two picked her, then slapped her on the butt and shoved her out there under a banner saying "Country First!"" "You're a real prick, Mark." " Fuck you, Schmidt!" " Fuck you!" "All right, all right!" "Let's just get through this." "Come on." "Troopergate." "What?" "The Alaska safety commissioner is claiming that he was fired because he wouldn't fire" "Palin's brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten." "And what were the charges against Trooper Wooten?" "Besides the fact that he was divorcing Palin's sister?" "Yes." "Do we have any information that shows" "Trooper Wooten should have been fired?" "Yeah, Wooten was accused of drinking from an open container from his police car tasering his 11-year-old stepson, and illegally shooting a moose without a permit." "Jesus Christ." "Okay, coordinate all responses with their Alaskan council." "Let's try to keep it a local matter." ""Bridge to Nowhere." I thought we were good on this." "She had the project squashed after she was elected, but ran on a platform to build the bridge." "It's a huge flip-flop." "Goddamn it." "How could she not tell us that?" "What the fuck is the Alaska Independence Party and was she ever a member of it?" "The A.I.P. is a political party whose sole platform is the secession of Alaska from the union." "Well, ain't that a hoot?" "Now, was she ever a member of it?" "Well?" "We know Todd Palin was a member for many years." "We can't confirm if she was ever a member." "Okay." "Call our people in Alaska right now and find out if she was." "It's 3:00 A.M. In Alaska right now." "The phones don't work there at night?" "!" "We're under attack here, people!" "You're gonna have to raise your game." "I can assure you that Obama's people are all over this shit." "In the last 24 hours, I have been asked questions by the national media that are outrageous and disgusting." "I have been asked when her amniotic fluid started to leak with regard to her last birth." "It's shameful." "So when did it start leaking?" "She's fought the oil companies." "She's taken on corrupt special interests." "These accusations are totally sexist." "Never in my life have I seen a candidate more attacked by the liberal media." "Smear after smear after smear." "Are you sure we have to do this?" "Bristol couldn't stop crying when I told her." "This is going to come out tomorrow with or without our statement, Governor." "A positive from this is that given the timing of Bristol's pregnancy, it makes it physically impossible for Trig to be her baby." "So we can put that absurd rumor to rest." "We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents." "We're not proud that our teenage daughter is pregnant, Maria." "And I don't want to send a message that teen pregnancy is something to be proud of." "I want that line out." "Of course, Governor." "I'll change it right away." "Governor Palin's 17-year-old daughter Bristol has been seen holding her baby brother Trig at campaign events." "What the American people didn't know until today is that Bristol is five months pregnant." "Her parents issued this statement:" "We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby." "I specifically wanted that line taken out, and you ran it without changing a word." "You're absolutely right." "The campaign takes full responsibility on this." "Maria's gonna personally apologize to you." "How the flip did this happen?" "Senator McCain is somewhat a fly-by-the-seat- of-his-pants type of guy, and it does occasionally create a little chaos in the campaign." "Well, I want Maria gone." "Governor, this was a mistake." "Maria feels terrible." "She's an excellent press secretary." "My 17-year-old daughter is being made fun of by every talk show host in the country." "I want Maria gone, period." "Of course, Governor." "She's gone." "Done." " Who makes that call?" " That'd be you." "The idea that if something happened to John McCain who is 72 years old and who has had two bouts with melanoma, and she could step into the presidency." "It's just ridiculous." "The real sequence, Rachel, is she said "please" and "thank you,"" "and then "thanks, but no thanks,"" "only when the congress had de-authorized the bridge..." "Hi, Governor." "I just wanted to check in make sure you're doing okay." "Should John McCain consider replacing Sarah Palin on the GOP ticket?" "I want to talk to the press." "I want to set the record straight on this stuff." "I'll just go put Trig's PJ's on." " There you go, baby." " Just gonna put your PJ's on." "Now, we don't want you to talk to anyone until after the convention because no one knows anything about you." "If you answer these ridiculous allegations, you'll be defining yourself in a defensive posture." "But isn't the press defining me right now?" "No news story lasts more than 48 hours any more." "News is no longer meant to be remembered." "It's just entertainment." "So if you hit your convention speech out of the park, the next news cycle will be the comeback of Sarah Palin." "Yeah." "I can do that." "Now, everyone's heard a lot of crazy stories about you." "Now it's time for you to tell the world who you really are." "You tell Senator McCain I won't let him down." "And good evening from the G.O.P. Convention in St. Paul." "All eyes will be on Senator McCain's" "VP choice, Governor Sarah Palin, when she takes the stage at the RNC." "She's likely never seen a night fraught with so much anticipation, expectation and pressure." "The food's terrible, but I hear it's gonna be worse in Iraq." " My boy's so brave." " Come on, mom." "Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. Palin." "Thank you for cutting your mullet, Levi." "I really appreciate it." "I didn't really want to at first, but I think it looks way better now." "I think it does, too." "Sorry to interrupt, but the Palins need to go to their seats." " Bye, mom." " Okay." "I don't know." "I don't know." "Hey, she's gonna be fine." " Really?" " Absolutely." "Is she gonna be okay?" "I'm more concerned about one on ones." "How bad?" "I'm not sure how much she knows about foreign policy." "She didn't know why North and South Korea were different countries." "Okay, let's keep the press away from her." "We have five days to bring her up to speed." "She'll be fine." "She's on in 5 minutes." "I've gotta get up there." "Good luck." "In choosing Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has chosen for the future." "Governor Palin represents a new generation." "She's already one of the most successful governors in America and the most popular." "Let's get John McCain and Sarah Palin elected, and let's shake up Washington and move this country forward!" "You're gonna do great." "Ladies and gentlemen, the Governor of Alaska and the next vice president of the United States," "Sarah Palin!" "Thank you." "Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens," "I will be honored to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States." "Thank you." "Our nominee is a man who wore the uniform of his country for 22 years and refused to break faith with those troops in Iraq who now have brought victory within sight." "Good, good." "She's really good." "We were so blessed in April." "Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the world." "A perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig." "Children with special needs inspire a very, very special love." "She's amazing." "To the families of special needs children all across this country, I have a message for you." "I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the white house." "She's incredible!" "Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska..." "I was mayor of my hometown." "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer." "Except that you have actual responsibilities." "Now I know why they call her "Sarah Barracuda."" "I love those hockey moms." "You know they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?" "Lipstick." "She just came up with that." "Join our cause and help America elect a great man as the next president of the United States." "Thank you." "And God bless America." " Great job!" "You did a great job!" " Couldn't have gone better." " Congratulations." " My God!" "She did it without a teleprompter." "It broke halfway through her speech." " You're kidding." " No." "If that happens to me tomorrow night, I'm fucked." "We can win this!" "Thank you for calling." "Yes, we do take credit cards." " I'd be happy to..." " I've got $500." "We're grateful for every dollar we get." "Yes, Sarah Palin will be giving a speech in Florida next week." "Thanks." " God, this is crazy." " I know, they really love her." " Hey, what's your name?" " I'm Sarah." " Sarah?" " Yeah." "That's my name, too." "That's amazing!" "Hey, thanks for coming out." "Thank you." "We never felt welcome to go anywhere before we saw you give that speech." "Oh, thank you." "Thanks so much." "Look at you." "I want to look at how handsome my son Trig's gonna be when he's all grown up." "She understands that you can't solve problems with government, that government is the problem." "When she talks about her faith, you can tell it's for real." "When she talks about guns, you can tell it's for real." "I've got five kids, too, and there's something about her she's talking to me." "And nobody talks to me." "CNN has us even with Obama." " Are you kidding me?" " Hey, Gallup has us up by five." "She's given us exactly what we needed." "We've made more money in the last few days than we did all last month." "I've never seen crowds like this in my life." " They love her." " She's a bigger star than Obama." "We can really win this thing." "I really understand your frustr" "I'm sorry, pool." "It's not gonna happen today." " Five minutes!" " Views matter." "Did you know that Todd Palin is an Eskimo?" "Oh, yeah, Steve?" "That's really interesting." "Seriously, he's a Yupik Eskimo." "We're gonna take some serious blowback from the press if we don't let them speak to her soon." " They're really getting pissed." " I know, yeah." "Well, I don't know how ready she is." "Nicolle, you worry too much." "We always knew she'd be weak on foreign policy." "We'll get her up to speed." "Steve, I don't think foreign policy is her only weakness." "Sorry to bother you, Governor." "Is now an okay time to talk?" "Sure, I'm just reading the e-mails from the prayer warriors." "These guys are awesome." "I just want to take a moment to inform you of how thrilled Senator McCain is." "You're exceeding his wildest expectation for what a running mate could achieve." "I am so happy to hear that." "These are the largest crowds I've ever seen in my entire political career, ever." "Really?" "Yeah, I just" "I just love talking to people on the rope lines, getting to hear their problems." "It's-- it's really moving to me." "Well, you know, that comes across." "You're a transformative figure, Governor." "You-- you could be the party's next Ronald Reagan." "Holy jeez, I" "Yeah, he's, he's my hero, so..." "Mine, too." "So, uh..." "The next step is just, we're gonna start doing some interviews." "Great." "I've been dying to talk to the press." "Also, I feel like I could really help you there." "I've always been very, very open with the press in Alaska." "The reasoning behind holding you back is the entire press corps is in the tank for Obama, so all they want in life is to trip you up with obscure questions." " Gotcha questions." " Gotcha questions." "So we just want to make sure you're fully prepped before we unleash them." "What about the local Alaska papers?" "There are no local papers any more." "Anything you say goes national the instant you say it." "Yeah, got it." "Okay, so I think the best way to prep would just be to go through some sample questions." "Sure, let's do it." "Um, let's start with something simple." "Uh..." "How do you plan on maintaining our alliance with Great Britain on Iraq, even though support for the war there is at an all-time low?" "I think the United States has always maintained a great relationship with the Queen." "And John McCain will continue to have an open dialogue with her." "Uh, Governor the Queen is not the head of government in England." "She's the head of state." "Well, then, who's the head of government?" "The Prime Minister." "You rang?" "The cavalry has arrived." "Thank you, gentlemen." "Come on in." "Well, I think we should start by prepping the governor with Russian economic policy as it relates to post-cold war tensions during the pre-Putin era." "I was thinking something a little bit simpler." "How much simpler?" "This is Germany." "They were the primary antagonists during World War I and World War II." "And in World War II, they were aligned with" "Japan and Italy to form what was known as the Axis." "Currently, we're in the middle of what I like to call the three wars." "That's Afghanistan, Iraq, and the global war on terror." "Governor, would you-- would you like to take a break?" "No way." "This is flippin' awesome." "Now, with Afghanistan, after 9/11 put a protective wall up around the family especially the key players." "Look at Bristol, Sarah Palin's daughter, who is pregnant." "We've seen her, we've seen her boyfriend Levi, the father of her child, but we haven't really gotten to talk to them about whose idea it was to get married and why, for example, Levi on his MySpace page" " says he doesn't want kids..." " That isn't anybody's..." "Why won't they just leave me alone?" "I'm so tired of it." "Any grownup who makes fun of a teenage girl is a terrible person." "And we'll forget what she said, honey, okay?" "My e-mails were hacked." "I know, governor, and we're on it." "I promise you." "Did you know that my daughter's cell phone is online and she's getting prank calls?" "Did you know that my family is being threatened?" "Governor, you have every right to be upset, and I am sorry." "I've already contacted secret service and they're gonna increase security." "Can you-- can you protect my e-mails, Steve?" "Can you, can this campaign at least do that?" "Charlie Gibson is good, so I'm sure the questions will have some depth." "Don't be afraid to elaborate if it's a subject you feel comfortable with, like energy." "Are you okay, Governor?" "Why aren't there any McCain-Palin lawn signs in Alaska?" "Well, Mr. Obama has five times the money we have." "Five times, and..." "Alaska is only three electoral votes, and it's solid red." "I'm concerned about my standing back home." "Todd and are hearing things, and I can't talk to the Alaskan press." "What are you hearing?" "Things." "None of it's good." "Can you at least do a poll to check my approval rating there?" "Governor, that would cost the campaign $60,000." "I'd feel a heck of a lot better if I knew where I was at." "Absolutely." "We will do the poll for your peace of mind, just this once." "Great." "Thank you." "So, can we get back to prepping Charlie Gibson?" "Sure, I'm ready." "Let's do it." " You ready?" " Yes." "Do you think the Fed did the right thing in their dealing with the Bear-Stearns collapse?" "Our economy is hurting, and the federal government has not provided the sound oversight that we need and that we deserve." "I think we need a little bit of reality from Wasilla Main Street there brought to Washington, D.C., so that the people there can understand how the average working-class family is viewing bureaucracy in the federal government." "Governor..." "Do you know what the Fed is?" "In what respect, Charlie?" "No." "This is me, Steve, asking do you know what the Fed is?" "Um..." "Stands for the Federal Reserve System." "No, please." "Don't write, just listen." "The Fed is responsible for all monetary policy in the United States." "On any Fed or Bear Stearns question, just say the Fed took the appropriate action that was needed at the time." "Okay?" "Got it." "Your oldest son is proudly heading off to Iraq next week." "Who do you see as the primary enemy at this point?" "Radical Islamic extremists." "Can you be more specific?" "The terrorists who are hell-bent on destroying our nation." "Governor, do you know why we're in Iraq?" "Because Saddam Hussein attacked us on 9/11." "No." "No, uh," "Al Qaeda attacked us on 9/11." "Not Saddam Hussein." "No, it was Al Qaeda." "And that's why we're in Afghanistan." "Do you know the primary differences between the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq?" "Um, excuse us for a moment." "Can I get some more information about Afghanistan?" "Of course, Governor." " Should we cancel?" " We can't." "Even FOX is pounding us for hiding her." " We'd get murdered." " When you interviewed her didn't you ask her about National Security?" "Foreign policy, domestic policy?" "I thought Culvahouse would cover that." "So what did you ask her?" "I just-- we talked about if she would back John's positions when they conflicted with hers or if she was prepared for her life to change." "There were no policy questions." "You guys didn't grill her because you wanted it to work." "I wasn't in charge of the vet, Nicolle." "She's a great actress, right?" "The best." "Why don't we just give her some lines?" "I've come up with a list of questions that I think Charlie's most likely to ask." "If you memorize these answers," "I'm sure y're going to nail this interview." "How do you know he'll ask these?" "I was the White House communications director." "It's my job to figure out the questions." ""Shushkashvili."" "Saakashvili, the president of Georgia." "Shashkashvili." "Saakashvith" "Let me ask you about some specific" " national security situations." " Sure." "Let's start with Russia and Georgia." "Do you believe the United States should try to restore Georgian sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia?" "First off, we're gonna continue good relations with Saakashvili there." "I was able to speak with him the other day, and we've gotta keep an eye on Russia." "For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country unprovoked" " is unacceptable, and we have" " You believe unprovoked?" " Yes." " I do, I do believe unprovoked." "And we have to keep our eye..." "She's a red-light performer." "...under the leadership there." "What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of this state give you?" "They're our next-door neighbors." "And you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska." "Do you consider a nuclear Iran..." " Damn it." " ...to be an existential threat to Israel?" "And I can see Russia from my house." "And I believe global warming is caused by man." "And I believe it's just God hugging us closer." "I don't agree with the Bush doctrine." "And I don't know what that is." "She initially did not understand this, and I think that people can make what they want of it, but was I, or anyone, confident that Sarah Palin now has the wherewithal to be president of the United States?" "I don't think so." "A conservative friend called me up and said "I just can't do it." "I don't know if I'm voting for Obama, but I can't have her-- she shouldn't be in Washington, let alone the White House." "Governor." "Governor Palin." "We really should prep for your Katie Couric interview." "Fine." "I wrote a brief synopsis on the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the financial crisis." "If you internalize this document you should be able to field basic questions about the bail-out." "Governor..." "The Dow just dropped 500 points." "Lehman is collapsing." "The world economyisis on the brink of collapse." "I am pretty sure the bail-out is going to come up." "Okay." "Um..." "Why don't we come back to it after we've warmed up a bit?" "I've put together a list of the questions that Katie's most likely to ask." "I used to work with Katie, and I know she'll ask about abortion." "Did Steve do the Alaska poll yet?" " I think it's being done as we speak." " Bet he didn't even do it." "Can we try and get through just a few questions?" "I know you're upset, Governor." "So why don't you get a good night's sleep and I will come back first thing in the morning to prep you when you're feeling better?" "I'm gonna leave this for you to look over." "It's the worst financial crisis facing the American people since the great depression of the 1920s and 30s." "The president's massive financial rescue plan under fire from the left and right." "Good evening from the Ford Center at the University of Mississippi at Oxford." "We're here for the first of three debates between Senator Barack Obama" "Steve, Steve, let's not worry about that crap." "It's all bullshit." "I'm here at the podium." "Let's do the fucking debate." "Hey, John." "Sorry to interrupt." "I just spoke to our guy at Treasury." "The bill does not have enough Republican votes." "God damn it." "Paulson thinks the entire world economy is on the brink of falling off the cliff, so..." "We're checkmated." "If the bail-out doesn't pass, we're screwed because Bush, and thus you, will be blamed for it." " If you pass the bail-out" " The Republicans will despise me" " for supporting a bail-out." " That's it." "This is it, guys." "I mean, this is the whole fucking election." "Now, we think you should suspend the campaign postpone the debates, go to Washington and try to negotiate a bi-partisan compromise." "You need to make a bold move, John." "This is a big risk." "I mean, that's a big gamble." "We gotta do something." "Nothing can fuck me more than this." "Governor, have you had a chance to go over the briefing materials on the bail-out?" "I really think we need to try and nail down a simple two-sentence response to the economic crisis." " It's gotta be supportive of the concept..." " That's enough powder." "...of the bail-out, but also disappointed that we're at this point making it clear that changes need to be made to the bill." "Oh, you need it a little higher?" "I can do that." "I can do that for you." "That jacket looks fantastic on you, by the way." "It's too open." " Don't you think so" " Yeah, it looks wonderful." "Really great, really nice." "It's a great color." "Do you want me to read the paper to you?" "Senator John McCain has requested of his opponent, Senator Barack Obama, a postponement of the upcoming debate so that both Senators may return to Capitol Hill to address the needs of the country in this crucial time." "Senator Obama has said..." "I hate this make-up." "I hate it." "I don't like my hair this way." "I like my hair up." "Governor, you look amazing." "I look fat." "I'm sick of looking fat." " You don't look fat." " Can I get some more tape?" "Yeah." "I don't know if we should do Couric." "She's having a mini-meltdown." "Well, we can't have McCain cancel the debate and Palin cancel Katie Couric in the same week." "I know." "But I'm really worried about her." "She won't respond to anything I say." "Maybe we should bring McCain in and see what he thinks." "He doesn't want to deal with her." "I haven't even told him that she doesn't know anything." "You haven't told him?" "Look, he doesn't want to know." "The world economy is on the brink of collapse." "Can you just..." "prep her in the car ride over?" "Uh, I can try." "Okay, good." "Try." "Thanks." "Knowing Katie, I'm sure she's going to ask about your stance on feminism." " Did you get the numbers?" " The what?" "My approval rating in Alaska?" "They're not in yet." "I am trying to trust you people, but you're making it really hard for me." "I'm sorry, Governor." "I'll call Steve right away about it." "Yeah, like that'll do anything." "What are you working on, Governor?" "It's a questionnaire from the Matsu Valley Frontiersman in Wasilla." "You know, an Alaska paper." "Don't you think we should prepare for your national Couric interview first?" "No, Nicolle, I don't." "This is my priority." "I am not going to ignore the people of Alaska any more." "You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience." "What did you mean by that?" "That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land boundary that we have with Canada." "It's funny that a comment like that was kind of made to..." "I don't know." "You know, reporters." "Mocked?" "Yeah, mocked." "I guess that's the word, yeah." "Well, explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials." "Well, it certainly does because our our next-door neighbors are foreign countries." "They're in the state that I am the executive of." "Have you ever been involved with any negotiations for example, with the Russians?" "We have trade missions back and forth." "We do." "It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia, as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go?" "It's Alaska." "It's just right over the border." "And when it comes to establishing your world-view," "I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this to stay informed and to understand..." "I've read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media." "What ones specifically?" "I'm curious." "Name one fucking paper." "All of 'em." "Any of 'em." "..that have been in front of me over all these years." "Oh, my God." "What have we done?" "If John McCain wins, this woman will be one 72-year-old's heartbeat away from President of the United States." "And if that doesn't scare the hell out of you, it should." "In fairness, probably most people can't name a Supreme Court case." "But most people are not campaigning" " to be Vice President." " Right, right." "It's not that she doesn't know the right answer." "It's that she clearly does not understand the question." "This is way beyond anything we have ever seen from a national candidate." "Why did you make me do Katie Couric?" "Did you see the coverage?" "Did you?" "Are you there?" "Are you listening to me?" "Yes, Governor." "I'm here." "Katie was a logical choice." "She's been very fair to us this entire campaign." "You call that interview fair?" "Yes, Governor, I do." "I certainly don't." "She was out to get me from the get-go." "No, she wasn't." "The interview sucked because you didn't try." "What do you mean, I didn't try?" "You didn't fight back like you did in the Charlie Gibson interview." "When you didn't know the answers, you clawed your way back and it went fine." "You just gave up." "Nicolle, it wasn't my fault." "I wasn't properly prepped." "You weren't properly prepped because you wouldn't listen to us." "You never listen to your advisors." "Because you're overwhelming me with too much information." "I don't want to do these interviews." "I want to do what I want to do." "We're just trying to help you get through this, Governor." "All we want is for you to succeed." "Yeah, well, you're not helping." "You're just screwing me up." "You're telling me what to say, what to wear, how to talk." "I am not your puppet!" "Now I understand what Hillary meant when she said she had to find her own voice." "Yeah, 'cause you're just like Hillary." "You have ruined me." "You have ruined my reputation." "I am ruined in Alaska!" "This is Steve Schmidt." "Leave a message." "Steve, it's Nicolle." "I will gladly resign if you want to blame me for Couric." "But if you want me to stay, then I'm back on McCain's bus tomorrow as I never want to deal with that woman ever again." "What lessons have you learned from Iraq and how specifically would you spread democracy abroad?" "Specifically, we would make every effort possible to spread democracy abroad to those who want it." "Yes, but specifically, what would you do?" "We're gonna promote freedom," "Usher in democratic values and ideals, and fight terror-loving terrorists." "But again, and not to belabor the point, one specific thing." "Katie, I'd like to use one of my lifelines." " I'm sorry?" " I want to phone a friend." "Friday's debate should proceed." "We've been working around the clock and presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time." "A new CNN/Time opinion research poll" " show Obama surging in key battleground states." " Son of a bitch." "like Pennsylvania where he is now up by nine points." "Governor, I just want you to know" "I got your Alaskan poll numbers in, and you'll be pleased to know" " that you're in the low 70s." " Fine." " Why are they fucking me like this?" " Who?" "The press!" "They used to love me." "Now all they want to do in life is fuck me over." "I can't believe Katie did that to me." "And did you hear what Olbermann said about me last night?" "Sir, you've got to stop watching Keith Olbermann." "Or Fox, for that matter." "It's all just bullshit." "Now, sir, you should have a beer and watch ESPN, okay?" "And while you're watching it, think about what the people who watch ESPN really need in their lives right now." "I thought Katie liked me." "She does." "And the questions were fair." "It was Governor Palin who gave a terrible interview." "That poor girl." "She wasn't ready for this." "Yeah, I'm afraid you're right, sir." "And YouTube is making it exponentially worse." "People are watching Katie Couric and Tina Fey over and over again." "It's playing like an infinite loop on the web." "No presidential campaign has ever had to deal with this before." "But she's gonna do a good job in the debate, right?" "Yes, sir." "She'll be great." "'Cause if it goes like Couric, I don't think we can recover." "I agree, and I promise she'll be great." "I hope you're right." "I hope you're right, Steve." "It's gonna be fine." "Okay, this one came up in the '96 debate." "Is there a magic bullet to solve the problem of public education?" "If not, what is the best solution?" "Governor?" "Governor, would you like something to eat?" "Yeah, I think you should eat something, Governor." "How about a diet Dr Pepper?" "Would you like-- could you?" "Governor?" "I miss my baby." "I miss sleeping with my baby." "She constantly slips into these catatonic stupors." "And then when we do finally get her to work, she writes all the information down on notecards but she can't remember any of it." "Steve, did you do an approval poll in Alaska?" "She keeps bringing it up." "What the fuck?" "I did that stupid fucking poll a week ago." "I told her she's in the 70s." "Yeah, well, I don't think she believes you." "She says you made those numbers up." " She is becoming completely irrational." " Becoming?" "I don't even like to say this, but has it occurred to you guys that she might be mentally unstable?" "Mark, look, the debate is in five days." "What do you think?" "I think this debate will be a debacle of historic and epic proportions." "Well, that's encouraging." "What would you say best qualifies you to be John McCain's running mate?" "John McCain has that streak of Independence in him that I think is very, very important in our leadership today." "I have that within me also." "And that's why John McCain tapped me to be a team of mavericks of Independence, as a team member on this, um-- in this new team." "Um, I'm gonna do that one over again." " Yeah, sure." " John?" "Governor, important to remember that you don't need to say anything specific." "Okay." "If you don't know the answer to the question just bring it back to the general theme of reforming America or pivot to one of your stronger suits, like energy." "Yeah, 'cause that's where I'm most comfortable." "That's pretty clear." "Let's try another question." "Global warming." "Governor Palin, do you believe that global warming is man-made?" "I think all this talk and gibber-gabber about where global warming comes from defeats defeats, you know, the point that it's getting hotter and that we all need to be very concerned about heat." "And, um..." "That, um..." "I... forgot it and it's not in this" "Mark, all the cards are supposed to be in this pile." "It's not in this pile." "I think we need to take a break." "Can you all leave us alone for a minute?" "The debate is in four days, and this isn't working, Governor." "I know." "I think you should get off this no-carb diet immediately." "This goofy diet is bad for you and I'm alarmed by your weight loss." "Governor, the Katie Couric interview didn't go well." "And it wasn't Nicolle Wallace's fault." "It wasn't Katie Couric's fault." "It wasn't the liberal media's fault." "It was your fault, because you didn't prepare." "And there can never be another instance of something not going well because you didn't prepare." "Hey." "Hey, hey, hey." "Look, you had a bad interview." "It's okay, it happens." "You know what Ronald Reagan said caused pollution?" "Trees." " Reagan said that?" " He did." "He said trees cause pollution." "And he not only won the election, he went on to be a great president." "I just" " I don't want to let John down." "Stevie boy." "We have a problem, sir." "What?" "What's going on?" "It's, uh, Palin." "She could be on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown." "I don't know what to do." "We threw her into the deep end without a life preserver." "Yeah, and we're drowning with her, sir." "We need to get her back with her family." "She needs to be surrounded by by people who love her." "Hey, let's get 'em all out to Sedona." "Out in the open air." "My neighbor's a doctor, and Cindy can invite him over for a barbeque or something and he can observe her and see if it's truly serious." "But let's just get 'em to Sedona." "It'll do wonders for her, I know it." "Yes, sir." "Absolutely." "I missed you guys so much." " Hi!" "Mommy!" " Oh, my goodness!" "Got someone who wants to say hi." " What's up, doc?" " Hey, how you doing?" "That depends." "How's she look?" "For a woman who's just had a baby, has a pregnant teen daughter and a son in Iraq," "I'd say not half bad." "You, however, look like shit." "They keep piling all this stuff on me, and I just can't remember everything." " Are you getting some of it?" " Yeah." "Some, but I have to talk for like 90 minutes up there." "Do you remember when you debated Halcro?" "He had no notes, no papers, and he could spout off all these facts and figures?" "You were so intimidated..." "Until you looked out at the audience." "What'd you realize?" "That none of what he said mattered, because no one knew what he was talking about." "It's the same thing here, baby." "It's just more people." "You're getting yourself in trouble because they're trying to turn you into something that you're not." "You gotta do what you do." "Just talk to people the way you talk to them." "And they'll love you." "They always have." "I love you first, dude." "I love you, too." "Mrs. Vice President." "Steve, what's up?" "How many questions does Sarah Palin have to answer in the debate?" "22 to 25." "And how long is each answer?" "Two minutes with pivots." "So if all we have to do is get the best actress in American politics to memorize 45 minutes' worth of answers." "Then why did we waste five days trying to get her to understand what any of this shit means?" "Governor, I didn't know you were going for a jog." " I have a different strategy." " I need to clear my head for a bit." "Well, we really need to prepare" "I really need to go running, Steve, 'cause it's gonna make me feel better." "Can you understand that?" "Of course, Governor." "I think we need to get rid of these notecards." " They're not helping." " Okay." "I hate those flippin' cards anyway." "Now, what we need you to do is to memorize 25 answers and 4 attack lines." "Do you think you can do that?" "Yeah, I can do that." "And you're gonna be great." "And we are to be that shining city on a hill as President Reagan so beautifully said that we are a beacon of hope and that we are unapologetic here." "Governor Palin nuclear Iran is one of our gravest threats." "What would a McCain administration do to stop it?" "On the subject of "nucular" Iran" "Senator O'Biden and I are most likely in agreement." "They cannot be allowed to acquire "nucular" weapons, period." "Israel is in jeopardy, of course, when dealing with Ahmadinejad as a leader of Iran." "It was Ronald Reagan who said that freedom is always just one generation away from extinction." "We don't pass it to our children in the bloodstream, we have to fight for it and protect it and then hand it to them so that they shall do the same." "We will fight for it." "And there is only one man in this race who has really ever fought for you and that's Senator John McCain." "Yeah, she's back!" "Sarah Palin is back, ladies and gentlemen." " Great job, Governor." " It was pretty good, huh?" "Pretty good?" "It was amazing." "There's just one slight adjustment I want to give you." "You need to call him Senator Biden" " not Senator O'Biden." " That's what I called him, Senator O'Biden." " You just said it again." " Said what?" " O'Biden." " Right." "Senator Biden." " That's it." " Oh." "Biden." " No, there's no "O."" " No, I meant "oh" as in "Oh, I get it"" "not "O" as in O'Biden." "Oh." "Okay, well, let's practice it." "Governor, do you agree with Senator Biden's position on the bail-out?" " Senator O'Biden..." " Biden!" "Dog-gone it!" " This is Sarah." " Hey, Mom." "Hey, honey." "How are ya?" "I'm good." "I'm" " I'm good, Mom." " Where are ya?" "Um, I'm not really allowed to say." "Okay, sweetie, but you're safe?" "Yeah, no, I'm fine, I'm fine." "I just wanted to wish you a good debate." "Thank you." " Did you study?" " I did." "A lot." "I'll be praying for you." "Please, I'll need it." "Come on, Mom, you're gonna do great." "I love you." "I love you so much, Track." " Fall in!" " I gotta go, Mom." "No, no, no." "Just..." "just another minute." "No, I'm really sorry, but I really gotta go." "You're gonna do great tonight, okay?" "Thank you, thank you, but, sweetie-- sweetie, you be safe." "I will." "Bye." "You okay?" "My son is safe." "My son is safe." "What we are going to see is probably the most anticipated vice presidential debate that I have covered ever." "A lot, a lot of pressure on Sarah Palin." "As for Joe Biden, it's sort of a, first of all, do-no-harm night for him." "No one has questioned that he is qualified to be vice president." "He needs to, both of them, need to talk about the top of their tickets." "After all, this isn't a race to be vice president so much as it is to be number two to the top people on the ticket." "On the Joe Biden side, you will see an effort to say, "Look, Sarah Palin..."" "Hurry." "Pray with me." "What should we pray for?" "Just pray that we win the debate." "Mom, that would be cheating." "Okay." "We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world." "I'm Wolf Blitzer, together with the best..." "We've been waiting for this night for a long time..." "I did this same walk for Geraldine Ferraro in 1984." "Holy jeez, that's cool." "This is your toe mark." "Okay." "30 seconds." "Two, pull back wide on her entrance, please." "Ready, two." "And take two." "Good evening from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri." "I'm Gwen Ifill of the News Hour and Washington Week on PBS." "Welcome to the first and the only 2008 vice presidential debate between the Republican nominee" "Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska and the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden of Delaware." "Tonight's discussion will cover a wide range of topics including domestic and foreign policy matters." "Each candidate will have 90 seconds to respond to a direct question and then an additional two minutes for rebuttal and follow-up." "The specific subjects and questions were chosen by me and have not been shared or cleared with anyone on the campaigns or on the commission." "The audience here in the hall has promised to remain very polite." "No cheers, applause, no untoward outbursts..." "Except right at this minute as we welcome Governor Palin and senator Biden." "Nice to meet you." "Hey, can I call you Joe?" "You can call me Joe." "Why, why is the mic on?" "No, no, no, it's cool." "They're gonna think it's some kind of Machiavellian Jedi power-play." "From your lips, Steve." "Welcome to you both." "The House of representatives this week passed a bill, a big bail-out bill or didn't pass it, I should say." "The senate decided to pass it and the house is wrestling with it still tonight." "Was this the worst of Washington or the best of Washington that we saw play out?" "Thank you, Gwen, and I thank the commission also." "I appreciate this privilege of being able to be here and speak with Americans." "Please, God, be kind." "You know, I think a good barometer here when we're trying to figure out has this been a good time or a bad time in America's economy is..." "Go to a kids' soccer game on Saturday and turn to any parent there on the sideline and ask them" ""How are you feeling about the economy?"" "And I'll betcha you're gonna hear some fear in that parent's voice." "She's doing great." "We've got 88 more minutes." "There is something to be said also for man's activities but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet." "Senator, what is true and what is false about the causes?" "If you don't understand what the cause is it's virtually impossible to come up with a solution." "The chant is "Drill, baby, drill."" "And that's what we hear all across this country in our rallies, because people are so hungry for those domestic sources of energy to be tapped into." "We will end this war." "For John McCain there is no end in sight to end this war." "We will end this war." "Governor..." "Um... your plan... is a white flag of surrender" " in Iraq." " Whoo!" "Yes!" "Governor, please, did you want to respond to Senator McCain's comments about healthcare?" "Pivot." "Pivot!" "I'd like to respond about the tax increases and..." " Yes!" "Darn right, we need tax relief for Americans so that jobs can be created here." "Barack Obama and Senator O'Biden you said no to everything..." "She just said O'Biden." "We're probably the only ones that heard it." "It was Ronald Reagan who said that freedom is always just one generation away from extinction." "We don't pass it to our children in the bloodstream." "We have to fight for it and protect it, and then hand it to them so that they will do the same." "We will fight for it." "And there is only one man in this race who has really ever fought for you." "And that's Senator John McCain." "Okay, here we go." "CBS instant poll says undecideds give the debate to Biden 46%, Palin, 21." "Fuck CBS and fuck their instant poll." "This is the greatest debate victory in the history of the republic." "Okay!" "You see?" "You just had to be you." "I'm gonna grab a beer." " Want one?" " No." "Senator McCain wanted me to congratulate you on a fantastic debate." " You really did a great job." " Thanks." "Tell John I want to bring up Bill Ayers and Reverend Wright." "I think it's time to go for the jugular." "Uh, you'll have to discuss that with your running mate." "He made it very clear that he doesn't want to touch Wright." "I'll talk to him about it." "We have to win this thing." "I so don't want to go back to Alaska." "Stevie." "You know, I think the worst of this thing might be over." "All she's got left are speeches." "There's no more debates, no major interviews." "Yeah." "We're doing great." "This was an unbelievable win for Sarah Palin." "In fact, I think that it unveiled a level of skill in communication that I really have not seen since Ronald Reagan." "She is a superstar." "Her ability to by..." "And she sure is a breath of fresh air." "I mean, I think people want someone from outside of Washington." "She sounded like the future." "Oh, come on, honey." "Why don't you get some sleep?" "One sec, okay?" "...Turned around." "I think she has done it in the sense that of the four debaters we've seen, she was the most interesting, attractive of them all." " She is personable..." " I can still win this thing." "She's got a sense of humor." "This map is now lopsided in favor of Barack Obama." "John McCain pulling out of Michigan." "The first domino in an economic debate that if John McCain does not turn around soon, many see more blue on this map and more trouble for John McCain." "Yesterday, it was announced that the campaign is going to leave Michigan to Obama to win." " What's going on there?" " I read that this morning also, and I fired off a quick e-mail and I said, "Oh, come on!" "Do we have to?"" "Do we have to call it there?" "I want to go back to Michigan, and I want to try." "What the fuck?" "McCain had hoped to just score a pick-up." "We made the decision to pull the ads out of Michigan because we can't win there." "We need the money in Pennsylvania" " and Ohio." " You're making a big mistake." "You know, I know I'm not an expert like yourself, but seeing as we're seven points out," "I don't see why the vice presidential campaign can't make a quick stop there in the middle of the night." "And who are you gonna meet with?" "Your press corps doesn't want to hear you speak at 3:00 in the morning." "And there's no such thing as a vice presidential campaign." "This is John McCain's campaign, and this is the decision that John McCain has made." "You must stick to the script, Governor." "And what script is that, Steve?" "'Cause I haven't seen anything resembling a script this entire flippin' campaign." "When you publicly contradict John McCain, you hurt John McCain." "I know what I know what I know." "And there you have it." "Afternoon, governor." "This is a pro-stem cell ad?" "Yes, Governor." "That's the Senator's position." "Yeah, it's not my position." "I'm not saying it." "I thought that" "You guys should have shown me the script ahead of time." "This is a waste of my time." "Why wasn't I informed that Jeb Bradley is appearing with me at the rally?" "I don't think we foresaw that being a problem." "I just Googled him." "He's pro-choice." "There's no way I'm going onstage with anyone who's pro-choice." "Bradley's gone or I'm gone, period." "Yes, Governor." "The RNC spent a stunning $150,000 on clothes for Governor Sarah Palin and her family according to the federal election commission reports." "The revelation that so much money was spent at fancy clothing stores like Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue could be a huge blow to the governor's image as an everyday, average American." "Several Republican donors have publicly expressed outrage..." " You watching this?" " Yeah, I'm watching." "Un-fucking-believable." "Why didn't you people tell me these clothes cost this much?" "It wasn't just your clothes, Governor." "It was also for the kids, Todd and your parents." "I want 'em gone." "Get 'em out of here." "You know, I buy my clothes at consignment shops." "I never wanted this fancy crap in the first place." "Hey, thanks for coming out." "Hey." "Hi, nice to meet you." " How are you?" "Hey, hi." " Governor Palin," "What's your response to the findings that the Alaska state legislature's report on your involvement in the troopergate scandal?" "I was thrilled to be cleared of all wrongdoing." "You know you're not supposed to be here." "Go back to the press risers, please." "Thank you." "You can't say you were cleared of all wrongdoing." " Why not?" " Because you weren't." "The report stated that you abused your power." "That is the opposite of being cleared of all wrongdoing." " Then why was I told otherwise?" " You weren't told otherwise." "And why haven't you released a statement saying that Todd was never a member of the Alaska Independence Party?" "Because that would be untrue." "He was a member." "He checked the wrong box." "He registered by accident, and rectified the error immediately." "He was a member for seven years!" "I'm sorry, Governor, but..." "There is only a few weeks left in this campaign." "You have got to stop saying things to the press that are blatantly untrue." "That is not the kind of campaign that we are running here." ""Campaign." Is that what you're calling this now?" "Governor, I admit that this is a dysfunctional campaign but that is what I inherited and I am doing my level best to help us win this election." "And that's what I'm trying to do, too and all you're doing is screwing me up." "That's all you've done this entire time, is get in my way." "And I am raising millions of dollars for this campaign." "Hundreds of thousands of people are coming to see me speak, not John McCain, God bless him." "They are coming to see me." "So if I am single-handedly carrying this campaign" "I'm gonna do what I want." "Several McCain advisors tell CNN they're annoyed by what one aide called "Palin going rogue."" "God damn it." "I hate it when there's leaking and backstabbing after a campaign, let alone before it's fucking over." "I need you to step in and talk to her." "I don't know, Stevie boy." "I don't know." "Sir..." "I can't control her any more." "I don't know if she's getting on a campaign plane in the morning or what she's gonna say at night." "We need to finish this campaign with as much dignity as possible, and the only way that can happen is if you get her in line." "That's not gonna do it, Steve." "She might start turning on me." "Most of these polls have us trailing 5 to 8 points." " So what now?" " John..." "I mean, these numbers do show it." "We've got to make this about Obama." "We've got to get tough and we've got to get negative." "If we go this way," "Reverend Wright is still the best play we have." "Any of you ever been accused of having a negro child out of wedlock because your adopted daughter was born in Bangladesh?" "And then when she was 16 and Googled her name, I had to explain to her why President Bush's henchmen called her a bastard when she was 10 years old." "Yeah, listen, South Carolina, that was an ugly primary but this isn't the same thing." "I mean, Reverend Wright really did say those things." "That may be true." "But there is a dark side to American populism." "Some people win elections by tapping into it." "I'm not one of those people." "Okay." "So what about Bill Ayers?" "Obama began his career in the living roomof a domestic terrorist." "Domestic terrorist." "Nothing to do with race." "Yeah, okay." "Ayers is fair." "Okay." "Who should do this?" "And Barack held one of the first meetings of his political career in Bill Ayers' living room." "Pallin' around with terrorists." "He's not a Christian!" "And I am just so fearful that this is not a man who sees America" " the way that you and I see America." " He's a socialist!" "As the greatest source for good in this world." "USA!" "USA!" "What does Barack Obama plan for America?" "Nothing!" "In short, who is the real Barack Obama?" "A terrorist!" "We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C." "We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America." "For a man who's written two memoirs he's no open book." "You got that right." "What does Barack Obama see for America?" "He's a Muslim!" "He's a socialist!" " He doesn't represent us!" " He doesn't belong here!" "He hangs out with people who hate our country." " He's not American!" " Kill him!" "Send him back to Africa!" "Let me read to you, Tara, what congressman John Lewis, the civil rights icon, said on Saturday in a statement." "He said, "as one who was a victim of violence"" "and hate during the height of the civil rights movement," "I am deeply disturbed by the negative tone of the McCain-Palin campaign." "Senator McCain and Governor Palin"..." "We gotta tone the rhetoric down." "It's gotten out of control." "We can't even mention Obama's name any more." "The crowd gets too hot." "This isn't the campaign I wanted to run." "I can't trust Obama." "I've read about him, and he's not a-- he's a..." "He's an Arab." "He's not an Amer-- no, ma'am." "No, ma'am." "He's a decent family-man citizen who I just happen to have disagreements with on certain fundamental issues." "And that's what this campaign is all about." "He's not." "Thank you." "Cutting through the bull tonight, on the Eve of the election, the campaigns are relying on their lucky charms." " Vodka rocks, lime." " You got it." "How's he doing?" "He's the most depressed I've seen him the entire campaign." "I can't get him to stop watching MSNBC which only makes him more miserable." "I'm amazed that someone who has been in politics this long takes all the petty stuff so personally." "And that's why they are who they are." "Reagan, Bush, Clinton-- all they want is to be loved." "The ones that don't pathologically need to be loved, they don't get the nomination." "They don't get to be president." "If you'd understood that fact you might have been able to better handle our Alaskan moose hunter." "God, it was a tough campaign." "It wasn't a campaign, it was a bad reality show." "She didn't cost us the election." "That was Bush." "That was the economy." "That was just the cold hand of fate." "We didn't have a chance." "And if we did win, would you feel comfortable with president Palin?" "Why not?" "Then we would have won." "Come on, guys, listen." "I, too, wish that the American people would choose the future Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson, but unfortunately, that's not the way it works any more." "Now it takes movie star charisma to get elected president." "And Obama and Palin, that's what they are." "They're stars." "Primary difference being" "Sarah Palin can't name a Supreme Court decision whereas Barack Obama was a constitutional law professor." "Fuck you." "You know what Dick Cheney said" " when he found out we picked her?" " What?" "He said we made a reckless choice." "When you lose the moral high ground to Dick Cheney, it's time to re-think your entire life." "Enough Cheney cracks, okay?" "I mean, he's very misunderstood." "How does he eat when he's wearing" "Darth Vader's helmet, anyway?" "There we go." "Gentlemen, let's wish each other good luck." "Who knows, we could have another" "Dewey-Truman situation here." "Always room for an upset." "Yeah, maybe I'll wake up with a full head of hair." "You know, if we had just asked for policy questions in the briefing, then we would have known." "I thought Culvahouse was gonna grill her during the vet." "Culvahouse thought we were gonna grill her." "It haunts me." "After a hard-fought battle, the nation's longest-running presidential race comes down to this day." "Election day." "Voting is now underway in all the lower 48 states as we approach the end of this historic election." "People lined up across the country by the millions today." "Turnout looks to be the highest in decades." "John McCain will carry Kentucky once again, as expected." "8 electoral votes, not a huge surprise." "We are not able to make a projection in the 4 other states that are closing all their polls at this hour right now." "and some of them are battleground states." "Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Virginia." "It doesn't necessarily mean that it's gonna be close or not..." "Where's Virginia?" "Negative five." "And Ohio's gone." " Got it." " I'll keep you posted." "Call you in 10." "What's going on?" "We're gonna lose Pennsylvania." "And Ohio." "Steve..." "There's something I have to tell you." "What's wrong?" "I didn't vote." "I couldn't do it." "I didn't vote." "I couldn't do it." "It's okay." "We'll take you right to the voter analysis..." "How we doing, Stevie boy?" "We lost Pennsylvania and Ohio, sir." "When my grandfather found out that the Japanese had surrendered he was lost." "He didn't know what to do with himself." "He came home dropped dead the very next day." "Fought his war, then he died." "And my dad, when he retired from the Navy, he fell into a sense of despair for the rest of his life." "I'm never gonna quit, Steve." "I can't." "I don't know how to just fade away." "Senator, I" "I just want to say" "What?" "I'm s" " I'm s" "I'm so sorry that I..." "Suggested her." "Don't be." "Fuck 'em." "What were we supposed to do?" "A truly historic night here in the United States." "Barack Obama will become the 44th president of the United States." "Sorry, Mom." "Oh, thanks, kiddo." "I'm really sorry, Mom." "Sweetheart." "You did great." "You know that, right?" "Come here, baby." "It's all right." "We're okay." "Yeah." "I'll take the stress very literally here." "Just one quick-- you think?" "And on this next part, would you make sure you bold that?" "Oh, Chris, I need you to load this in the teleprompter for me." "Steve Schmidt told me you weren't making a speech." "No." "I am making a speech." "Scully cleared it with Rick Davis." "So just go ahead and load it, okay?" "Okay." "Okay, so, on the stress on this one, I'll take it." " Jesus!" " Hey, sorry." "Steve, I'm getting a bunch of mixed messages here." "Is the governor giving a concession speech or not?" "I've already said this five times already." "She is not giving a speech." "Well, she seems to think otherwise." "Well, she's not." "What do you want me to tell her?" "Tell her she's not fucking speaking!" "Okay, well, you both seem pretty certain" "Well, let my certainty supersede her certainty." "Goddamn it!" "Steve." "You want to see me?" "Yes." "This way." "Excuse us a moment." "I understand you've prepared a speech." "Is that correct?" "Yes, I have." "I want to salute John for everything he's done for this country." "It's not going to happen." "You're not giving a speech." "And why is that, Steve?" "You're not giving a speech because the vice presidential candidate has never given a concession speech on election night." "It's not about you." "It's about the country." "Yeah, well, there's a lot of things never been done before." "Governor..." "This country has just elected the first African- American president in the history of its existence." "And it is the concession speech that will legitimize his succession as commander in chief." "It is a serious and solemn occasion and John McCain, and only John McCain will be giving this sacred speech." "This is how it has been done in every presidential election since the dawn of the republic and you, Sarah Palin, will not change the importance of this proud American tradition." "We fought, we fought as hard as we could." "And though we feel short, the fail, the failure is mine." "Oh, jeez, no.." "I don't feel that short, Mark." ""Fell short," boss." " Yeah, thanks." " "Fell short." It's a typo." " John." " Hi, Sarah." "Well, we fought the good fight." "Mm-hmm, we did." "Now I'm just gonna get out there and thank America." "I can't wait to get out there and thank you." "I have a speech written that is a real tribute to ya." "No, I think these guys have that covered." "Right, Steve?" "Yes, sir." "We have it covered." "I just wanted people to know what a great man you are." "I appreciate that, but these guys got it all worked out." "Yeah, you know, we probably should get going now, sir, so..." "All right." "Good." " Okay." "We'll see you afterwards." " I'll see you out there." "You're one of the leaders of the party now, Sarah." "Don't get co-opted by Limbaugh and the other extremists." "They'll destroy the party if you let them." "Remember, you're a hockey mom." "You just wanted to make a difference, and you did." "A big, huge difference." "I'll always be grateful." "Thank you." " We should go, sir." " Thank you, John." "My friends, we have" "We have come to the end of a long journey." "The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly." "A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama..." "To congrat" "Please." "To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country we both love." "Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans." "I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and all you have done for me." "I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I have ever seen." "Still think she's fit for office?" "Eh, who cares?" "In 48 hours, no one will even remember who she is." "We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican party, and our country." "There were numerous instances of her saying things that were not accurate that opened the door to criticism that she was being untruthful and inaccurate." "And I think that is something that continues to this day." "And you think that's fair criticism?" "I think that's fair criticism." "Early on, though, you apparently said she doesn't know anything." "In the immediate aftermath of her selection, it was clear to us that we... had a lot of work to do." "For you, picking Sarah Palin was about winning an election, not necessarily about who's gonna be best as vice president." "My job is to give political advice." "We needed to do something bold to try to win the race." "If you had it to do over again, would you have her on the ticket?" "You don't get to go back in time, Anderson, and... and have do-overs in life."