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How Her Mind Works
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Mark McKinnon, who helped prep Sarah Palin for her infamous debate with Joe Biden, says he never saw her bombshell resignation coming—and insists there's another surprise up her sleeve yet.
Plus: Read more of The Daily Beast's coverage of Palin's resignation and the GOP implosion.
Just when we thought things couldn’t get any crazier, and that the news might take a break for the holiday weekend, Palin explodes a nuclear device by announcing she’s stepping down as governor of Alaska.
No matter what you think about Palin, you have to give her credit for her ability to attract attention. The most interesting thing in politics is surprise, and she just pulled a doozy. Nobody, absolutely nobody, saw this one coming.
Pretty much everything has been said about Sarah Palin and the McCain campaign, and about Todd Purdum’s Vanity Fair article about her last week, but since I haven’t said it, allow me to jump in.
Nobody, absolutely nobody, saw this one coming.
Purdum called me to talk about Palin for his article. I chose not to participate for a few reasons. One, I didn’t want to add to the drama surrounding the McCain campaign and Palin. Two, to the extent I could offer any interesting or helpful observations, I had already talked to a reporter writing a book on the subject and had done so on an exclusive basis. And three, I really didn’t have much to say.
Contrary to Purdum’s characterization, which is understandable because I didn’t clarify it for him, I spent a total of three hours of the entire campaign with Palin. A week before her debate, I got a call out of the blue asking if I could spend the next week helping run Palin’s debate preparation. There was clearly an emergency at hand. But, cognizant of my pledge not to campaign against Obama because I didn’t want to be the tip of the spear attacking him, which led to my departure from the campaign in June, I was worried that this exercise would inevitably drag me into uncomfortable territory. So, I said no. My friends, clearly in a desperate situation pleaded with me to reconsider. I didn’t want to totally let them down, so I compromised in a way that satisfied my own conscience. I agreed to spend one initial session, about three hours, with Palin talking about basic debate techniques and fundamentals. But, made clear that I would not participate in any discussions about strategies to attack Obama.
Three hours was enough, however, to get a very interesting glimpse and some insights into Sarah Palin. And I know John McCain, Steve Schmidt, Nicolle Wallace, and many of the other folks who ran the campaign well enough that it has been excruciating to watch as they've been pulled collectively through the mud in the seemingly neverending campaign analysis, which in classic presidential rear-window physics always draws to one inexorable and ridiculously unfair conclusion: The winners were geniuses and the losers were idiots.
A few words about Sarah Palin: She is one of the most fascinating women I have ever met. She crackles with energy like a live electrical wire and on first meeting gets about three inches from your face. Her instant subliminal message is: “I don’t know you very well, but I’m very clear about who I am.” She reeks of moxie and self confidence. And she’s fearless.
Well, she was mostly fearless when I intersected with her. But, she was also a week out from a nationally televised debate with Joe Biden, and she knew she was in trouble. She knew she wasn’t prepared. And she knew it would be difficult, maybe impossible to be ready. And the brief session I witnessed, verified as much and I was convinced the debate would be a disaster. But, despite the crushingly stressful situation in which she found herself, and despite the aching vulnerability, she squared up in her uniquely Palin way and made it clear to all of us in the room that she was going to bear down, get ready, and was not, under any circumstances, going to let John McCain down. But, I frankly thought she would.
How Rich People Smoke Pot
Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
Justice Clinton?
As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
Justice Clinton?
As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
Myra Adams is a media producer, writer and political observer. Her media clients have included national associations, political interest groups and corporations. She was on the creative team with Mark McKinnon that created the now infamous John Kerry "Windsurfing" ad for the Bush 2004 presidential campaign and served on the McCain Ad Council during the 2008 McCain campaign. Myra's web site www.TheJesusStore.com contributes all profits to Christian charity.
Grill Him Again!
As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
Not a Game-Changer
As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
Kalikynos
"And we'll all be watching, fascinated by antics of the thriller from Wasilla."
Antic. Perfect choice of words to describe Sarah Palin, in both noun and adjectival forms.
But, "Back to Palin"? Where's the titular expose of how her mind works?
(Getting tired of "come on" headlines for TDB articles.)
DemsDeBreaks
Oh, I'll definitely be watching. I have a fresh tub of popcorn, and I am ready for the show to begin. Can't decide if it's going to be another comedy, a drama, or an all-out Greek tragedy. She'll probably surprise me and turn it into an action-adventure. "Sarah's new job - Wolf hunting by helicopter guide!"
staceyc
Well said! Whatever unfolds, she is definitely the star on her own stage and the media and the public are both audience and supporting characters to the Sarah Palin Show ... can we not put butter on the pop corn - because I think we'll need a gigantic tub and gallons of soda ... ?!
cbeenthere
Schmidt joined the campaign to help it in end in dignity for McCain? Well, that backfired !
xlntcat
Yep! The last thing that could be said about the McCain campaign would be that it ever had any relationship to dignity. Palin was only the first of multiple disasterous decisions all employed to deceive the populus. By the end, it appeared to be a campaign left totally in the hands of adolescents.
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wolverine1987
What an idiot. Wow. Grow a few IQ points and then return to posting FAIL.
YogiBarrister
Pass!
Flavorina
Piktor: I'm in 100 percent agreement. Moxie, self-confidence and fearlessness are good traits for playing basketball and running a dictatorship. So far I haven't seen any negotiating skills at all. Someone who is truly interested in finding a suitable Republican candidate for Election 2012 should tell her it is not her, and find one (or more) who is better.
gracie99
My thoughts also as I read that line.
It really irks me to hear claims that Palin did well in the VP debate! Biden went easy on her. She was pitched softballs that any grade school kid could have handled. She WINKED at the camera. And every time she didn't flub a response, her relief was palpable. Even as someone who would never vote for her, I felt pity for her and found it painful to watch. The only thing she did well not screwing up as badly as expected. It was very obvious that she was kid who got put on the adult team by mistake.
Mum-48
Actually, isn't going AWOL the essence of quitting? He never did show up for that physical or finish his stint, did he?
Fultoni
"he was never a quitter."
Er, look at his VietNam era record. He quit the Air National Guard, for Christ's sake!! A place a hell of a lot safer than many of his cohorts. In his defense, he probably couldn't pass the drug tests, but he was/is a quitter.
jackie111
amen. she may be worse, if possible. a hitler or the antichrist
KarenZ
McKinnon: you're smart, but maybe you didn't have time to proof this article for grammar and syntax. And doesn't the Beast have editors?
springsjulie
lol! I was thinking the same thing as I read this. I was beginning to think Palin had written this or something.
roger37
One wonders, Karen. This piece in most assuredly NOT about th mind of Sarah Palin. Reads like it was batted out in 15 minutes.
Kristina108
My sentiments EXACTLY. The article is not what the headline purports it be and mostly focuses on redeeming Steve Schmidt. Fine, but don't sell it as something else. And please - get an editor. Missing words, incorrect verb tenses, strange syntax, and bungled spacing. Very painful to get through and not up to snuff for the Daily Beast.
superjurdan
I think he should worry more about doing things like organizing his thoughts and writing well.
adagio
Why would it take more than 15 minutes to discuss the "mind" of Sara Palin? I'm surprised it would take that long.
biglover
I think you give Mark too much credit on the smart issue. he seems like a nice enough guy but to say she did okay in the debate makes me realize he is just another thug shill who isn't up to being honest.
jhub32
For anyone who wanted to hear anything of substance in the VP debate, Palin most certainly did not hold her own. She was allowed to skate by with flimsy responses and was not forced by the moderator to answer the specific questions asked. It was one long exercise in dodging the topics, and Gwen Ifill gave Palin a pass. Ifill is the only reason Palin supposedly held her own.
Danbury
Right.
Her, "I think I'll pass on that question and instead talk about..." responses were hardly admirable.
Wish I'd thought of that in school: Teach? Instead of answering the questions on the test I don't know, I think I'll just insert answers on something I do know.
How'd that have gone over? Brilliant? Well shoot, there went my Ivy League education, then!
giantphan
moderator:::: sen palin could you please tell me how much money you spent on the bridge to no where and why did you spend it ......
sen palin :::::: trig was born several months ago and he is fine thank you ..... next question please
sheik-yerbouti
makes sense to me
dearlizzie
She was a trained Parrot for God's sake. They might have well placed a tape recorder on the podium and punched the play button every so often. Palin didn't answer questions, she launched into a few, oft-repeaded set-pieces. No matter what the question, the reply was CUT TAXES. The only impromptu moment for the well-groomed and drilled former sports caster-girl, was the inane shout out to the third graders. That told me how Palin's mind works. She can't tell the difference between a debate for national office and one of those Wasilla PTA meetings where she got her start.
giantphan
if palin can't hold her own, i'll hold it for her
janet1003mn
You're right, of course. But I do think Mark McKinnon made it clear how LOW the expectations were. She cleared the 3 inch hurdle set for her just fine.
mdargo
Palin's speech was written, I would guess, by her and Todd. She did not even tell her brother before the press conference. The speech was not extemporaneous. She read it into a teleprompter. Greta's show posted enough video that it included pan back shots showing the teleprompter she read into. And her entire speech is posted on her official website. Paul Begala's take at HuffPo on her posted text is priceless, with all of its various ALL CAPS and exclamation points and odd punctuation. The rambling syntax was planned!
EXCERPT: "Another accomplishment - our Law Department protected states' rights - two huge U.S. Supreme Court reversals came down against that liberal Ninth Circuit, deciding in our state's favor over the last two weeks. We're protectors of our Constitution - federalists protect states' rights as mandated in 10th amendment."
"Law Department"? That would be the Supreme Court.....
www.gov.state.ak.us/exec-column.php
www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-begala/sarah-palin-turns-pro_b_225633.html
cbeenthere
Let's see the first reversal was to deny the accused the right to DNA evidence which might exonerate them; a suit filed by the State of Alaska vs. one of its citizens, and the second must have been the ruling in the Ricci case, or maybe not as that was the 14th amendment.
Danbury
The first was Bush v. Gore, actually.
And to add insult to hypocrisy, the Court declared that case a one-time-only, no-precedent-setting case never to be used as case law.
But sure, other than these instances, they're all for states rights.
cbeenthere
The second case was in regard to the ok for a mining company to dump waste into an Alaska lake. The first was the DNA. We forgot to notice that she was referring to cases in her state recently in the last two weeks. She would rather have wasted the state's money so a mining co. could pollute. Goes with her program, as did the DNA so her legislature can push through the death penalty, and maybe then the state will allow only those on death row DNA.
skorpeo
you missed the other fantastic error; "federalists protect states' rights as mandated in the 10th amendment". the federalists are for strong central government. not sure if that's what she meant, but that sentence is such a hackjob, it could mean anything.
cbreitel
Not correct, actually. Federalists are on the side of states' rights.
dcbooknurse
chreitel
The Federalists under John Adams supported a strong Federal government (ergo, the name). They felt that in a conflict between Federal government and state government, the Federal government has precedence. The Republicans under Thomas Jefferson (no relation to current Republican party) felt that state rights should always take precedence over the Federal government.
biglover
Actually I loved the ducks or geese quacking the background. It reminded me of the Aflac commercial.
marzapan
I follow several Alaska political blogs and they have been hinting at an "iceberg" coming Palin's way for weeks, so I don't think it's accurate to say no one saw this coming. She must know that if she pursues the presidency in 2012 she will be branded as a quitter--and nobody likes a quitter.
She was uncharacteristically nervous yesterday, gasping for air and with a strange cadence to her speech. I think a huge scandal is looming, possibly related to her house getting built with labor and materials from the Wasilla Sports Complex.
paristokyo
I agree totally. I too was struck by her nervousness. To be followed for sure...
RightofCenter
I believe the "strange cadence in her speech" stems from the fact that she wrote it herself. We all know that she's a poor extemporaneous speaker (there's been an epidemic of that in GOP politics the last 10 years). But, when a skilled speech writer crafts a masterpiece for her to deliver, she can deliver it. But, a skilled speech writer, she is not and I suspect Todd isn't as well.
I do think this is only the beginning of a larger scandal. And, as a Republican I say to that, "Thank God, maybe this will put her out of our misery". Sarah Palin, and her Alaska circus, was killing my party. Perhaps now we can focus on candidates who don't seem to speak English as a second language and can actually form and deliver a intelligent and insightful thought.
southernyankee
Now don't give her any excuses. After all she is a journalism major after going to how many colleges? Maybe 5, 6 or 7. You would have thought she learned something at one of these colleges.
DoctorB
The title of this article is inaccurate & misleading. Far from granting us an insider's insights into some parts of her that Palin tried to hide, this article says nothing about Palin that isn't already well known & widely written about elsewhere.
No, this article is mostly about McKinnon & Schmidt. Frankly, I'd find it more interesting if the article was about McCormick & Schmick; at least, they'll satisfy you.
Danbury
Kind of a strange article, in a Palin-rambling sort of way. It's about Palin. No, it's about me, McKinnon. No, it's about Schmidt. Really it reads as simply an inner-circle defense (when will those in journalism leave their egos at home when they go to work?).
It's also contradictory. In one paragraph, McKinnon writes, "I chose not to participate (in the Purdham article) for a few reasons. One, I didn't want to add to the drama surrounding the McCain campaign and Palin. Two, to the extent I could offer any interesting or helpful observations, I had already talked to a reporter writing a book on the subject and done so on an exclusive basis. And three, I really didn't have much to say."
So, on the one hand, you didn't want to participate so as to not add any drama, but on the other, you'd already allowed yourself to be interviewed by someone else for a book (on an exclusive basis), and on the one hand you didn't have much to say, but, back to point B, you'd agreed to be interviewed for that book despite having not much to say and not wanting to contribute to the drama...
Then you go on to say that, on the one hand, you didn't have much to say and didn't know her well because your exposure to her was limited to three hours, but later you say that, within those three hours, you got some fascinating insights about Palin and in fact that she is one of the most interesting women you'd ever met. How many people have little to say about some of the most fascinating people they've ever met?
Finally, it's a good idea to proofread your work before submitting it for publication.
Sorry for being so critical, but this article is kind of a mess.
As for Palin, the problem with people like Palin is that they expect to get what they want, and they don't like obstacles. The way they handle them is they either become ruthless toward those putting them up or they declare victimhood and quit. Sarah Palin is an opportunist. She sees opportunity to further her own ambition - which is nothing more than raw ambition itself - and grabs it.
dearlizzie
"How many people have little to say about one of the most fascinating people they've ever met?"
Touche. Palin's met her match in opportunism in Mr. McKinnon.
Progressive2
Q: How Her Mind Works?
A: It doesn't
Gothfather
Incomprehensible to even conclude that she has any more "mind" than was given a duck. (with apologies to ducks in and out of public office).
biglover
ROFLMAO!!
Mhussein
Mark you ned to stop writing nonsenses. You were wrong about Sanford. You wrote that he would survive the scandal until the Tango shoe drop. Now you think SP just made the best move....again you need to wait for the other shoe i.e she will be indicted.....so I will stop reading you...0 for 2 is not a good average.
magicman
Mark. You mean no one in the MSM saw this coming. You missed my Post at the fool.com entitled. "Chiron Direct, the deaths of MJ and Farrah, and a Governor in Flight of His Office". These are the times. These are the results of our times as well. The question is "do you understand what that means?" Apparently not. How can you report the news when you have no idea what context lays beneath it. You are admitting that you don't even know what to look for on any given day. That is the pun intended in posts to Buckley entitled "A Shot In The Dark". You are misunderstanding context in your time and the fabric which supports it. These facts of human existence are there as further proof of the existence of God.
jlmoriarty
"He has in my strong opinion a man of very strong character and integrity and has been unfairly attacked by people with axes grinding, as being responsible for unflattering leaks about the governor."
Wow! Well said, Mark - crisp, succinct and compelling. Did Sarah write this for you? And your revelations into the mind of Palin just leaves me, umm... I don't know, wanting more?
dearlizzie
Nailed it! That's some sentence and it does sound like one of hers. Hahaha.
quick2no
Mark - you said she was fearless. If she's so fearless, why is she quitting? Methinks she has another plan. She could command big bucks on the speech circuit as she is a very good motivational speaker. Given a teleprompter, she will be quite successful. After all, she has huge legal bills now (those 'frivolus' lawsuits add up), and it appears that the Alaskan legislature is against her. I would say most Americans find her unfit to think. I believe that she is going to run her mouth now. Big time. Stay tuned.
Stahrdance
"Methinks she has another plan." Ohhhh yeahhhhh!!!!!
Methinks she is an opportunist. She was an opportunist when she ran for governor, dividing and attacking her own party. She was an opportunist when the McCain camp asked her to run for VP (totally out of her league). And by resigning as governor mid-term, she is about to pounce on another opportunity.. to be come a millionaire just on the merits of her celebrity and controversy rather than her intellect.
Palin is a political hack at best and is running on her pagent-walking, flag-waving patriotism "act". It's a pathetic picture of America when an obvious snake oil saleswoman can catapult herself to this level of celebrity and media buzz. How could anyone seriously see her in the Whitehouse? This is not a reality TV show or a soap opera.... it's the welfare of our country at stake here.
If we are lucky... she will seek her fortune in, as you say, motivational speaking (How to quit and stay a winner) and talk show hosting. No.. never mind... that would not be lucky for us at all. Someone might buy her BS. Best she stick to fishing in Alaska and write books on salmon or wolf hunting and stay out of things she knows nothing about... like governance and foreign affairs.
Cleanerman
I just don't care for the "gal". In my opinion, she (as "W") should never have been in politics at all. Sadly, I am sure we have not heard the last from her--she will always "be" there. I don't enjoy her, I don't agree with her. But many people do--just as many never tire of the "Rush Limbaughs" of the world. These type people are injected into our daily lives in constant speed. I wish we could hear more from the intellectual, educated types from all across the political spectrum rather than primarily from the uninformed, mean- spirited ones that abound at every turn who are more interested in instant personal popularity and private gain.
biglover
Ah yes, Cleanerman, if only that would happen. Maybe when the republican party gets rid of the religious right and radical pro-life crazies, there will be a chance. Until then, it ain't happening.
lordmi
the thing is - it is moving right into the opposite direction.
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