If the early leaks are any indication, the biggest story that will come out of Sarah Palin’s forth coming book Going Rogue: An American Life
The rollout for former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s highly anticipated and score-settling memoir began Thursday with all the orchestrated stagecraft, wild accusations, inconvenient leaks and media fascination that characterized her campaign as Sen. John McCain’s running mate during the 2008 presidential race.
In the book, “Going Rogue: An American Life,” Palin contends that the McCain campaign stuck her with a $50,000 bill for the cost of her own vetting, botched the announcement of her teenage daughter’s pregnancy, outfitted Palin with all those infamous costly ensembles, and shielded her from reporters. Even so, Palin goes on to belittle two famous interlocutors, Katie Couric and Charles Gibson, according to the Associated Press, which found and purchased a copy of the book before its sale date.
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In the book, Palin accuses the McCain campaign of leaving her a $50,000 bill, the amount, she suggests, that her vetting cost the campaign. She asserts the thousands of dollars in clothes purchased from some of the country’s most exclusive department stores was explained to her as all “part of the convention.” Palin also says she carefully revised a statement about her daughter Bristol’s pregnancy, with her teenage boyfriend, Levi Johnston, the father, only to see the campaign’s less delicate version distributed to the media.
A spokeswoman for McCain’s Senate office, Brooke Buchanan, declined to respond to the charges.
But multiple former McCain officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, as the senator had not authorized any participation, disputed Palin’s claims.
“John McCain offered her the opportunity of a lifetime, and during the campaign it seems that, for all of her mistakes, she is searching for people to blame,” said one former senior official in the McCain campaign. “We don’t need to go through this again.”
Regarding the $50,000, several high-ranking McCain aides said Palin was most likely conflating the cost of her vetting, which the McCain aides counter was actually minimal, with the fees she spent to defend herself from various accusations of ethical wrongdoing in her home state.
Speaking with Winfrey, Palin also argues that the McCain campaign approved of her performance in her disastrous interview with Couric of CBS.
“Do you think that was a seminal, defining moment for you, that interview?” Winfrey asks.
“I did not,” Palin responds. “And neither did the campaign. In fact, that is why Segment 2 and 3 and 4 and maybe 5 were scheduled. The campaign said, right on. Good. You’re showing your independence.”
“No sentient person would look at that and say that,” assessed one former senior McCain campaign official.
In her book, Palin issued harsh words for the media as a whole and for Couric in particular. According to AP, Palin described Couric as “badgering” and a sufferer of low self-esteem. (Couric declined, through a spokesman, to comment.) The former governor, who in the book says her dream was to be a sportscaster alongside Howard Cosell, takes aim at ABC anchor Gibson, whose interview preceded Couric’s. He “peered skeptically” at her over his glasses, Palin writes, and had no interest in the substantive issues. (A spokesman for ABC did not return a request for comment.)
More to come, I’m sure.
