Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
From NBC's Michelle PerryAccording to a spokesman for "Playgirl" magazine, Levi Johnston said
Sarah Palin was "full of it" to "Playgirl" editor-in-chief Nicole Caldwell in an interview in the upcoming magazine. He said, "You could tell by her laugh she was full of it" and that her invite on Oprah to Thanksgiving dinner was "a nice gesture but she didn't mean it" and if he went it'd be "awkward."
The Washington Post on Palin’s new book: “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.”
Sarah Palin blamed the McCain campaign for her poor interview with CBS's Katie Couric, the New York Daily News writes. "A CBS source close to Couric responded last night, 'The interviews speak for themselves.'" She even blames the McCain campaign for what she says was their incorrect perception that it was a good interview. "I'm thinking, if you thought that was a good interview, I don't know what a bad interview is," Palin told Oprah Winfrey.
"One ex-[McCain] campaign official predicted the book will kill off whatever presidential dreams she may harbor for 2012. 'This will reinforce the fact that 25% of the country loves her and everybody else thinks she's not up to it,' the source said."
Don’t’ miss this quote in the Washington Post: “‘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.’”
From NBC's Mark Murray
In her new book, according to the Associated Press, Sarah Palin alleges that the McCain campaign gave her a $500,000 bill to pay for the campaign vetting her for the VP nod. She also makes the charge that the McCain camp said they would have paid all the bills had they won, but since they lost, the bills were her responsibility.
A senior McCain campaign official tells First Read that Palin's charge isn't true. The $500,000 charge came from Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein, and much of it had to do with Van Flein's work on the infamous Troopergate investigation that began before McCain selected her as his VP.
This senior McCain campaign official says they considered the $500,000 bill from Palin's lawyer to be exorbitant -- plus, even if they wanted to, they couldn't use their general-election funds to pay for it (remember that McCain accepted some $84 million in federal funds for the general election).
"Everyone thought it was ridiculous," the senior McCain official tells First Read.
*** UPDATE *** The AP originally reported that the bill Palin said she received for the VP vetting was $500,000. But in a later write-through, the AP changed it to "one-tenth of the $500,000 was a bill she received to pay for the McCain campaign vetting her for the VP nod." So approximately $50,000...
Marc Ambinder has more. "The McCain campaign footed the bill for Art Culvahouse's investigation of Palin before she was elected. Palin was urged by campaign lawyers to set up a legal defense fund to pay for the investigations and ethics complaints that had nothing to do with her presidential bid. 'I can confirm that she was not billed for any vetting costs by the campaign,' said Trevor Potter, the campaign's general counsel. 'I do not know if she was billed by her own lawyer for his assistance to her in the vetting process, but from the excerpt that has been read to me by the AP, it sounds as if that is what she is describing.'"
From NBC's Mark Murray
The Associated Press is the first news organization out of the gate to read Sarah Palin's new book.
According to its write-up, Palin blasts Katie Couric over that infamous Couric-Palin interview.
She writes that Couric had a "partisan agenda" and a condescending manner. Couric was "badgering," biased and far easier on Couric's Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden.
She also criticizes Charlie Gibson.
She writes that ABC newsman Charles Gibson, who had an early interview with her, seemed bored by "substantive issues" stemming from her time as governor and that while speaking with her he "peered skeptically" at her over his glasses like a disapproving principal.
Palin settles scores with the McCain campaign, alleging that they gave her a legal bill for her vetting, and that they also kept her family members away from the stage on Election Night.
[S]he says that most of her legal bills were generated defending what she called frivolous ethics complaints, but she reveals that about $500,000 was a bill she received to pay for the McCain campaign vetting her for the VP nod. She said when she asked the McCain campaign if it would help her financially, she was told McCain's camp would have paid all the bills if he'd won; since he lost, the vetting legal bills were her responsibility...
Palin laments that she wasn't allowed to bring up loads of family members to the stage while McCain gave his election night concession speech, the vice presidential candidate having found out minutes earlier that she wouldn't be permitted to give her own speech.
And she lists the books she's read in her life and calls herself a voracious reader
She remembers being a voracious reader, favorites including John Steinbeck's "The Pearl" and George Orwell's "Animal Farm."
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Next week is going to be Palin-palooza with her new book, "Going Rogue," out Tuesday.
On Monday, she'll be on Oprah. On Wednesday she's embarking on a whirlwind, seven-day, 13 city tour that's sure to sell lots of books.
Here are some points after looking at the tour dates (released yesterday on Palin's
Facebook page):
- Battleground America: 11 of the 13 stops are in battleground states
- Real America Tour? Not only is she eschewing the big cities, but nine of the 13 stops are in congressional districts won by McCain. The ones won by Obama are either swing presidential districts or places where a good potential GOP candidate could unseat the Democrat.
- Bookends: The bookend states -- Michigan and Florida -- are the primary states that the Democrats had their delegate fight over during the 2008 primaries.
- Potential for Fireworks: Her last date is in FL-8, represented by... Alan "Die Quickly" Grayson. We'll see if he shows up at that Barnes & Noble.
The full pre-Thanksgiving schedule after the jump...
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray
Yesterday, we noted that the Iowa Family Policy Center has invited Sarah Palin to address the group on Nov. 21, which just happens to be the same day when Vice President Biden attends the Iowa Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner in the Hawkeye State.
Palin has yet to decide whether she'll attend the event in Iowa, but this story might complicate things a bit: Politico's Martin writes that the Iowa Family Policy Center is raising $100,000 to pay for Palin's speaking fee -- which has raised eyebrows from other Iowa groups.
"[R]epresentatives from other Iowa-based political advocacy groups said they would never consider shelling out money for what many politicians see as a privilege: the opportunity to speak to a room full of sure-fire caucus-goers who often serve as precinct captains and can be instrumental to a presidential candidate’s success. 'If somebody tells me they want me to pay an appearance fee, it tells me they’re not very serious about running for president,' said Ed Failor, Jr., president of Iowans for Tax Relief and an influential GOP insider."
From NBC's Norah O'Donnell and Matt Glick
Levi Johnston, the estranged father of Sarah Palin's grandson, told CBS in an interview that -- among other things -- Palin had joked about her son Trig, who has Down's Syndrome.
Palin has released this statement through her spokesperson Meg Stapleton, which appears to refer to Levi's agreement to pose for Playgirl magazine:
We have purposefully ignored the mean spirited, malicious and untrue attacks on our family. We, like many, are appalled at the inflammatory statements being made or implied. Trig is our 'blessed little angel' who knows it and is lovingly called that every day of his life. Even the thought that anyone would refer to Trig by any disparaging name is sickening and sad. CBS should be ashamed for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies - those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention."
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Sarah Palin is weighing in again from her perch as conservative sage, urging voters to support Chris Christie in New Jersey, Bob McDonnell in Virginia and... the Republican Governors Association.
"Like other independent Americans, I don’t always see eye-to-eye with Republican political committees, so when I tell you that the Republican Governors Association has my complete support and confidence in its campaign efforts back East, know that I really mean it," Palin wrote. "The RGA is helping lead the conservative comeback beginning this year, and its involvement in the East Coast races is significant. I hope you'll support these efforts, which are vital to the cause for America's freedom and prosperity."
By the way, the former Alaska governor apparently penned the 589-word Facebook "Note" from a freshmen girls basketball game.
Boring game? No. She was "struck by the sight of America's future right in front of me -- these tenacious young women full of energy and intensity. I want them to realize every opportunity this great, free nation can provide. ... The young student athletes I'm watching right now are counting on us to do the right thing -- to fight for what is right for America today and into their future. Electing candidates with common sense and respect for freedom is one way we can fight for what is right."
Still, it couldn't have been THAT great a game if she's writing this from there. Nonetheless, the RGA isn't complaining. Think there'll be a spike in contributions in their next FEC report, coinciding with Oct. 27th.
Contrary to the preferred route of some Republican strategists, it doesn’t look like former Vice President Dick Cheney is going to hit the “Jackson Hole/Palm Springs” golf circuit anytime soon. According to the Washington Post, Cheney’s daughter Mary “is leaving the political consulting firm Navigators Global to start her own consulting company, and multiple sources familiar with her plans say she will not be going it alone. ‘She told me she is going to be starting a firm with her dad and sister," said one friend of Mary's, with whom she has shared her plans.’”
In case you missed a story the New York Times reported yesterday afternoon, First Lady Michelle Obama's roots can be traced back to a slave girl from South Carolina.
Tonight, President Obama will play a game of hoops with 11 lawmakers and 4 cabinet secretaries (none of them women, we might add).
SNL-alum Tin Fey says she may just have to dust off her Sarah Palin impersonation just in time for the release of the former governor's autobiography next month.
SARAH PALIN: On her Facebook page, Palin comes out for the troop increase in Afghanistan. Palin says in a posting on her Facebook page Tuesday that this is "not the time for cold feet, second thoughts, or indecision." Instead, the former Alaska governor writes it's time "to act as commander in chief and approve the troops so clearly needed in Afghanistan."
