McCain’s ex-campaign strategist says Palin would be catastrophic pick for 2012

October 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Republican Senator John McCain has acknowledged that tensions existed between his vice presidential choice, Sarah Palin, and his top aide, Steve Schmidt, during his failed bid for the White House last year, yet said that the former Alaska governor gave a boost to the campaign. Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," the Arizona Republican said: "When we selected, or asked, Sarah Palin to be my running mate, it energized our party.

October 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Sarah Palin, one of the most talked-about potential 2012 presidential candidates, has not been sought by Republican gubernatorial candidates to campaign for them. Less than a month before voters go to the polls, it appears clear that the former Alaska governor, will not appear on behalf of either New Jersey's Chris Christie or Virginia's Bob McDonnell.

July 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Former Republican US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin left unclear her future political plans Sunday as she formally ended her tenure as governor of the state of Alaska. Palin, 45, surprised political spectators earlier this month when she announced that she would give up the governor's office nearly a year and a half before her term was up, citing distractions caused by ongoing personal and political attacks.

July 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain's daughter, Meghan, has railed against "Joe the Plumber", the man her father's presidential campaign touted as an American everyman and made a showpiece of the weeks before the election. "Joe the Plumber-you can quote me-is a dumbass.

July 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Less than one in four Americans hold a favourable view of Alaska's outgoing governor Sarah Palin, a new CBS News poll has found. According to the survey, just 23 percent view Palin favourably, while 37 percent hold an unfavourable view of the former Republican vice presidential nominee.

July 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Sarah Palin, whose resignation as the Alaska Governor was termed as a political suicide, has received worlds of encouragement from her ex- boss, Senator John McCain, who is confident that Palin will remain on the national stage. "I understand that Sarah made the decision where she can be the most effective for Alaska and for the country.

July 9th, 2009 NEW YORK - How Sarah Palin plays her next hand, politically or otherwise, will determine how well books about her or written by her will do in the publications market, the Politico reports. Earlier this year, Palin inked a deal with HarperCollins for her memoir, due out in spring 2010.

July 9th, 2009 NEW YORK - A new poll suggests that Republicans still would love to see Sarah Palin as their presidential candidate in 2012 in spite of her decision to resign as Alaska Governor. According to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, 19 percent of voters would "very likely" vote for her if she ran, with another 24 percent saying they were "somewhat likely" to give her their vote.

July 8th, 2009 DILLINGHAM - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin vehemently defended her decision to resign 16 months early, declaring she doesn't care if it damages her political future. "I said before I stood in front of the mic the other day, you know, politically speaking-if I die, I die.

July 7th, 2009 NEW YORK - Well known conservative political commentator and radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has said that while he is flummoxed by Sarah Palin's decision to resign as Alaska Governor on July 26, he retains a gut feeling that she will run for the office of US president in 2012. "As far as I know, nobody in Palin's camp or Palin herself has said what the hell this is about and why she's doing this.

July 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who is to resign from office on July 26, can still make a lot of money for herself and the party, top Republicans said Sunday. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and former White House political guru Karl Rowe told Fox News Sunday that: "She marches to the beat of her own drum, and it's going to be very interesting to see how she pulls this off." Palin's stunning announcement Friday that she was resigning to pursue a "higher calling" confounded many of her strongest supporters.

July 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The tension between Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and top McCain campaign aides in the closing days of presidential campaign is elucidated in a profile in the new issue of Vanity Fair. Internal campaign e-mails exchanged three weeks before Election Day, offer a rare look at just how frustrated the then Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin had become with the manner in which top McCain campaign aides were handling her candidacy.

July 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The hard-hitting Vanity Fair piece on Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has touched off a blistering exchange of insults among high-profile Republicans, tearing open fresh wounds about leaks surrounding Palin. Rival factions close to the McCain campaign have been feuding since last fall over Palin, usually waging the battle in the shadows with anonymous quotes.

June 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A longtime friend and campaign trail companion of John McCain, the vanquished 2008 GOP presidential nominee, has described his vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin as Alaska's lipstick-wearing pit-bull and as a "Little Shop of Horrors." This comment appears in the August edition of Vanity Fair, reports the New York Daily News. Several senior members of McCain's campaign team contacted by Vanity Fair said they worked their tails off to try to elect as vice president of the United States someone who, by mid-October, they believed for certain was nowhere near ready for the job, and might never be." During the campaign, there were reports of anonymous McCain aides describing Palin, the governor of Alaska, as a "diva" and a "whack job." The Vanity Fair article recounts how strained Palin's relationship was with McCain advisers.

June 8th, 2009 GOP says Alaska Gov. Palin will attend fundraiserWASHINGTON — Republicans said Alaska Gov.