Going Rogue: An American Life (62 page)

SARAH

PALIN

ping by with her tucked in a car sear. When I had Trig, my staff broughr me state paperwork ro do, and I signed a bill inro law from the hospital bed. I didn’t miss much work for any reason. To my staff, ir would be inexplicable rhar I wasn’r in rhe office on an ordinary Thursday morning.

In discussing logistics for getting me out ofAlaska underected, the McCain people delivered one piece of news with the potential to change the course of the entire campaign: if John picked me as his running mate, Todd would have ro confiscate our three teenagers’ cell
phones—without
an explanation,
when they even in trouble.
This, of course, would be scarier than anything the Obama-Biden camp could throw at us.

Now in Arizona, we pulled into the driveway of an imposing home surrounded by trees that soared into a star-spangled sky. When I srepped out of the car, I was again struck by a blast of warm nighttime air, the

heat still baking up from the earth.

Alaskans don’t get ro enjoy a warm, starry night-ever. If it’s dark enough to see the stars, then it’s quite cold, so the balmy air felt foreign and exotic.

Moments later, Bob welcomed us into his beautiful home, where he’d laid out a generous spread. Davis made the introduc,tions. First, Steve Schmidt, veteran campaign manager, an imposing, gruff-voiced guy who wore sunglasses atop his bald head in the middle of the night. Schmidt, aka “the Bullet;’ rold me he’d managed Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernarorial campaign, handled press relations for Dick Cheney, and worked on George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign.

I knew instantly that Schmidt was business-ro-the-bone. I respect that in a person, as I’m not one for a lot of chitchat either, and we were very comfortable with each other right off the bat. As a public relations troubleshooter, Schmidt specialized in shaping public opinion. His peers later rold me he has a laserlike ability •

212

•

Going Rogue

to spot chinks

an opponent’s armor. He is a, guy who inspires

loyalty: in spite of his steely exterior, people who work for him really want to please him,

Similar to the McCain campaign’s struggles, the Bush 2004

campaign had its points when morale was terrible, people on the inside told me, Prior to Bush’s debate against Democrat challenger John Kerry, the campaign had been pretty well positioned to continue its lead in the polls if the president performed well at the debate. But the postdebate feeling among some staffers was rhat it was a disaster. The next day at campaign headquarters, morale was in the tank … for everyone except Schmidt. Because Schmidt was focused. He was looking for the advantage, and thought he found it in Kerry’s assertion during the debate

that the United States of America needed to pass a “global test” before choosing to act militarily.

While the press and the Kerry team were picking apart Bush’s performance, Schmidt had found a single, unspent shell he would use to make war,

He told one staffer, “We’re going to ram ‘global test’ right up John Kerry’s ass.”

People said Schmidt was the kind of guy who was in politics because the thirst fur competition ran in his blood. He was good at managing the media, at using the press to communicate a message-and he was very good at setting traps for his opposition. Next was McCain biographer and confidant Mark Salter, He was and quieter than Schmidt. Still, I could tell he was soaking up every detaiL I later learned that he had once taken a punch from an activist who was agitating outside John’s Senate offices, then wrestled the man to the ground and kept him pinned until the cops showed up. I also learned he was one of the few people who could change John’s mind,
•

2lJ

•

SARAH

PALIN

We all sat around a coffee table in Delgado’s dimly lit living room, talking firsr about my posirion on the war in Iraq, my record on energy, and Alaska’s economy. We discussed the makeup of my cabinet and staff, which included Republicans, Independents, and Democrats, and rhe fact that I subscribed to Lincoln’s “team of rivals” approach.

I was impressed with these guys. They were thorough. For example, they already knew that Bristol was pregnant, a development that I thought only loved ones were ,privy to at the time.

“You have to be aware that nothing will stay secret during the Schmidt said.

“That’s okay;’ I said. “I have nothing to hide.” I admitted, though, to the one skeleton I’d kept hidden in my closet for the past twenty-two years. It made me nervous and sick to my stomach, but I felt obligated to confess that D in the college course twenty-two years before. Schmidt didn’t bat an eye but instead switched back to the war in Iraq. He wanted to know whether I understood the origin of the conflict, the history of the Middle East, and how thirteenth-and fourteenth-century differences had evolved into today’s murderous rivalry between the Sunni and the Shia.

I knew the history of the conflict to the extent that most Americans did. We talked about my perspective, then I added that it was also personal to me: as commander-in-chief of our state’s National Guard and as the mother of a son headed to Iraq, I
was paying close attention to what was going on and keenly aware
of the war’s progress and the issues on the ground. It turned out that conflict in the Middle East was Schmidt’s preferred issue, and he seemed very knowledgeable about the subject. It would later concern me that when the tanking economy began pushing the war out of the headlines, Schmidt was slow to turn the campaign’s ship into the wind. When I look back •

214