McCain Strategist Steve Schmidt Trashes Palin in "60 Minutes" Interview; Defends Couric - Video

Freedom's Lighthouse ^ | January 11, 2010 | Brian

[Federalist Patriot]

Here is video of former McCain Campaign Chief Strategist Steve Schmidt on "60 Minutes" last night, where he claims McCain decided to choose Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate at the last minute as a replacement for preferred choice Sen. Joe Lieberman.

Schmidt says the decision was made late Sunday night just before the beginning of the Republican National Convention in 2008 as they sat around a table and ate "deep fried burritos."

Schmidt essentially trashes Palin in the interview, saying she knew little about Foreign Policy and other issues. He did say she was a "quick study." He claims Palin did poorly in the Katie Couric interview because she "did not prepare for it." Schmidt actually defended Couric, saying he did not feel Couric "asked a single unfair question" in the interview. . . . . (VIDEO)

[rrrod]

This guy is a top consultant tied to the RNC/GOP elites and more than a few senators from my understanding.

[rrrod]

Tell this to lil dickie burr of NC

[Ann Archy]

Someone SMART better tell dickie Burr that if he WANTS to WIN as a “conservative” to DUMP SCHMIDT!!!

[oldbill]

People forget that Schmidt was the #3 man in the Bush 2004 campaign and was instrumental in turning what should have been a runaway landslide over a prissy dilletante (Kerry) into a near loss.

His mishandling of the National Guard mess twice in that year was only saved by the Swiftboaters and bloggers who brought out the truth that Schmidt was clueless about.

Schmidt is typical of that inside-the-Beltway culture that thinks themselves brilliant and enlightened and the rest of the populace ignorant rubes ready to respond to the morsels they hand out. Schmidt was more interested in getting puff pieces about himself in the Washington Post and liberal rags and TV than about advancing any conservative causes or principles.

Bad news - the Schmidts and that ilk still run the national Republican party. There will be no return to conservative values while Schmidt clones are still in charge.

[1raider1]

Not that there’s anything wrong with that...

[Russ]

I guess that next week 60 minutes will give Palin an opportunity to rebut what Schmidt said about her, right?

[eleni121]

Add O’Schmidt to the long list of GOP overweight over hyped overly momma’s boys has beens.

What a disgrace.

Sarah - You go girl!

[eleni121]

Watching that fat face of OSCHMIDT last night: all I could recall was another farty fat face: Scott McClellan

[ElkGroveDan]

Barbara Boxer and Barack Obama are thankful every day for Steve Schmidt.

[CedarDave]

If ANY Republican Hires Steve Schmidt or Mark McKinnon, they should be VOTED AGAINST!!

Word is that Schmidt has been hired by MN Gov. Pawlenty.

[maggief]

http://www.mercurypublicaffairs.com/team.htm

Steve Schmidt is a Partner of Mercury Public Affairs and leads the firm's operations in California.

http://washingtonindependent.com/61779/tim-pawlentys-pac-hires-sara-taylor

October 1, 2009

Tim Pawlenty Announces “Freedom First” PAC

PAC’s Leadership Team Includes Experienced, Respected, Diverse Talent

Providing management, strategic and political planning will be a cadre of campaign veterans serving as senior advisors, including Phil Musser, President of New Frontier Strategy and former executive director of the Republican Governors Association; Terry Nelson, Partner, Mercury Public Affairs and former RNC and Bush-Cheney 2004 political director; and Sara Taylor, President of BlueFront Strategies and former White House political director. Former FEC Chairman Michael Toner of Bryan Cave, LLP will serve as the PAC’s counsel.

http://timpawlenty.com/

Tim Pawlenty's Freedom First PAC

[onyx]

Please see maggief’s linked info above.
Tim Pawlenty’s PAC & Mercury Public Affairs (Schmidt)

[Ann Archy]

Then Pawlenty is a FOOL!

[maggief]

FYI
Ping to post #31.

---

http://www.observer.com/node/31884

“Mercury Public Affairs has created a unique, vertically integrated platform for solving high profile public affairs challenges by recognizing that polling, issue advertising, public relations, grassroots and government relations all play a critical role in winning,” stated Schmidt. “Mercury, Crosslink Strategy Group, FHGR and Fleishman-Hillard International Communications represent a global, bi-partisan, best in class capability that I am honored to join.”

[maggief]

This is interesting:

http://washingtonindependent.com/61779/tim-pawlentys-pac-hires-sara-taylor

October 1, 2009

Tim Pawlenty Announces “Freedom First” PAC

PAC’s Leadership Team Includes Experienced, Respected, Diverse Talent

Providing management, strategic and political planning will be a cadre of campaign veterans serving as senior advisors, including Phil Musser, President of New Frontier Strategy and former executive director of the Republican Governors Association ...

(snip)

http://www.newfrontierstrategy.com/about.html

Phil Musser is President of New Frontier Strategy, a strategic communication and public relations consulting firm founded in January 2007. He currently represents a variety of corporate clients with a broad spectrum of interests in technology, energy, health care, the environment and real estate. Phil specializes in helping clients understand emerging political and governmental trends at the state and local level.

In 2007, Phil served as a senior advisor to the Presidential campaign of Mitt Romney (R-MA), the campaigns of Governor Matt Blunt (R-MO) and Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA) and he currently advises a variety of state and local leaders nationwide. Additionally, he was recently appointed Finance Co-Chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association by Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS).

//

Now go back to this list of names:

http://republicanwhip.house.gov/newsroom/2009/04/national-council-for-a-new-america-formed.html

Our National Panel of Experts:

Governor Haley Barbour
Governor Jeb Bush
Governor Bobby Jindal
Senator John McCain
Governor Mitt Romney

(snip)

Sincerely,

John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Mike Pence, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, John Carter, Pete Sessions, David Dreier, Kevin McCarthy, Roy Blunt

Mitch McConnell, Jon Kyl, Lamar Alexander, John Ensign, John Cornyn, John Thune, Kay Bailey Hutchison

//

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/republican-party/gingrich-to-be-a-public-face-of-cantors-effort-to-remake-gop/

Gingrich Joins Cantor’s Effort To Remake GOP

---

Now, why would Steve Schmidt work OT to discredit Sarah?

Hmmm ...

[onyx]

Now, why would Steve Schmidt work OT to discredit Sarah? Hmmm ...

Captain Obvious muses..."he's attempting remove her from the field of his losers in 2012?"

[onyx]

Captain Obvious was and is so mad, she is tongue tied...lol.

“Schmidt has to get Sarah out of the way for his field of losers to have any chance at all in 2012.”

[maggief]

LOL!

Sorry, the question was rhetorical. I should have noted as such.

:)

[onyx]

ROFL! I knew that. I wanted to answer it!

[Diogenesis]

One wonders why McCain and Romney have not spoke up aginst this.
Click below to find out why Mitt is silent.

“Steve Schmidt, campaign manager for John McCain had this to say on last night’s Hugh
Hewitt show talking about the 2012 Presidential campaign:
‘If I had to bet money on it, if I had to bet money on it today, you’d have to say that the
people that I think look very good, very strong right now are Governor Romney,
Governor Huntsman. I think Newt Gingrich, should he run, is going to be a very
formidable, very formidable candidate. But the history of the Republican Party
nominating process is that it almost always goes to someone who’s been around the track
once before. And in that instance, in this instance, it would be Governor Romney. I
thought he was a very scary opponent looking from the other side of the table in that he
was almost like a learning organism at the end. He just kept getting better week by week
by week, and kept becoming stronger. And I think these national campaigns are very
unique, and I think most people learn a great deal with they go through them. And I think
one of the reasons that President Bush was able to make it through the process the first
time, unlike most people on the Republican side, is because he had been up close and
personal through a couple of national races. And I think Mitt Romney is a candidate, is a
far stronger candidate, prospectively, for the ’12 race because of his experience in ’08
than he was heading into the ’08 race.’”