But I guess all the fact-checkers missed it. 
Posted on 01/07/2010 9:06:44 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
An adviser to John McCain who was preparing Sarah Palin for the vice presidential debate became so worried at Palin's weak performance in mock debates that he placed a panicked phone call to Steve Schmidt, the McCain campaign manager.
"He told us the debate was going to be a debacle of historic and epic proportions...she was not focused...not engaged," Schmidt says in an interview.
Specifically, "Palin had a reflexive tendency to refer to Biden as "O'Biden," says Schmidt, a tick that he said had to be corrected before the internationally televised debate in October 2008. The fix: "It was multiple people -- and I wasn't one of them-- who all said at the same time, 'Just say, Can I call you Joe?' Which she did."
Schmidt says Palin "more than held her own" in the debate, and never called Joe Biden "O'Biden." He also says that Palin strengthened the ticket, which, in his view, would have performed worse without her. . Schmidt recounts the story to Anderson Cooper in an interview for this Sunday's "60 Minutes" on CBS, which includes political reporters Mark Halperin and John Heilemann discussing the 2008 presidential campaigns.
Heilemann and Halperin will also talk about their new book, "Game Change," which they wrote after interviewing more than 200 people involved the historic elections, including many directly involved in the McCain campaign.
The authors and Schmidt reveal other new campaign details, including that John McCain had decided to choose Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) as his running mate, but reversed course days before the Republican convention because of "blowback" from the Republican ranks
Needs a big barf-o-rama alert...:o)
Where’s O’Biden been lately anyway? Haven’t heard a peep outta him for awhile.
These stupid sots are vindictive, aren’t they?
Lol. Ya. Whatever.
You should all read the posting on C4P..its PERFECT..
Does the Mainstream Media Read?
By Mel Bryant
Several media outlets are reporting on a 60 Minutes feature that promises “revelations” from the 2008 presidential campaign. This feature includes a segment with erstwhile McCain campaign flack Steve Schmidt.
Media outlets are crowing over Schmidt’s quotes about Governor Palin’s debate prep. For example, Politico led its story with a discussion of why the governor crossed the stage at the beginning of her debate with then Senator Joe Biden and asked, “Can I call you Joe?” They report that she did this because she stumbled over his last name several times during debate prep.
That’s not a “revelation,” guys.
In Going Rogue Governor Palin wrote:
During [debate] rehearsals, I accidentally called Randy [Scheunemann who was playing the part of Senator Biden] “Senator O’Biden” — a slip-of-the-lip combination of Obama and Biden. The blunder struck too often, even tripping up campaign staffers. (Jay Leno later made the same slip on his new talk show, so we were in good company.) We laughed about it but knew that if I said it even once during the debate, it would be disastrous.
Then somebody said, “You ought to just call him Joe.”
“Oh, I can’t just call him Joe!” I said. Senator Biden was a senior statesman. He’d been sitting in a U.S. Senate seat since I was nine years old. I believed calling him by his first name without his permission would be disrespectful.
Randy seemed to read my thoughts and offered a solution. “In every debate, you cross the stage and shake hands with your opponent,” he said. “When you shake hands, just ask him for permission to call him Joe. He’s certainly going to say yes, because he’s a gentleman.”
So that’s what we decided I would do. We had no idea my mic would already be hot when I walked onstage, crossed over to his turf, and said, “Can I call you Joe?”
The “expert” post debate analysis was that my question was a cleverly devised strategy to disarm my opponent. Yeah, right. [Going Rogue page 289]
What publications do you read, mainstream media? Do you generally report news that’s weeks old as if it were new information? The book was released on November 17, 2009. Try to stay current on the news, MSM.
But I guess all the fact-checkers missed it.
As for the silly debate prep stuff, Palin kicked Astroturn Head in the nuts in that debate. He looked like the nasty, slimy jerk he is, overwhelmed with his Gore-sized self-love, while Palin looked like who she was, a woman who had achieved a lot on her own and who could handle this "genius" without breaking a sweat.
As I wrote on the other thread, I don't support Palin for president, but I'm definitely closer to doing so than I ever have been. When I see the endless obsession all the wrong people have with her, I figure there's something there I should support.
O’Biden’s kinda catchy, like Tom-Kat or Branjolina, lol. Looks like all three unions are rather troubled of late.
Can McCainiacs just go to their pre-designated graves and leave the living alone?
You know “they” want to destroy Sarah when they attack her for her debate prep, even though the debate itself was at least a tie if not a win for her. Believe me if the press could have convincingly spun the debate as a huge loss for Palin they would have but they did nothing of the sort. Schmidt is Sh**.
Exactly right. If she wasn't something major to reckon with the Left wouldn't go nuts like whining little girls about her.
was not focused...not engaged...?
Are they referring to Juan McCain?
Also, I believe I have heard Mrs. Palin say O’Biden in one of her more recent interviews...but so what?
At least she is eligible to be president, which is a LOT more than I can say for the self-admitted dual citizen that calls itself Obama.
And to think the McCain-ites claimed she screwed it for them... she was the only thing that kept it somewhat close...
Their book isn’t all about Sarah.
For example, one tidbit about Hillary:
“The authors and Schmidt reveal other inside campaign issues, including that Clinton was so confident she would get the Democratic nomination that she had two top advisers planning her transition for after she won the general election.”
FOTFL
Axtually, in the book, Sarah is given all the credit for keeping the election as close as it was.
O’Biden would have been a masterstroke. As it was, Biden lied his ass off during the whole debate and noone from the McCain camp called him or Obama on any of it. The whole campaign was very poorly run. Almost as bad as Dole.
Yea, that was my initial reaction also. I read Sarah's book. This is total spin, trying to save his reputation... Too little, too late, Steve...
“John McCain had decided to choose Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) as his running mate, but reversed course days before the Republican convention because of “blowback” from the Republican ranks”
sounds about right for McCain... boy would he have got some “blowback”!
O’Biden is a terrible Vice-President.
“As I wrote on the other thread, I don’t support Palin for president, but I’m definitely closer to doing so than I ever have been. When I see the endless obsession all the wrong people have with her, I figure there’s something there I should support.”
She sure has all the right enemies. And the fact that the left (and moderate R’s) were still attacking her madly AFTER the election says she scares them.
I mean, how many LOSING VP candidates get any press attention at all in the month after the election. Quick, who was George McGovern’s VP candidate? Dole’s? Ford? I know the answers. But I have to think about it for a bit. Because losing VP candidates are non-persons in American politics.
Palin has a bigger-than-life quality that quite overwhelmed McCain on the ticket. Heck, McCain turned out crowds in the 2-5000 range. She routinely turned out 20,000. Plus, she obviously scares the bejeezus out of a bunch of really bad guys, who have been attacking her ever since she was nominated.
She’s a fascinating character and I’m very interested to see what she makes of the next few years.
She won the debate at that moment.
It was almost "I paid for this microphone!"
nobidenobama... nobidenobama... nobidenobama...
She kicked Biden’s ass in that debate. Actually I prefer to call Biden by his real name..Dumb ass
Shillery’s been pretty quiet, too.
The left and rinos are running scared bigtime.This shit will go on for months.Blowing off cpac was a damned fine idea but then what would one expect from a conservative.
Without going back to the specifics, I do recall that Biden literally told six or seven huge whoppers in the debate.
Glad to see you coming around.
My variation on that is “Every time a liberal cries, an angel laughs his ass off.” :)
‘A debacle of epic proportions’? Brother, they really are trying to make Sarah out to be a train wreck. I didn’t personally care for the debate. But they think saying McCain wanted Liebermann makes it better?
I hope this man loses his re-election bid and goes away. And takes his ‘people’ with him.
I understand that it should be pretty easy to shut him down. Just say, "Joe, tell us, in your own words, about <X>."
I'll never forgive him for not personally taking care of her and for not overseeing the people he put in charge of her campaign. She was his ticket to the White House, which he realized on the first day he introduced her, but he neglected to make certain that she was properly advised and protected from the news media. Stupid McCain, she should have been sent to Rush and Fox News Channel and the hell with the networks. They were already in obama’s camp, and McCain KNEW it.
Steve Schmidt is a wreck, and he’s doing CYA. He’s even got a weenie lib Sacramento Bee opinion dude, Marcos Breton, carrying his water.
I assumed she asked to call him Joe in preparation for the “Say it ain’t so Joe” line she hit him with at the end.
She’s traveling the globe, saving the whole world.
I know, you can sometimes tell the best person from his/her enemies.
When I see who shrieks with venomous hatred at her, I figure she’s got a lot going for her.
Since she is saying that she asked him to let her call him Joe to keep from making a mistake and calling him O’Biden, her comment “say it ain’t so, Joe” shows just how quick and clever she can be.
I'm sitting here giggling with delight. Also imagining her walking across the stage, holding out her hand to shake, and saying, "Can I call you Dumb Ass?"
She may not have won the debate, but at least half of America would have fallen in love with her in that instant!
“Advisers Predicted ‘Debacle of Epic Proportions’ [Steve Schmidt]”
Steve did not appear to have had a great track record.
This confirms it.
I do not know where this quote came from but it works for me:”Know Ye by your enemies.”. Also in the case of the Anti-Palin snipers “Birds of a feather f- -ck together”.
I doubt highly if Joe is even thinking about the debate in a bad or good way. He won the vice Presidency, she didn’t. I think he could care less if she won that debate or not. Why do we????
No kidding. Having read her book, I am convinced that McInsanes staff were a fifth column in the party.
Because some of us are interested in, you know, this thing called history? And this other thing called politics?
Why should I care whether "Joe" the boob or even Palin are thinking about the debate? It's of great interest to those of us fascinated with the inside story of campaigns.
If you're not interested...why did you even click on the story...or respond to a post about a subject you don't care about?
Sarah is given all the credit for keeping the election as close as it was.
That was not a close election at all. 355 to 188? That is not close. ROTFLMAO.
Maybe it should have been called "How not to Run a Campaign".
Probably being prodded by Steele and the GOPers to help cool down the Sarah fever pitch.They can forget it...
hear that,Romney? FORGET IT. Sarah’s the one,and that’s that.
When I first heard of Palin, I read her bio and thought, “She’s great! There’s NO WAY McCain would pick her.”
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