Tension In McCain-Palin Camp May Have Caused Election

Now that Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have gone back to their prospective haunts, the daggers are coming out, all aimed at Sarah Palin as the one who ruined McCain's bid for the White House. Most notably are the Sarah Palin gaffes, such as the Africa statement.

It has been widely reported that Palin did not allow aides to prep her for interviews. One of the most disastrous ones that exposed her ignorance was with CBS News' Katie Couric. Fox News Channel political correspondent Carl Cameron called Palin's performance as a “lack of knowledgeability” and supposedly Palin's Africa comment was not the only thing that led to her public undoing.

There are now reports of temper tantrums by Palin when things did not go smoothly. And that McCain aides actually revealed off the record that Palin did not know Africa was a continent or the constituent countries in the NAFTA treaty. This tidbit would later be told to Bill O'Reilly, another Fox News Channel correspondent.

Even though publicly the McCain camp is not blaming Sarah Palin for the loss, behind the scenes, unverified sources are saying the Palin gaffes cost them the election. These leaks and tales seem designed to snuff out any attempts of Palin running in 2012 or even 2016, particularly if she doesn't know about Africa.

No one will ever forget that Palin staffers scheduled her to speak with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, a conversation that turned out to be a prank by a radio station. McCain aides, according to the New York Times were outraged, again by Palin's own maverick style.

Even on election night, there were published reports saying Palin rubbed McCain staffers the wrong way by requesting to make her own concession speech. Senior McCain aides Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter did not believe it would be appropriate for Palin to make the speech. This from the lady who did not know Africa was a continent and that Mexico, Canada and the United States make up NAFTA.

Things are not looking any better for Gov. Palin as attorneys for the Republican National Committee are on their way to Alaska seeking to get an accounting for the money that was spent on clothing, jewelry and luggage, according to the New York Times. Tension can only continue between McCain and Palin as a result.

The New York Times and Newsweek reports that McCain adviser Nicole Wallace urged Palin to buy three suits for the Republican convention and three suits to wear on the campaign trail. Instead Palin went her own way and enjoyed a shopping spree at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

News of the shopping spree became public when a Republican donor who agreed to a majority of the expenses was shocked when he received the bill, according to Newsweek. Palin was given a budget originally of $20,000 and $25,000, report both Newsweek and the New York Times. Instead, the amount reported by the Republican National Committee ended up being $150,000.

During the final weeks of the campaign, when President-elect Barack Obama began a strong show and his momentum was increasing, the McCain and Palin camps grew increasingly agitated with one another. Many polls have been published with Americans saying Palin was the reason they would not vote for John McCain.