An interview with Shushannah Walshe and Scott Conroy, the authors of some behind-the-scenes reportage about Sarah Palin's vice presidential candidacy, "Sarah from Alaska."
You try hard to be fair in the book, but you chronicle, fairly persuasively, a large number of what seem to be fairly egregious distortions by the candidate. Why does she do this? Why doesn't she, as you wrote, acknowledge uncomfortable truths?
Palin almost always seems outwardly poised and confident in front of a microphone, but she also demonstrates time and again--often in more subtle ways--signs of profound insecurity. It takes a self-confident person to admit mistakes and acknowledge one's own shortcomings, but Sarah Palin is quick to cast aside people who cross her in even minor ways, and her unwillingness to tolerate much dissent often leads to an infallibility syndrome.
At what point did it become clear to Palin that McCain's staff distrusted her? Did this contribute to her decision to "go rogue"--? Or did she decide to veer off message before she was mistreated?
It must have become clear to Palin very early on that many of McCain's aides distrusted her, since they would not allow her to speak to the traveling press, even though she wanted to do so. The acknowledgment of their lack of trust certainly contributed to her "going rogue" mentality, especially after she became more comfortable on the campaign trail and realized that she was the candidate, not them. Throughout her life, as we demonstrate in the book, Sarah Palin has always trusted her own instincts above all else.