McCain aide cites 'failure of management'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/14/art.davis.gi.jpg caption="Davis managed McCain's campaign."](CNN) - Rick Davis, the campaign manager for former John McCain's White House bid, came to Sarah Palin's defense in an upcoming interview with the National Review, saying the now-infamous $150,000 clothing tab for the Alaska governor was caused by a "failure of management."
In the interview, set for publication next week, Davis notes Palin's appearance at the Republican convention came only days after she was named to the GOP ticket, and the Alaska governor had few clothes on hand that were appropriate for the event.
“We flew her out from Alaska to Arizona to Ohio to introduce her to the world and take control of her life. She didn’t think ‘dress for the convention’, because it might have just been a nice day trip to Arizona if she didn’t click with John. Very little prep had been done and if it had, we might have gotten picked off by the press. We were under incredible scrutiny."
"We were under incredible scrutiny," he added. "We got her a gal from New York and we thought, ‘Let’s get some clothes for her and the family.’ It was a failure of management not to get better control and track of that. "The right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing, what it was worth or where it was going. No one knew how much that stuff was worth. It was more our responsibility than hers.”
News of the pricey tab caused a media firestorm days before the presidential election, and McCain aides appeared to blame Palin for the mishap, while the Alaska governor said she was forced to buy the clothes.
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There's plenty of blame to go around here, starting with the top of the ticket. Just a bad campaign. One of the worst in American history.
Whatever! This is nothing more then an attempt to relieve pressure from Sarah Palin the new leader of the GOP. Good Luck with that!
It is not easy to spend $150,000 and the magnitude of this number shows a serious disconnect of the main points of the article and reality. If she spent $15, then everything stated in the article would be reasonable. But the facts are that $150,000 is a huge abount of money and the “hill Billy gone nuts in a fancy store” description by her ex-aid just simply resonates with reality.
Maybe, God does have a plan for Palin, but the window of opportunity was missed when, in February, she failed to prepare her self for this important role as VP candidate that she knew she was being considered for. Maybe the world does not revolve around Palin as she seems to believe. Maybe God does have a plan for her, maybe it was to insure that Obama would be in the white house to save American from its self.
"She didn't think" Yeah, that's Sarah!
I can see purchasing an outfit or two for the convention. But, she sported the new digs after the convention and throughout the remainder of the campaign.
"forced"? btw – she appears to be wearing the fancy clothes, still, take a look at her RGA speech. Silly mistake, there, but it keeps on giving, too, also.
"We flew her out from Alaska to Arizona to Ohio to introduce her to the world and take control of her life."
Ok... see maybe it was the insane aides (which I always blamed) that destroyed his campaign. Yes Palin is one of the most idiotic politicians of all time, but I blame the campaign staff entirely. I bet the completely forced john to do most of the things that went wrong. He's an old, very impressionable, easily persuaded man.
Enough is Enough. NO more PALIN Talk
Quit spinning it all around. The Republican ideology is what failed. GOP ideas are stale, obsolete, and irrelevant.
"A gal"...from New York...and they wonder why we could not take them seriously about picking palin...Wow
BOY AM I GLAD THESE JOKERS AREN'T RUNNING THE GOVERNMENT! Oh, wait, they are, and have been for 8 years! That explains so much "the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing!"
Oh for heaven's sake, the clothes all had price tags, and she knew what stores she was in! She wanted to be VP and she couldn't keep a tally in her head of what she was spending??? Now that it scary, as is the thought that the campaign couldn't MANAGE to buy clothes on a budget.
This news article feels like it belongs in Entertainment Weekly. How about moving on?!
"We got her a gal from New York. . . "
Well, at least the republicans are consistent. They are still racially insensitive sexists!
This sounds suspicious to me. If Sarah Palin is so intelligent like the GOP claims, how is it that she allowed herself to innocently be duped by the McCain aids? I believe the first story was true: Wasilla hillbillies raiding Nieman Marcus.
Whatever, but why was it necessary to dress her entire family with expensive clothes, and what happened to those clothes and accessories that were supposed to be given to charity? No one is commenting or even reporting on that. The entire campaign was not managed properly so this particular aspect is in keeping with the failure of the whole effort. If she had been properly vetted, it could have been handled smoothly and not everything being done on the fly at the last minute. Another point for the Obama campaign being totally organized and the McCain advisers being inept.
Who cares about some designer rags, or Palin for that matter? Let her have them. And oh, Rick, by the way, you both lost, so game over- pack your bags and hit the road. Don't look back and don't come back. Not even the Republicans want you anymore, I can tell....
It should have never come up in the press. It is to bad that in todays world all the press can think of are negative things. I wish they would go away.
Davis & hook-nose,square chin Palin should just disappear for the next 8 years or longer.
If they could not manage the budget for a shopping spree how could they manage the budget for the country? I would think that any real hockey mom would know better than spend that kind of money on clothing a her family. It looked like Sara had on one of the $5000.00 leather jackets at yesterdays press conference. She said she no longer had any of the clothes. There is still alot more about this we have not heard.
YOU ARE NOT GOOD IN ORGINAZING RICKY.GO ASK DAVID AND AXELROD FOR CLUE NEXT TIME.
Yada yada yada....does this really matter now. The McCain campaign lost. Why are we still talking about this CNN? It was a mistake for the camp not to think about the taxpayers money. Yes, our tax dollars paid for Palin's clothes. What else is new, the public is accustomed to getting rolled over.
So glad Obama will be our next president.
missmangement my butt, out dated ideas from a lifeless corpse and a babling idiot, the best management on earth couldn't have helped that ticket.
BBBWWWWWAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
C'mon LIP, griff, GARY, all you rightwing nutcases.... Let's hear how the big bad Democrats are picking on the poor defenseless Republicans....
HAHAHAHAHAHAH
Want some cheese with that whine?
NOBAMA
PALIN / ANY DIE HARD REPUB 2012 – 2020
after the future failed nobama/biden/clinton admin. all you nobama democraps can go stick your heads where the sun dont shine, sorry, forgot that all of you already did.
The repugs make me dizzy from thier endless spin.