What is Steve Schmidt up to?

After the 2008 election, it wasn’t long before the tensions between some McCain campaign insiders and Sarah Palin went public. In Going Rogue, Palin discusses her experiences with one of McCain’s strategists, Steve Schmidt, and the overall flaws in the McCain camp’s strategy as she saw them. On 60 Minutes this week, Steve Schmidt took the animosity and the drama to a whole new level, taking to the air to further bash Palin, stating:

“[The person in charge of Palin's debate prep]  told us that the debate was going to be a debacle of historic and epic proportions. He told us she was not focused, she was not engaged, she was really not participating in the prep.”

He also said, that there were many instances in which Palin couldn’t keep her facts straight, and that this continues to add to the perception many have of Palin today, namely, that she is unlearned and inarticulate.

What has always interested me about this issue is why these McCain strategists were so quick to throw Palin under the bus. The obvious reason is that she is an easy scapegoat; bringing down Palin allows them to escape all responsibility for running a poor campaign. But, a recent comment by Democrat strategist Paul Begala on this issue has peaked my curiosity about the Palin-bashers, particularly Schmidt, once again. Politico quotes Begala as saying,

“I don’t think he has anything to gain from it. It’s not going to get Schmidt a whole lot of clients in Republican Party and he’s not selling a book. So it just may be that he is telling the truth.”

Begala’s certainly right that Schmidt’s coming out to trash Palin in the public arena can’t possibly help him with conservatives. Even former McCain supporters will likely wish to distance themselves from an individual they can’t trust to keep behind-the-scene problems out of the public arena. And, given the popularity of Palin’s populist conservatism and the rise of the tea parties, the odds are against Schmidt if he was banking on a Republican party that would reject Palin. That certainly doesn’t seem to be the direction conservatism is taking.

Begala thinks Schmidt might simply be telling the truth. I’ve followed Palin closely and read her book, and I haven’t seen any compelling evidence of the Palin that Schmidt describes. So I have to wonder if Schmidt’s goal might just be to make friends in the Democrat party? Is it possible he’s setting himself up for a Dick Morris-type jump to the other side of the political aisle? Otherwise, to what end is he putting himself out there and making these allegations? If it’s not going to further his career in the Republican party, and it’s not going to benefit him financially, what’s his purpose?

If it turns out that my imagination is just getting the best of me and this isn’t the case for Schmidt, it will certainly be interesting to watch the unraveling of this relationship and how Palin continues to handle this kind of negative attention as she moves forward in her political career. As for Schmidt, he seems to be on a losing streak, first the campaign and now the war on Palin.

Tags: 2008 election