Steve Schmidt: "We did our absolute best..." Refuses to defend Palin pick.

[jefferson_dem]

Steve Schmidt Remarks on Straight Talk Air

From TIME's Michael Scherer:

On the final flight of Straight Talk Air, John McCain came back to thank the press and reaffirm that he is feeling good about the race.

He was followed by Steve Schmidt, McCain's top strategist. These quotes, on the record, are the main substance of what Schmidt said:

"He's been working very hard over the last 100 days of the campaign. Long day yesterday. Late night. Early start this morning. And he's going to cross the finish line head up, running all the way. We will see results here in a few hours. . . . It's the only way to finish anything that you do in life, that's a competitive venture, which is full speed. . . . We did our absolute best in this campaign in really difficult circumstances. We had some tough cards to play all the way through, and we hung in there all the way. You look back in the middle of September, economic collapse of the country, a number of different things. We did the best we can in historically difficult circumstances from a political climate. It is entirely doubtful that anyone will have to run in a worse political climate than the one John McCain had to run in this year. And we have a path to victory. We are going to know what it is in a few hours. But certainly on a personal level I am very proud to have a chance to be associated with John McCain. He's a hell of a good guy. . . . The global economic collapse in the middle of September occurred at a time when we were ahead in the race, dropping the right-track number to roughly 5, 6, 7 percent, which are numbers that I don't think will ever be seen again in any of our lifetimes. It was a bad economic environment throughout the election, where people were angry at the incumbent party. At the end of the day, I don't think there is another Republican that the party could have nominated that could have made this a competitive race the way that John McCain did. It's one thing we know for sure is that at a Congressional level the Senate Democratic majorities and the House Democratic majorities will expand. The party has been very unpopular. The president's approval numbers were not helpful in the race. But the party as a whole is unpopular with the American people, and that was a big albatross. . . . You know there will be time for all the post-mortems in the race. I think that we'll know in a few hours what the results are and there will be a time for all the post-mortem parts of it. . . . "

Before the plane landed, there was a standing ovation and hugs of appreciation for Kimmie Lipscomb, who all agreed had over-performed day-in and day-out for seven months as the chief herder, defender and problem solver for the traveling press.

http://thepage.time.com/steve-schmidt-remarks-on-straight-talk-air/?xid=rss-page

When asked if he was happy with Palin, he says: "You know there will be time for all the post-mortems in the race.

http://thepage.time.com/

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Is this even close to the truth??

"The global economic collapse in the middle of September occurred at a time when we were ahead in the race,"

[BulletproofLandshark]

2. Of course not.

What, you thought the GOP was REALLY the party of personal responsibility?

[orestes]

3. I think they were on the tail end of their Convention bounce when the economy cratered

So its technically true, but they were already trending down by then, down to a 1 or 2 point lead by that point i think, from a high of around 5 or 6 immediately following the Convention

[BrklynLiberal]

6. Thanks for the info....

:thumbsup: :hi:

[progressivebydesign]

4. "We did our best... we couldn't be bigger assholes if we'd had them surgically altered..

.. to drive a truck through" And that.. my friends, is their best.

[intaglio]

5. That reads like he is conceding to Obama n/t