Geoffrey Dunn weighs in on Game Change and Steve Schmidt's epiphany concerning Sarah Palin.

Courtesy of the Huffington Post:

Schmidt, above all others perhaps, has understood the resonating impacts of the Palin candidacy. At what were largely overlooked remarks at a recent forum on the 2012 election sponsored by The New Yorker, Schmidt acknowledged that Palin has had a "destructive impact" on the both the tenor and substance of the American political process: 

"I think that she helped usher in an hour of know-nothingness, and mainstreamed it in the Republican Party to the detriment of the conservative movement... And I think her nomination trivialized American politics, and had a lot of results that I'm not particularly comfortable with. And, of course, you know, I had a very personally difficult relationship with her during the campaign. But it was a mistake. There's just no two ways about it." 

Game Change serves as Steve Schmidt's confession. The film reveals Palin for what she is: intellectually dysfunctional, psychologically imbalanced, and most importantly, politically polarizing. Near the end of the film, Schmidt emotionally apologizes to McCain: "I'm so sorry that I suggested her."

Geoffrey  also talks about his off the record interview with Schmidt three years ago while Schmidt was in the middle of his "crisis of faith" if you will, and that his impression of the intimidating political operative that he had been warmed about turned out to be a very conflicted man going through a painful process of recognizing the enormity of what he had almost done to the country that he loves.

I am still somewhat frustrate that people are still working under the impression that Palin was a last minute decision made by Schmidt, other McCain political advisers, and McCain himself.

That is NOT what I have heard repeatedly, and in many ways Palin's own e-mails back up the idea that she was being groomed years in advance of McCain winning the nomination.

In my opinion THAT is the truly explosive part of this whole debacle, but as of yet I have not been able to gather enough evidence to expose it properly.