David Axelrod reveals that the Obama campaign was initially concerned about Sarah Palin when John McCain tapped her as his VP candidate, but Obama was not.

Chris Matthews has Axelrod on to promote his book "Believer."
The first questions he asks him is about the campaigns response to Sarah Palin.

Axelrod: "Well there's no doubt that she was a little energy drink for the McCain campaign that badly needed it. And it shook things up. And it shook things up because she provided this sense of change and newness and an assault on the Washington establishment which was really undermining our message. So by the time...the day before the Lehman Brothers crash we were getting togetehr because our poll had us one point ahead in that race. And it was largely because of the energy that Palin had inserted into the McCain campaign."

Wow, you know it has been so many years now that I almost forget that there was a time when people actually thought Sarah Palin was a wunderkind and that she was the future of, not only Republican politics, but politics in America.

Matthews then reads a portion of Axelrod's book to him for comment. That section goes as follows:

"The East Coast establishment might disdain her as unlettered and ill-prepared, but that would only make her more appealing to millions of Americans who felt like they had been getting the raw end of the deal."

Matthews then suggests that Axelrod understood the disparity between the working class and the elite, and therefore understood her appeal.

Axelrod: "See that was the mistake that people made when she was picked, people focused on the fact that she was a woman. The fact that she was a woman wasn't the key, the fact that she had this cultural affinity for these disaffected workign class Americans was what made her potent."

You know this is a fascinating quote because I actually don't think that she had that affinity with the working class. I really think that much of her appeal had to do with her looks, and that the mere fact that she was so clearly undereducated meant that certain segments of the electorate felt that they could identify with her, in that if SHE could be a candidate then why couldn't they?

I also think that because at first little was known about her, she was a blank slate that people could fill with what they wanted to see, rather than what was really standing there before them.

It is only now, so many years later, that some conservatives are finally willing to drop the rose colored glasses that they put on the moment she took the stage to see her for who she really is.

However apparently Obama himself was not fooled.

Axelrod: "One thing I want to say about this though, Obama had a really interesting reaction when we heard she had been picked. He said 'You know I understand why he's doing it (McCain) but this is really tough, this national thing. It took me six months to be a good candidate.' He said 'She may be the greatest politician since Ronald Reagan, that she can come out of Alaska after a year of being Governor and handle this,' he said, "but give this three weeks, four weeks, let's see how this settles.' And the truth is she ran into some problems."

Boy there's an understatement.

I just really found this whole conversation quite interesting.

So it seems that many experienced political operatives were panicked by her appearance, but the President himself recognized that the road that lay ahead of her would reveal if she had what it took to be the star that so many already believed her to be.

And of course the road did just that, and no she was not.