'Rogue' Palin Was Reading From Script

Sarah Palin was actually on message when she attacked Barack Obama’s relationship with former Weatherman Bill Ayers during last year's campaign, the Atlantic reports. A new book, The Battle for America, reveals that Palin received an email from top McCain staff suggesting she use the Ayers attack. It even specified the approved language. Strategists also planned to run a similar TV ad.

At the event where Palin went on the offensive, she said Obama was “palling around with terrorists who would target their own country. This is not a man who sees America as you see America and as I see America.” The email, which asks Palin to “deliver the attack as written,” suggests: “This is not a man who sees American as you and I do—as the greatest force for good in the world. This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.” (More Election 2008 stories.)