McCain admits he and Palin not a ‘winning combination’

McCain was responding to a follow-up question by King, whose interview with former McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt produced several eye-opening quotes.

(..) "I, look, whenever there's a political campaign, and I've been involved in them for many, many years, there's always tension," he replied. "You know, with a high-tension situation, there's always tensions that develop within campaigns and there were clearly tensions between Steve Schmidt and people in the Palin camp.

"There are fundamental facts though, that just can't be denied. When we selected, or asked Sarah Palin to be our running mate, it energized our party. We were ahead in the polls until the stock market crashed and she is still a formidable force in the Republican party and I have great affection for her. Sarah and I, did we always agree on everything, will we in the future? No.

"Look, let's let a thousand flowers bloom," McCain concluded. "Let's come up with a winning combination next time. We, and, uh, let's all go through the process rather than condemning anybody's chances and I'm happy to say that we have some great people out there and Sarah is one of them."