| | Palin 'sorry' if she cost McCain any votes
 One of the unanswered questions after John McCain's stunning loss to Barack Obama Tuesday night remains whether his decision to appoint an unknown, relatively inexperienced, obscure state governor as his running mate contributed to his downfall.
Speaking to reporters in Arizona, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she was "sorry" if she cost John McCain any votes, and she demurred when asked whether she plans to run for president in four years.
Observers began to detect some animosity between McCain and Palin, who proved unwilling to stick to the campaign script and committed a fair share of gaffes in speeches and interviews. Before McCain delivered his concession speech Tuesday night, Palin reportedly wanted to speak to the crowd on her own, but chief strategist Steve Schmidt is said to have vetoed the idea.
Schmidt was noncommittal when the New York Times asked what he thought of Palin's performance on the campaign trail.
"I’m not going to go there," he told the paper. "There’ll be time for the post-mortems in the race."
After McCain's concession, when most of the country was focused on Obama's victory, Palin quietly emerged for some photos with her family at the site of McCain's speech in Arizona.
"A couple of dozen people nearby began chanting, '2012, 2012, 2012,'" the LA Times reports. "Palin smiled and waved. Was this the start of something? Or the end?"
Palin spoke to reporters Wednesday, saying she wanted to move forward under President-elect Obama.
Asked about the perception that she had been a drag on the ticket, Palin said she didn't think anyone should give her that much credit. Rather, the economic crisis has driven voters to Obama, she said.
"Now, saying that, if I cost John McCain even one vote, I am sorry," Palin said.
The Alaska governor scoffed at allegations that she was a diva -- stemming from her excessive wardrobe spending and accusations she would willfully pursue her own goals.
"I'm not going to participate in any of the negativity," she said. "But it'll be based on false allegations, if anybody goes there."
This video is from MSNBC's News Live, broadcast November 5, 2008.
Download video via RawReplay.com
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