SARAH PALIN SAID AFRICA IS A COUNTRY

Sarah Palin did not know Africa was a continent rather than a country, according to information leaking out from the failed Republican campaign. Skip related content

Aides to John McCain were shocked by the gaps in the Alaska Governor's knowledge at briefings after she was announced as his running mate, according to Fox News chief political correspondent Carl Cameron.

"She didn't understand, McCain aides told me, that Africa was a continent and not a country and actually asked them if South Africa wasn't just part of the country as opposed to a country in the continent," he said on The O'Reilly Factor programme.

Mrs Palin was also unable to name the countries involved in the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was "a major campaign issue", Cameron said.

Infighting over her performance intensified after her interview with Katie Couric of CBS, for which she refused preparation, was widely criticised.

"It didn't go well," Cameron said.

"She blamed Nicole Wallace, a senior adviser who had worked for CBS with Couric and had organised some of that interview, and then the rift began to really unfold.

"That refusal of debate preparation caused some problems."

He went on: "Afterwards, Mrs Palin began to attack staff and suggest she was mishandled and communicated that to some people within the McCain campaign and outside."

Mrs Palin became a nightmare to deal with and started to throw tantrums over negative press, Cameron's sources told him.

"The way I understand it, there were times when she would be so nasty and angry to staff that they were virtually reduced to tears.

"There was throwing of paperwork and things of that nature."

McCain staff also suggested to the Fox correspondent that Mrs Palin was a "shopaholic" who bought extra clothes despite the Republican party spending a reported $150,000 on her wardrobe.

SOURCE: Skynews