U.S. & World

MIAMI (CBS) ― Sarah Palin was on Oprah Winfrey Monday promoting her new book "Going Rogue", which will be released Tuesday. The former Alaska governor also opened up about the 2008 campaign, her family and her future.

During that campaign in 2008, South Florida political consultant Ana Navarro spent time traveling with Palin and her family.

"After two weeks of traveling with Sarah Palin, I can only describe it as dysfunctional and surreal," described Navarro to CBS station WFOR-TV.

Navarro, chair of John McCain's Hispanic Advisory Council, was given the job of briefing the Vice-Presidential candidate before an interview with a Hispanic network.

"She knew about Hispanics what I knew about the Eskimos and that is precious little," said Navarro.

Navarro was thrust into Palin's world during the last frenzied weeks of the campaign with stops in four to five cities every day. Navarro says it was hard to get Palin's undivided attention.

"There were so many distractions around Sarah Palin. She often had her children on the plane, the baby on the nook of her arm, her 6-year-old running up and down the aisle, the pregnant teenager," said Navarro. "There were a lot of things going on in her life as she was studying speech for each next event where she would land in two hours and speak in front of 30 thousand people."

It was so crazy that Navarro didn't get to brief Palin until the night before the interview while Palin and her 6-year-old daughter were getting pedicures.

"Sarah needed a 101 on so many issues. So you really had to start from step one explaining the differences between Latino and Hispanic," said Navarro. "She was very good at learning, though she was far from being an expert. She could dance around the subjects and could learn the catch phrases."

Navarro says by this point, Palin had grown very insulated from McCain's campaign staff and there was little communication going on between her team and McCain's headquarters.

"Her book is titled "Going Rogue", and she had gone rogue. She was the spaceship gone off course and flying in its own orbit," described Navarro. "She would change speeches headquarters sent her. Change the schedule, not stick to schedule."

Palin kept her family close, including her husband Todd.

"She really trusted very few people by then and she clearly trusted him. She had a very close relationship with her children, with her daughters and she spent a lot of time with her baby. She would spend a lot of time holding him, talking to him, caressing him."

Navarro says when she travelled with McCain, there were dozens of newspapers at hand but that wasn't the case with Palin.

"She really wasn't into reading papers. I never saw her reading papers or clips."

When asked whether she thought Palin could have done the job, her reply? "I think she could have been VP. The question is -- if the need arose could she have stepped in and be President? And at that point, the answer, my answer, would have to be no."

Navarro does admire Palin's zest for campaigning and her people skills. She says, "Whatever the 'it' is, she's got it."

Does the political consultant think Palin will be the Republican nominee in 2012?

"Sarah Palin lacks the organization, the structure, the policy knowledge, so she would have to work very hard to build all of that in the next year."

Navarro says Palin gave McCain the 'wow' factor the campaign needed. She hasn't spoken to Palin since election night but still speaks regularly with McCain.

"I've never heard him say anything bad. I haven't heard him say anything good, but never say anything bad," said Navarro.

Will Ana Navarro read Palin's book? She says she probably will.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Got Something To Say?

• Leave Comments On TXA 21's Facebook Page
• Follow CBS 11 News On Twitter!
• Leave Comments In Our Blogs
• Send Us An E-Mail
• Check Out Other Ways To Stay Connected