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The last part of the Newsweek series on how Sen. Barack Obama was elected president includes this account of an exchange on the McCain campaign plane on the last flight to Arizona.

A reporter asked McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt if he was happy with the campaign and Schmidt said they did the best they could in a difficult environment.

Scmidt had been one of the key McCain advisers who pushed for the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate.

The article continues:

"Another reporter asked if he was happy with 'the pick of Palin.' He ducked the question.

"Schmidt was trying, not very hard, to hide his true feelings. He had been compelled to personally take over Palin's debate prep when she seemed unwilling to engage in the drudge work of learning the issues.

"McCain's advisers had been frustrated when Palin refused to talk to donors because she found it corrupting, and they were furious when they heard rumors that Todd Palin was calling around to Alaska bigwigs telling them to hold their powder until 2012.

"The day of the third debate, Palin refused to go onstage with New Hampshire GOP Sen. John Sununu and Jeb Bradley, a New Hampshire congressman running for the Senate, because they were pro-choice and because Bradley opposed drilling in Alaska.

"The McCain campaign ordered her onstage at the next campaign stop, but she refused to acknowledge the two Republican candidates standing behind her. McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin (perhaps once a week when they were not traveling together, estimated one adviser). Aides kept him in the dark about Palin's spending on clothes because they were sure he'd be offended. In his concession speech, McCain praised Palin, but the body language between them onstage was not particularly friendly. (Palin had asked to speak; Schmidt vetoed the request.)"

Supporters of Palin say the blame game —highlighted in the Newsweek series — is an attempt to shift the problems of a losing campaign away from McCain.

Meeting with reporters today, Palin said she never asked for anything on the campaign, other than a "can of Diet Dr. Pepper" once in a while.