Nicolle Wallace, who worked as a senior advisor on the McCain-Palin 2008 campaign, tells Time that the main character in her new novel, It's Classified was based on Sarah Palin.
Said Wallace: "The idea of a mentally ill vice president who suffers in complete isolation was obviously sparked by the behaviors I witnessed by Sarah Palin. What if somebody who was ill-equipped for the office were to ascend to the presidency or vice presidency? What would they do? How long would it take for people to figure it out? I became consumed by this question."
"Palin vacillated between extraordinary highs
on the campaign stage -- she ignited more enthusiasm than our side had
seen at any other point -- to debilitating lows.She was often withdrawn, uncommunicative and
incapable of performing even the most basic tasks required of her job as
McCain's running mate... There certainly were discussions -- not for
long because of the arc the campaign took -- but certainly there were
discussions about whether, if they were to win, it would be appropriate
for her to be sworn in."