Sarah Palin is hitting back at Mitt Romney’s camp for saying the former Alaska governor is 'not a serious human being.' Palin aide swats Romney team

In possibly the first inter-staff dust-up of the 2012 presidential race, an aide of Sarah Palin is hitting back at Mitt Romney’s camp for saying the former Alaska governor is “not a serious human being.”

A “Romney intimate” was quoted by "Time" magazine’s Mark Halperin in a Thursday column as saying that Palin could not withstand the rigors of a presidential campaign.


“If she’s standing up there in a debate and the answers are more than 15 seconds long, she’s in trouble,” the Romney intimate said.

An additional Romney adviser was quoted as saying the former Massachusetts governor’s team is not intimidated by a possible Palin run. “She’s not a serious human being,” the adviser said.

Asked about the comments by POLITICO, a longtime Palin aide unloaded on Romney’s staff.

“It shocks me that anyone would try to do that,” the aide said. “You’d think we’d all be working together toward a common goal — that being 2010 — and that should be the focus right now. Those who try to claim the mantle of Reagan would be good to follow one of his most sacred tenets.”

“For Washington consultants to sit around and personally disparage the governor anonymously to reporters is unfortunate and counterproductive and frankly immature,” said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Comparing the quotes to those attributed to Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) staff attacking Palin toward the end of the presidential campaign, the aide said, “We've seen this movie before, and it didn't end so well for those anonymous consultants.”

Further, the Palin aide criticized Romney’s staff for launching into attacks focused on the 2012 Republican presidential primary rather than focusing on November’s midterm election.

“She’s not focused on promoting herself or disparaging other Republicans,” the aide said. The Republican Party is “not worried about 2012. We should be focused on 2010.”

“What she’s trying to do is turn the tide on the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda. …She’s stated publicly that her goal is to turn the tide on Obama’s agenda starting in 2010,” the aide added. “We need to all come together in what should be a great year for us in November.”

The Palin adviser also jabbed at Romney for having changed some of his positions and suggested that Romney does not have full “control” of his team.

“She’s not a finger-in-the-wind kind of leader. She supporting candidates who share her common sense values,” the aide said. “When you have a team of consultants and strategists that big it’s hard to control.”

Romney looked to end the back and forth on Friday, writting on Twitter that those who had "disparaged" Palin were "anonymous numbskulls."

"She's proven her smarts," Romney wrote. "They've disproven theirs."