Is Palin hurting McCain?

Last night on Fox News Greta interviewed the president of Pakistan when asked about his interview with Gov Sarah Palin he had this to say,she is very interesting and she is a very knowledgeable women. If he thought she was a complete moron do you think he would have said so while he's a guest in this country? Give me a break!

Spall, whenever any Democrat says the polite thing about Palin, clearly being the gentlemen or ladies that they are, kennyrose takes that as an endorsement. At one time or another Bill and Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and even Barack Obama himself have said how intelligent and talented she is! What did she think they'd say, that's she's a hick that's as dumb as a stump and doesn't know her a$$ from a hole in the ground...lol? Annie

I think the biggest reason people are concerned with McCain's VP candidate, is McCain's age. Although any of the candidates could pass at anytime, we tend to see an older person more likely to.

That's probably a decent part of this yes, I think you're right. Some people'd scream "AGE-IST" over this, but I don't think it's an entirely impractical notion.

"Some people'd scream "AGE-IST" over this, but I don't think it's an entirely impractical notion." Good point. It's not anything against McCain or any kind of "discrimination" in my view to simply be realistic; the guy is 72 and has had cancer four times and while I sincerely wish him many more healthy years despite my political disagreements with him my practical side has to admit it would be much less of a surprise of something should happen to him in office than it would have been with Clinton or Bush or would be with Obama. I'd feel the same way if it were the Democratic nominee and I agreed with him on just about everything - I'd STILL want very much for him to have a running mate I'd feel confident could step in if the need arose. Annie

I agree. Palin was an inspired - but also a risky - choice. McCain knew he was facing a tricky election since the Republican brand is pretty unpopular at the moment. McCain has to be seen to be different from George Bush to have any realistic chance of election but his problem is that he is not trusted by the Republican base and if McCain distances himself too much from Bush, they might stay home. So McCain chose Palin to innoculate himself from this - by chosing Palin he gave the Republican base a reason to vote for McCain as they would at least get Palin on the ticket. The problem was Palin's inexperience on national and foreign policy matters. Plus this investigation going on up in Alaska. The investigation might be contained but if Palin keeps on making mistakes during interviews, that hurts not only Palin but also brings McCain's judgement into question. That said, with what has gone on with the economy over the last couple of weeks, I still think McCain would have fallen behind. I've said it before: if this election is about the economy, then Obama wins unless McCain can really come up with an economic plan and narrative that inspires the American people (and this will be tricky as he himself has admitted that the economy is not his strong point). I don't see how chosing any other VP pick, apart from maybe Huckabee, would have helped McCain, particularly with the Republican base. Romney would have added some economic weight to the ticket, but most people don't vote for the VP, they vote for the POTUS and Romney is distrusted by many in view of his mormon religion, however unfair that might be.

It's obvious that this discussion took place before the VP debate tonight, otherwise the opinions may state different. Palin did great in the debate and was a totally different act than what the media portrayed with their edited and cut interviews to try to make her seem unknowledgable and "stupid". I guess the joke is on THEM now. She came out on top....very confident and smart. She can hold her own, that's a fact.

I think I saw the same debate you did Annie. Palin looked better in the debate than she did with Couric but that really isn't saying much. I thought she did a fairly good job at dodging the questions though. She must have learned that from the presidential hopefuls.