John McCain was on Meet the Press again this morning and was trying to defend Sarah Palin's decision to quit her job as Governor. When you win an election, you are making a vow to the people that voted for you that you'd work as hard as you can for the duration of your position. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to make sense of her decision and even his answers didn't make any sense whatsoever. Gregory worked him over and tried to get him to admit that she didn't have the commitment to public office like he did, but McCain rehearsed as well as he could and still came off sounding like chalk on a black board.
(rough transcript)
Gregory: You must have been shocked to see Sarah Palin resign as Governor?
McCain: Well, I wasn't shocked. Obviously I was a bit surprised, but I wasn't shocked. I understand where Sarah Palin made the decision to where she would be most effective for Alaska and for the country...
Gregory: But you say you were surprised a little bit, why?
McCain: She had not called me and we discussed it since and I better understand the reasons for her decision...
Gregory: What were they?
McCain: Well, how could she best serve? How could she most effectively serve Alaska and the country and that was her
Gregory: But Senator, you have a reputation of personal and professional toughness and sticktoitiveness. You sought the highest role in the land as President of the US. You never quit.
McCain: No, I don't think she quit. I think she changed.,...
Gregory: She made a promise to the voters to serve out her term, didn't he?
McCain: I don't know if there was a quote "promise," but I do know that she will be an effective player on the national stage. And I will say...
...she's popular republican of her own party, she ignited our base, she did a great job as my running mate even under the most sustained personal attacks in certainly recent American political...
Gregory: Sen. McCain, you have faced torture, personal attacks, political attacks, investigations, you have never resigned from anything. Is it consistent with your qualities of leadership to resign an elected post like that?
McCain: Oh, sure.
Gregory: It is consistent?
McCain: If you can be, the question is how can serve most effectively...
The whole attack meme is so disingenuous. Every day Barack Obama is personally vilified and was during the campaign (nobody claimed she was a terrorist lover) and Sarah hasn't been subjected to anything that comes close to the personal and professional onslaught of attacks that Hillary Clinton did and is still receiving by the right and the media. Palin's been in the spotlight since the campaign. Hillary has been attacked on a daily basis since 1992 and yet she has managed to never quit a thing. How can Sarah serve Alaskans at all if she's not in office? I'm sure many Americans would like people to defend them in this way. She announced that she quit her job, but that's not quitting. She's just leaving office to better serve her people. Riiight. I mean what does that mean? Pols resign during scandals, (except republicans I should say) but she was voted in by the people for four years. She called herself a lame duck with almost half her term left. When did that become a lame duck status? Resigning would only help her to make a ton of money and build up a national base, not a local one. McCain wouldn't say he'd endorse her for 2012 yet, but did say she'd make a great president. Could he say anything else?
