That’s a defense? It sounds like an excuse to me. Calculated and political sounds like a justification for the fact that Palin isn’t qualified.

Biden was a fool twenty years ago, and he’s a fool today.
Experience is only beneficial to the extent it results in improved judgement (something that Biden conspicuously lacks).

She’s so awesome yet she’s afraid to do a press conference or go on Fox News Sunday?

McCain knows very well that Palin is unqualified–this was a cynical political move. (If he thinks she’s so qualified, why are they keeping her muzzled except when they want an attack dog?) And he now knows something else, too: by pandering to extremists within his own party instead of choosing the best qualified person he could, he made not only an unethical choice, risking America’s future security, but a huge political blunder.
“The Palin Plunge: Voters Sour On McCain VP Pick”
“The more voters learn about Sarah Palin, the more wary they become. Once the focus of post-convention Republican euphoria, the Alaska Governor is now viewed as a serious liability to the McCain campaign.
“As it stands, Palin’s polling numbers are daunting: with the unfolding economic crisis, her favorable to unfavorable ratings have switched from a positive 40-30, according to a September 12-16 New York Times survey, to a negative 32-41 in an October 10-13 survey.
“Palin is, additionally, costing McCain newspaper endorsements . . . initially, Palin both built conservative enthusiasm for McCain and drew widespread interest among voters who had not been closely following the race. But . . . within weeks, she became a liability, primarily as a highly visible indicator of McCain’s impulsiveness and recklessness in picking someone who is patently unqualified to serve as president and commander-in-chief . . . . ”
“In what read more like an obituary than a commentary, Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal: `In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It’s no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism.’”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com

McCain’s arrogance is staggering.

If the economy had not tanked, Palin, as despicable an excuse for a human being as she is, might have been the key to McCain winning. As it looks now, if McCain does win I may become a Pentecostal as it will be a miracle.

What the heck is he going to say? He’s now stuck with her, as election day is coming fast. Thank goodness! She’s been kept on a short leash so she doesn’t have to answer any tough questions since her interviews with Charlie and Katie were so “successful”.

sure, she fired up the fundies in the right wing. but to win, mccain needs moderates and independents. his pick of palin cost him those votes (oh, and women’s votes, too).

Haha McCain admit he made a mistake? Never. He’d rather lose and blame it all on some uncontrollable thing. I think its pretty hilarious to hear Repubs say that she “excited the party”. haha did the apple taste good?

Palin IS a huge drag on the ticket. It’s been that way for weeks.
Just look at the newspaper endorsements coming down the pipeline. Every single paper that has switched this year from having supported Bush in 2004 to Obama now, or who are endorsing a Democrat for the first time ever in their history are doing so because of the Palin choice, saying it seriously called McCain’s judgment into question. It’s a near constant refrain in every editorial.
McCain can defend her all he wants. You can put your blinders on and keep pretending that she’s helping McCain, too. But the truth is, she’s hurting him and is a serious liability.