Palin Stumped On McCain's History Of Supporting Regulation (VIDEO)

Gov. Sarah Palin could not name a single instance in which Sen. John McCain has advocated for more regulation of the market -- a position that, in the wake of crisis in the housing and financial markets, the Arizona Senator has adopted as his own.

Appearing on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, Palin briefly discussed McCain's call for greater oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- the two beleaguered mortgage houses - as evidence that McCain doesn't always shy from a firmer government role in the economy. But when pressed, she could not name an actual instance where McCain supported regulation.

"I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point," Couric said. "Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation."

"I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you," Palin responded.

The reason she was stumped is somewhat simple: McCain, in his 26 years in Congress has been a strict champion of deregulation. As my colleague, Nico Pitney reported: Back in October 1999, when Senate Republicans led by Phil Gramm were deep in negotiations on key legislation to deregulate the banking industry, McCain was at a primary debate in New Hampshire touting the benefits of such a measure.

"There's a number of reasons why we are experiencing this almost unprecedented prosperity," McCain said back then. "Among them are a lack of regulation, free trade, and most importantly, we are going through a revolution the likes of which the world has seldom seen."

Here is the entirety of Couric's interview with Palin.

COURIC: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?

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PALIN: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie--that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.

COURIC: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

PALIN: He's also known as the maverick though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about--the need to reform government.

COURIC: I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?

PALIN: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.

Comments

[Nan2008]

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO SISTER SARAH'S LOVER'S NAME IS?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/politics-thanks-to-sarah-palin-rises.html

his name is here:

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/national_enquirer_world_exclusive_sarah_palins_secret_lover_revealed/celebrity/65481

[OkieIntellectual]

Okay anything coming from the National Enquirer has an automatic zero-credibility rating, so why is this even being discussed. I mean, the article reads

"Burdett is a former brother-in-law of Hanson’s estranged wife Carolyn's brother, Craig Batton, and still speaks with many family members."

Huh? What does that even mean? How can he be a "former brother-in-law" when it says he is estranged, not divorced from his wife. This kind of "journalism" makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

[Hurneric]

This woman, Sarah Palin, is breathtakingly stupid.

[JoeLosFeliz]

I can barely stand to even listen to her speak, but every time I hear her I'm appalled. How could anyone take her seriously?

[rzan1]

I am sure there are areas where she is not stupid. She is really smart about killing defenseless animals. I am sure she has a lot of knowledge there. She is very good at denying women even basic rights, such as the right to equal pay and the right to have crimes against them investigated without making them victims all over again. Brilliant woman there. She just does not have what it takes to grasp the complexities of foreign policy in today's world, and she should not be elected on a learner's permit with so much at stake.

[kskj]

I guess this is why they won't let her answer any questions. She doesn't have any answers. It was almost sad to watch her talk around the questions and repeat the talking points, which still didn't answer any questions. I'm not voting for her, but I did feel sorry for her. She's clearly in over her head and can't even fake it well.

[Jamchinadian]

Don't waste your sympathy on her. Save it for US - if they somehow manage to get elected (or selected like Bush). It was a gross act of irresponsibility and reckless disregard for the country for McDesperate to have chosen someone so obviously unqualified.

[PamperedHousecat]

I agree. If I heard talk about the jet on ebay one more time, I think I'll be sick.
The problem is, she could have said no to McCain ( isn't that what Nancy Reagan said?).
Still what issues has she really tackled?
What are her views on health care? (If you get sick go to the hospital--or better yet, DON'T GET SICK).
What about helping kids go to college? (Hey get your rich uncle to send you to school--or better yet, keep switching schools before the bank catches up with you).
What about finding new sources of energy---oh wait, DRILL SARAH DRILL!!!!
If the stakes weren't so high this would be laughable.
And what's with McCain's eye? Is he at risk for a stroke, or some other medical problem?

[shellyamber]

Just watching this trainwreck is better than any commercial Obama could put out.
The more she talks, the better it is for Obama.....
But since the McCain campaign is keeping her at bay so she won't say anything stupid, we will never get to hear from her ......
Sad actually....this woman isn't fit to run anything...
I wouldn't hire her to answer my phone...

[Lazyeye]

SOMEBODY please please make a YouTube video of the part where Palin is stumped and can't answer Couric about McCain's regulatory history in the senate.

[lefty247]

She should have prayed for a new BRAIN...not a new Bridge.

[TXfemmom]

Regulation? Well, well, well, umm, umm. He doesn't have any history of thinking there should be regulations. He got away with the Keating thing so he didn't see any reason not to have a replay of it.

[PhantomAviator]

..

If she's not "folksy", I don't know who is.

When was the last time a "high government official" used the word "ya".

It's "you", you freaking hillbilly.

But she IS folksy.

.

[grf67]

The entire republican ticket is operating someqwhere between delusion and denial. Send them back and get Mitt who is smarter and more qualified than either of these two.

[longmoo]

Wow! What a missed opportunity! He actually Championed regulation ONE time & he's pretty famous for it! The McCain- Feingold Amendment.

I should be VP. I should be VP!!! & from my bedroom I can see Cuba, so I must be an expert on Latin America!

[Einstein44]

Did Palin blink at Katie ?

[Nyla785]

Notice what a good fake-out artist Palin is. She's honed this skill pretty well--until someone pins her down. Media, take notice.

[LeaveArtieAlone]

My head hurts from ALL the incompetence and worse yet, the embracing of it by so many voters! Too many voters are willing to trust this person with the “BUTTON” and seem OK with her if she is a representative of the USA to the world. Can you imagine her in foreign policy session with PM Brown? *SIGH*

[dimplesmile7]

I think the republicants know, but have too much pride to admit this woman is unfit for VP. We should not have to suffer another 4 years because of your tiny pride. Sarah is unfit and the more we see her the more it is quite obvious.

[american2008]

Why is Palin given a pass on the Enquirer news that she did have an affair that almost destroyed her marriage? The right wing hypocrites went crazy on Edwards a few months ago and he wasn't running for anything and he was never a hypocrite about being a good Christian like Palin. The MSM is NOT talking about this story and this is typical BS by the media. She is trying to portray herself as a very religious Evangelical who goes on tv and makes statements about others shortcomings, but now it is clear she is a liar and she gets a pass? WAKE UP AMERICA!

[cheferic]

The part that is most telling in my opinion is that Sarah Palin wasn't clever enough to dodge the question.She could learn a thing or two from McCain surrogate Pfotenhauer ,who like Condoleeza Rice answers nothing and simply uses every question as an excuse to rephrase as she wishes.

Governor Palin keeps playing "stump the governor" and losing when she need not accept the premise.
An example might be " If the solution to our present problem was to travel to the moon ,would you then ask -'can you give me an example of John McCain traveling to the moon? ' simply because he hasn't regulated where the wasn't a pressing need for it is no indication of future actions " ad hoc ergo propter hoc for the ' West Wing fans . The premise that everything the senator did before will dictate everything he is to do is weak not to mention wholly deterministic.Perhaps the real question was "Can you cite an example of John McCain going against popular opinion ?" to which at least 10% of the time in the last 8 years examples do in fact exist.

There are plenty of reasons Sarah Palin shouldn't be Vice President. Not having an encyclopedic knowledge of John McCains' record is not a reason,but not being able to outsmart Katie Couric in a policy news interview certainly should be cause for concern.

[emily00011]

Yes, but she "should" know that he has been a strong voice for deregulation, and that as a general rule, he has gone along with what Bush has wanted, hardly the maverick position that they have claimed.

Also, if you throw statements around like "that's a lot more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives have done for us" you had better be prepared for the inevitable follow-up questions that might come from that, and it doesn't at all seem she was.

[UncommonSenz]

With all do seriousness cheferic,

Are you on medication?

The economic mess we are in is due, largely, to lack of regulation. The question she was asked was if McCain really was as much of a deregulator as he now claims, could she cite ONE example of that.

That isn't a "encylopedic" question, it is one of "is he bull----ing us about deregulation". If he was being honest (and she was prepared) she should have had an answer for it.

[americanideal]

Bottom line is this -

nearly 5 weeks of solid sequestering now, and this is as far along as she is. Call it lack of intellect, lack of shrewdness, or inability to use political rephrasing to her benefit, the point is that she still isn't anywhere near ready to even field softball questions.

None but the most hard-headed of right-wing zeal ots would even try to pretend anymore that this selection of a VP candidate was wise or in our best interests, and the polls are clearly reflecting that now. Ironically, in the end, it was John McCain's one true judgment call, and his alone, that has scuttled his legitimacy in this election.

Voter fraud and caging could still win this election, but John McCain on his own merits no longer can. I think that more than anything else has him in this catatonic state he appears to be in now - fury, sadness and paralysis all wrapped up into one collossal nightmare now.

Keep pressing the fight!