Report: McCain Aides Complain That Palin Is "Clueless"

Radio talk show host Ed Schultz reports:

Capitol Hill sources are telling me that senior McCain people are more than concerned about Palin. The campaign has held a mock debate and a mock press conference; both are being described as "disastrous." One senior McCain aide was quoted as saying, "What are we going to do?" The McCain people want to move this first debate to some later, undetermined date, possibly never. People on the inside are saying the Alaska Governor is "clueless."

On Friday, conservative columnist Kathleen Parker said that after seeing Palin in interviews, she thinks the vice presidential nominee should drop out.

Comments

[StandUpAmerica08]

Dear Mommy

It's time for you to come home and feed us. We've been watching you on TV and you look like a fool, now we will NEVER have a normal life.

Thanks but No Thanks!

P.S. That man in the red house in Russia keeps waving at us.

Your Children..­... and grand children

[Snoop2]

The October 2d debate will be a huge embarassment for the Republican Party.

I had some doubts about Sarahs intelligence, however the Couric interview convinced me
Sarah is dumber than dumb. She is bordering on being iliterate. Responding to Couric Sarah could not put a simple intelligent sentence together, never mind a paragraph. Didn't McCain know how dumb she was? The debate should be aired on Comedy Central!

BTW - do not be surprised if some last minute issues cause the debate to be called off.

[vulvina]

You mix too many of her attributes. These are all different, and she has them all: dumb, low intelligence, illiterate, inarticulate, scrambled, vapid. To boot, she is a bad listener who cannot process what she hears or even what she says. It is as if the electrical impulses in her brain were all short circuiting, but there is enough attempted English to suggest she can still communicate, but very badly.

[mysterygirl18]

Clueless?? I would have never guessed...­after all she went to what was it? 5 schools in 6 years? ahhh what a shame...

http://www.myspace.com/wakeupnowpeople

[Terraphile]

I agree with Carl Berstein from another article, that McCain has imperiled the country selecting this obviously unqualified and dangerously overconfident person as his VP running mate. McCain has put his desire to be president over the safety and welfare of the American public. If McCain wins the election, Sarah Palin then is literally one stroke away from being President. McCain doesn't have to pass away for Palin to be President, he just has to have another stroke or his melanoma has to spread. That's unbelievably frightening.

[w8aminute]

I hope in the privacy of the voting booths all of these Conservatives use the brain the good Lord gave them and vote for Obama. Our country as we know it could not survive a Palin administration if something happened to McCain.

[Thinking-It-Through]

I hope so, too. The "erratic" decisions he has been making and the "erratic" actions he has been taking could be early signs of some medical issues. Looking back on the Reagan years recently, some doctors have discussed similar concerns about Reagan's presidency. Americans need to take that into account when voting. McCain selected someone the country as a whole has never heard of and has almost not spoken since her selection as a VP nominee for Republicans. In the good old days of the primary, McCain, Clinton, Biden, and everyone else running had those complaints about Senator Obama. But, Senator Obama has presented himself to the American public in multiple debates, interviews, background checks, vetting, 50-state and territory voting for nearly two years. Sarah Palin has done none of those things and has been on the scene for little more than two weeks.

[Nikonicus]

I think Biden should just present his opinions and answer the questions posed to the candidates, rather than challenge or question Palin, which too many people will see as "sexism" rather than rhetorical strategy. Ignoring Palin will be more telling than attacking her, implying that she's simply a non-player.

Palin will likely implode on stage without any help from her opponent. Her brief forays onto the national stage so far remind me of a student called on in class who knows some big words, but can't put them together into a meaningful answer.

If the debate goes poorly for Palin on Thursday, and I suspect it will, that could have a bigger impact on polls than the first presidential debate. Palin's credentials and McCain's judgment will finally be exposed for all to see.

www.nikonicus.net

[johnie2xs]

I like your idea of non engagement, Nik, but here's how I think the right wing wackos will spin it.......

"Sen Biden, last night, showed the demeaning elitism of the Left by not showing the respect to Gov Palin that she deserves as the Republican nominee for the Vice Presidency. Despite the MSM's constant drubbing of Gov. Palin's supposed lack of gravitas, Gov. Palin's performance at least deserved honest and respectful engagement which apparently Sen. Biden was not capable of. Gov. Palin's bone fides on the woeld stage, are unassailable, especially when looked at in the context of international awareness given the proximity of Alaska to both Russia and Canada. If Sen. Biden were truly the leader, he presumes to be, he would have at least engaged Gov. Palin in a manner commensurate with her office."

Excuse me. I've gotta go puke.

[Tropiholic]

if palin is on her feet and breathing after the debate, the gop will claim "victory"

[johogufu]

Pitch perfect--- if your digestion can take it, you've got a job with us any time

J McC

[Snoop2]

I knew she was not qualified to be named as VP for McCain, but now after seeing her intervbiew with Katie Couric I can't imagine how she could have even been elected governor of Alaska.
This women is totally cueless. If she debates Biden it is so over for the Republicans!

[smartgrl]

I doubt this debate will happen. However, if by some miracle it does, Biden should let her keep talking and talking and talking about nothing. This woman and "First Dude" are a disgrace. But the biggest disgrace is McBush picking her just to try to win an election. When the old man is not able to lead the country, we have Palin and First Dude. Help us all. The world is laughing.

[jdw1981]

If the debate doesn't happen either a) she will be dropped from the ticket or b) McCain will effectively concede the election to Obama. I don't think she will be dropped because there would be a huge religious backlash against McCain.

[enufinfighting]

Here's my theory: The Mc/P camp is serving low, low, low expectations of Palin so that if she doesn’t actually lose control of her bowel and bladder on the stage next Thursday, she had a good night.

[Icantbelieveher]

Shall we take bets on if she wears her hair down? I'm betting she will have an ear piece with someone piping the answers to her!

Remember Bush?

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/10/08/bulge/index.html

[Icantbelieveher]

I think McVain will drop Palin a few days before the election as another show of his "maverickness" and hope to get more votes and more drama!!!

Always the drama queen, McVain!!

[jackiecee]

You're so right because let's face it-that's what Mavericks do! By the way, just what do they do? I don't think McPee knows himself? I'm going to be restless until 10.2.08!

[fetchezlavache]

My dream of the perfect VP debate: Biden vs Palin with Cafferty and Parker moderating.

[thecanadian]

We dream of Caffery being having his OWN show period! come on cnn!

[jjgasp]

Watching Palin's interviews takes me back to my youth...to the first "real" job I had in business, when my boss told me the day before a big meeting that he wouldn't be able to attend, and I'd have to go it alone. I was in way over my head and everyone there knew it. I can just imagine that whatever I tried to say during that meeting must have sounded like the same incoherent, babbling drivel (with a little flop sweat thrown in) that Palin spews.

By the way, it's an insult to Dan Quayle to compare the two of them. During the debate, Biden should say, "I knew Dan Quayle. Governor, you're no Dan Quayle."

[GotRights]

They're gonna replace her in the debate with her Stepford Wife double.

[lw1899]

I don't understand how any intelligent person could have ever rationalized Palin as being ready to occupy the White House. It was obvious from the beginning why McCain chose her and painfully obvious that she was in way over her head. Her stellar showing with Couric clarified that McCain and the people who support her are equally clueless for ever considering her a viable candidate. What was the old man thinking?

[ankae]

I am so disappointed with Mc Insane. He had an opportunity to choose experienced Senators or Govenors and decided to go for an outrageous selection for the right wing. He has energized his base, but has made many moderate independents and conservative democrats scared and pushed them towards Obama.

[didleijoe]

Palin was a great pick... for Obama ;-)

[didleijoe]

He wasn't he was panicked over the Dem convention, and frustrated he couldn't have who he wanted and he tried to secure women and the Christian base. It worked... for two weeks, but lying about vetting someone was risky and now it's coming out. A small town mayor will generally have a small town mentality, which is not bad in and of itself but this woman never traveled out of the snow, so there you have it.