(Palin's remarks about Hillary Clinton starts at approximately the 9 minute mark in video above)
ABC News has been leaking portions of their first exclusive interview with GOP vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, and one of the most recent stories is her answer to Charlie Gibson's question about Hillary Clinton.
The response to the question spawned another ABC News article discussing that topic by itself.
Palin's answer was, "I think he's regretting not picking her now, I do. What, what determination, and grit, and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way, she handled those well."
This is not the first time Palin has been complimentary about Hillary Clinton as she had mentioned Clinton on the day when John McCain announced Palin as his vice presidential running mate.
In that first speech by Palin she acknowledged Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton, and said at that time, "I think -- I think as well today of two other women who came before me in national elections. I can't begin this great effort without honoring the achievements of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and of course Senator Hillary Clinton, who showed such determination and grace in her presidential campaign. It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America...but it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all."
Some of McCain's biggest gains in the most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll are among white women, a group to which Palin has notable appeal: Sixty-seven percent view her favorably, and 58 percent say her selection makes them more confident in McCain's decision-making.
Among those with children, Palin does better yet. And enthusiasm for McCain among his female supporters has soared.
White women have moved from 50-42 percent in Obama's favor before the conventions to 53-41 percent for McCain now, a 20-point shift that's one of the single biggest post-convention changes in voter preferences.
According to the ABC news report about Palin's words to Gibson regarding Hillary Clinton, they assert that it may not be completely unexpected that Palin would give the nod to Clinton in the light of the successes they quoted above.
On Hillary Clinton's part, she has been very gracious toward Sarah Palin, maintaining the policies of a McCain/Palin ticket were not to her liking but refusing to attack Palin on a personal level and even going as far as to say, "We should all be proud of Gov. Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Sen. McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Gov. Palin will add an important new voice to the debate."
Times Online reports Geraldine Ferraro states she is quite familiar with what she perceives as sexist attacks on Sarah Palin from when she was on a national ticket years before, and says, "People did not know how to deal with me, they went after my background . . . they went after my husband and family."
Sarah Palin is not the only one believing that Barack Obama is regretting his choices in regards to Hillary Clinton, as the Telegraph points out.
With 53 days to go before the election, some Democrats have griped that choosing the former First Lady as his No 2 would have insulated Mr Obama from the Palin effect.
"The first rule of politics is to win," said Doug Schoen, who ran Mr Clinton's White House communications for two years. "Obama eschewed that choice and is suffering the consequences."
Another former Clinton staff member, who asked not to be named, said Mr Obama "might well regret this". "Hindsight is always perfect, but at the moment it looks like a bad call," he said.
Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker of the House who is not involved in the current campaign, said Mrs Clinton "would have unified the party in one evening...and they would have been almost unbeatable".
Whether Obama's choice of Joe Biden was a smart move or bad judgment will not be known until November 4, 2008 when voters go to the polls and decide which ticket to vote in as President and Vice President of the United States of America, but the constant quotes from pundits, Democratic officials, media and commentators, as the examples above indicate, show they are worried the choice of Joe Biden over Hillary Clinton is cause for concern.
Lets not forget the rumor that is running rampant right now that Joe Biden will "step down for medical reason" and Hillary Clinton will be put on the ticket with Barack Obama to fight "The Palin Effect".
From Canada Free Press:
According to a an exclusive source close to the Northeast Intelligence Network, the possibility exists for a major change to the Democrat presidential campaign of Barack Obama. Our source, citing other highly reliable sources, states that Senator Joe Biden will withdraw as the Democrat Vice-Presidential candidate, possibly due to some imminent medical emergency. These sources go on to state that negotiations have occurred between Barack Obama and Bill Clinton to replace Senator Biden on the ticket with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
If the Obama camp gets desperate enough to insult Clinton by asking her to step in, not because they believe in her, not because she was the right choice, not because they feel she is qualified, but only because they screwed up, made the wrong choice and are losing their butts......well, I doubt Hillary supporters will appreciate that level of disrespect shown to Clinton.
I cannot see that option working well for Obama at all, given the basic fact that it will rightly be said, he showed an incredible lack of good judgment in not choosing Hilary to begin with.
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