Politics | 12/15/2008 8:15 am

McCain: Don't Ask Me About Palin's President Prospects, 'My Corpse Is Still Warm' (Video)

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

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John McCain may have said in the past that Sarah Palin has a bright future in the GOP, but that doesn’t mean he’ll support her for president.

During an interview with ABC’s “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos, the Republican senator from Arizona was cautious on what he said about his former running mate – the person he tried to convince the country was capable of running the country should anything happen to him in the White House.

"Aw no. Listen I have the greatest appreciation for Gov. Palin and her family and it was a great joy to know them … But I can’t say something like that," McCain said. "We’ve got some great other young governors. I think you’re gonna see the governors assume a greater leadership role in our party.”

He later named Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Jon M. Huntsman of Utah as possible Republican leaders.

But McCain made clear that even though he may have made it seem Palin was a rising star a few months ago, he’s not rushing to endorse any 2012 presidential bid she may have in mind. So, she would have been good enough to run the country a few months ago, but not now?

“Sure … but now we’re in a whole election cycle,” McCain said when asked whether he sang her praises before. “Have no doubt of my admiration and respect for her and her viability … at this stage of the game, my corpse is still warm.”

McCain also weighed in on the auto bailout and took a swipe at his own party for criticizing Barack Obama’s handling of the Rod Blagojevich scandal, but he also also called on Obama to publicly release all information relating to Blagojevich. The president-elect has promised the public would see everything he saw about any contacts his transition team had with the scandal-scarred Illinois governor, and has called on him to resign. But it took him about three days to say that.

"I think that the Obama campaign should and will give all information necessary … I don’t know all the details of the relationship between President-elect Obama’s campaign or his people and the governor of Illinois, but I have some confidence that all the information will come out. It always does, it seems to me," McCain said.

Here’s a partial video of McCain’s interview on ABC:

14 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

I hope all of my fellow posters on this site had (or avail yourselves of the tape) watched the complete interview because it was VERY telling. McCain never wanted to choose Palin as his running mate. He did so on faulty and questionable advice from his campaign team. Again I must say, a team comprised of people HE chose. This is not coming from the supposed “bias media” but from his own former campaign staffers who now feel it necessary to speak their minds. So we now know for sure what we all assumed for months. And now as the wOw article infers, he is indeed stepping back on all the praise he gave her during the campaign. If he truly felt she was so qualified to lead our nation in the event something bad happened to him, why would he, even for a second, be reluctant to wholeheartedly say that she would be an excellent choice for president. We all know there are other qualified candidates who may throw their hat in from the Republican party, but what does that have to do with his opinion of Palin? I know republicans posters hate to read this but it’s the truth. McCain loss the race. And now that he loss, so many aspects about his campaign and how poorly it was conceived and ran should not be ignored. McCain was falling apart long before Palin came on the scene so I’m not blaming her. (Although she was the final nail in his coffin – personally she is/was a star – but for his campaign she did nothing more than shore up his base voters) But how can anyone with half a mind not see that our country dodged a big one by not voting McCain and Palin into office? Forget about your political party for a second and be objective. You may not like Barack and feel he is not qualified, don’t like his smooth talking or cool demeanor, and let’s be honest, you may simply not want a Black man as your president. But all that aside when you think of the alternative, surely you must see he was the most qualified among the two?

By Belinda Joy on 12/15/2008 8:59 am

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This comment was removed at the request of management.

By Jim Henley on 12/15/2008 2:44 pm

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You’re ignorant and an idiot, a dangerous combination. You’re not seeking any type of open and honest dialog from anyone on this site, you only seek to state comments that you seek explosive responses from. You’re probably a loner that only has the computer for companionship. My suggestion, log off, step outside and enjoy life away from the keyboard.

By Belinda Joy on 12/15/2008 3:37 pm

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Barack was, without question, a much better choise than McCain, IMO. However, that statement aside, I do NOT think Palin is a “star”. God help Alaskans if they choose her as their Governor again, much less a Senator or Representative! This woman has made it abundantly clear that she is an intellectual midget with archaic views on most social issues (i.e. abortion, women’s rights, separation of church and state, etc.). Yes, McCain says it all by avoiding aswereing the question! His “corpse is still warm”, and everyone in this country should breathe a collective sigh of relief that we don’t have to worry about the like of Palin becoming our President through misfortune or misadventure. I say send her to the scrapheap, where she can spend time with other wanna-bes and near misses such as Dan Quayle!

By Melanie Waldrop on 12/15/2008 9:26 am

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Belinda: You are preaching to one member here––me––of the choir of many of us who were saying all this during the campaign. McCain succumbed to the right of his base in order to get elected. Now that it is over he appears to be embracing the old McCain we knew and respected. He says his corpse is still warm which is an interesting metaphor for someone who almost died trying.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 12/15/2008 9:27 am

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I can’t believe how McCain and his staffers have thrown Sarah Palin under the bus! She was the only reason the popular race wasn’t as big of a landslide as the electoral! This is disgraceful! Maybe politicos don’t believe in her, but the American people do! And that is just what we need, someone who makes Washington scared! Come on Sarah lets shake things up!! Every day I look at my Sarah Palin calendar and I am inspired to fight! She will make it to the White House! (the calendar by the way, is on amazon, and is GORGEOUS!! it also makes a great gift!!) SARAH PALIN 2012!!

By Katie Norman on 12/15/2008 3:38 pm

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Gov. Palin rocks. She has a natural charm to her almost like Reagan. I never voted Republican until this election and it was because of her. I respect her even thought I don’t agree with all of her political beliefs. What calendar are you talking about?

By T P on 12/15/2008 6:14 pm

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Hey. Even if his enthusiasm for his former running mate is lukewarm at this point, McCain’s hardly a corpse. He’s still alive and well and serving in the U.S. Senate. And my guess is he’ll play a significant role in helping Obama get some important things done in the next few years.

By Ms. Dee on 12/15/2008 9:10 pm

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McCain’s presidential campaign reminded me of an expression: “A pint cannot hold a quart. If it is holding a pint, it is doing the best it can.” Now that his potential presidency no longer depends on it, he is not willing to claim that Palin is ready for the White House. That is as close to straight talk as I expect from him when it comes to elections. Sarah Palin never made a serious attempt to convince me she could handle the job, and her limited experience and knowledge was unimpressive. (were unimpressive?) Now McCain is back in the Senate, where he can shoot down economic survival to his heart’s content, at least until he faces re-election. I look forward to when the ‘maverick’ who puts “country first” shows up.

By Zera Lee on 12/16/2008 12:00 am

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By standing for nothing but “Hands across the aisle”, McC continued his Gang of 14 betrayal of the party. So he was “brainwashed” by staff into picking Palin? God bless the American system of separating the wheat from the chaff and throwing out the chaff. Next election? Rice and Palin in either order.

By Walter Wallis on 12/16/2008 4:28 am

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Rice/Palin 2012 Palin/Rice 2012 Sounds good-I like it!

By T P on 12/16/2008 4:57 pm

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In the mean time I propose that California and Alaska swap governors, and when Dr. Rice comes back to Stanford I want her to run for County Supervisor or state Senator.

By Walter Wallis on 12/16/2008 5:41 pm