McCain defends Sarah Palin

McCain clearly defends his choice of Palin for his VP pick.

Sen. John McCain last week gave a full-throated defense of his politically risky pick of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate in the 2008 presidential race, suggesting that he may even invite her to Arizona to help him campaign for re-election to a fifth term.

Speaking Thursday at a Phoenix news conference, McCain, R-Ariz., pushed back hard at a new book that claims his campaign's vetting of the little-known vice-presidential prospect was "so hasty and haphazard it barely merited the name." The book, "Game Change," was written by journalists John Heilemann of New York magazine and Mark Halperin of Time.

"It was thorough, and it was complete, and I am so proud that Sarah Palin agreed to be my running mate," he said in response to a question about the vetting. "And the facts are stubborn things, as Ronald Reagan used to say. The fact is that it energized our party. It gave us a very much-needed impetus, and Sarah Palin's popularity continues very strongly to this day. And the hysterical attacks from the liberal left are ample indication of the threat that she poses to the liberal left and especially the feminist, radical-left movement in this country." . . .