FROM A PATRIOT – AT 11:33 A.M. ET:  John McCain, who is said to have had a sometimes awkward relationship with Sarah Palin, gives her a firm thumbs up today.  From The Politico:

CNN's Candy Crowley asked John McCain on Sunday what he thought of his former running mate Sarah Palin's book/reality show/political/self- promotion tour.

"She's keeping her options open, and i think she should," the Republican senator from Arizona said on "State of the Union. "She's an incredible force in the American political arena."

When Crowley interrupted to ask if Palin was "divisive," the senator chuckled.

"A guy named Ronald Reagan used to be viewed as divisive," said McCain, whose staff regarded Palin as a primping, under-prepared political novice at times during the 2008 campaign.

"She's doing a great job. I think she's motivated our base," he added. "She had a positive impact on the last election, and I'm proud of her."

COMMENT:  That's not a presidential endorsement, of course, but McCain is right.  Ronald Reagan was not only regarded by some pundits and party professionals as divisive, but as wild and unprepared. 

Palin isn't Reagan.  She doesn't have Reagan's background as a two-term governor of our largest state.  And she cannot, as of now, articulate the issues the way Reagan could.  But she is a tremendous motivator, one of the greatest political cheerleaders I've ever seen.  Whether she should make a presidential run is a different story, to be examined over time.  But I'm glad that McCain, after so many rumors of a split, gave her his okay.

November 28, 2010