Add Mitt Romney's voice to those expressing at least a modicum of dissatisfaction about the rollout of Gov. Sarah Palin in her first month as the Republican vice-presidential nominee. He expressed confidence that Ms. Palin would be able to "hold her own" in the debate this Thursday night against the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.

But on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Mr. Romney — while not criticizing her TV interviews as others have for their substance or lack thereof — seemed to blame some of her stumbles on the McCain campaign staff. Asked by Andrea Mitchell whether he agreed with some conservatives' calls for Ms. Palin to drop off the ticket, Mr. Romney said he concurred with conservative writer Kathryn Jean Lopez of the National Review:

"I think Kathryn Lopez had it right," he said. "Holding Sarah Palin to just three interviews and microscopically focusing on each interview I think has been a mistake. I think they'd be a lot wiser to let Sarah Palin be Sarah Palin. Let her talk to the media, let her talk to people.
"Look, she wasn't selected by John McCain because she's an expert in foreign policy," he added. "John McCain's the expert in foreign policy … She's a person who identifies with people with homes across America."

Still, the bad reviews, the parodies on shows like "Saturday Night Live" and commentary about Ms. Palin's readiness to be vice president, let alone president, kept pouring in over the weekend. At Newsweek, Fareed Zakaria's headline was "Palin is Ready? Please."


He wrote: "Palin has been given a set of talking points by campaign advisers, simple ideological mantras that she repeats and repeats as long as she can. ("We mustn't blink.") But if forced off those rehearsed lines, what she has to say is often, quite frankly, gibberish."

And, as Ms. Mitchell noted this morning, The Times's David Brooks called her candidacy "embarrassing."

Ouch.

Senator McCain himself confronted a Palin moment — pretty much akin to one of those Biden moments Mr. Obama has had to deal with — when the Republican nominee was interviewed on ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanoupolos. Mr. McCain walked back what Ms. Palin — in a rare impromptu moment in Philadelphia — said about going into Pakistan, along the same veins that Mr. McCain had just chastised Mr. Obama about in their Friday night debate:

Mr. Stephanopoulos: She says, "If that's what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should."

Mr. McCain: She would not — she shares my view that we will do whatever is necessary. The problem is, you don't announce it. You don't — you don't say to the Pakistanis, "We're coming in unilaterally and carry out operations." Teddy Roosevelt, speak softly but carry a big stick. She shares my view on that. That's just — that's fundamentals of knowledge and maturity and judgment.
…
Mr. Stephanopoulos: So she shouldn't have done it?
…
Mr. McCain: This business of, in all due respect, people going around and — with sticking a microphone while conversations are being held, and then all of a sudden that's — that's a person's position, this is a free country, but I don't think most Americans think that that's a definitive policy statement made by Governor Palin. And I would hope you wouldn't, either.

Well, granted, the senator is far more accustomed to having a microphone in his face; in fact, he's often taken advantage of its availability, although not recently.

Yet others have the sense that he would be better-served to tutor her in his facility with the media glare. They tend to believe that the McCain-Palin ticket would benefit from giving Ms. Palin almost a karaoke microphone, and that it's been a mistake — as Mr. Romney suggested today — to keep her so bottled up that she can't become more accustomed to the old-style, free-wheeling straight-talk. So what if she's not a foreign policy wonk?, some ask.

In a column in The Times today, William Kristol talked about Mr. McCain's own concerns about Governor Palin's recent missteps, or perceived problems:

With respect to his campaign, McCain needs to liberate his running mate from the former Bush aides brought in to handle her — aides who seem to have succeeded in importing to the Palin campaign the trademark defensive crouch of the Bush White House. McCain picked Sarah Palin in part because she's a talented politician and communicator. He needs to free her to use her political talents and to communicate in her own voice.

I'm told McCain recently expressed unhappiness with his staff's handling of Palin. On Sunday he dispatched his top aides Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis to join Palin in Philadelphia. They're supposed to liberate Palin to go on the offensive as a combative conservative in the vice-presidential debate on Thursday.

From Palin's Perils


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