
Watch McCain discuss his relationship with Palin.
(CNN) – Despite the post-election battle between Sarah Palin and John McCain's campaign advisors, the former Republican presidential candidate told CNN’s Larry King both members of the GOP ticket remain “very close.”
McCain — who has been edging his way back into the spotlight Palin never quite left - dismissed questions over his running mate’s criticism of his campaign team. “Listen, I think the world of Governor Palin, her husband Todd, her family, I'm honored that she would run with me,” he said in an interview Thursday.
“And look, whenever there is a losing campaign there is always a little bit of back and forth, and it happens post-mortem. I am so grateful to have her as a friend, and I believe that she represents a lot to the Republican Party in the future. I think she has a big role to play.”
Palin and senior McCain aides, many of them anonymous, have traded criticism since the Republican ticket’s defeat.
Last month, the Alaska governor told Human Events that following the campaign’s media strategy was her biggest regret of the race. “I was not allowed to do very many interviews, and the interviews that I did were not necessarily those I would have chosen,” she said. “But I was so thankful to have the opportunity to run with John McCain that I was not going to argue with the strategy decisions that some of his people were making regarding the media contacts...if I would have been in charge, I would have wanted to speak to more reporters, because that’s how you get your message out to the electorate.”
The Arizona senator would not tell King Thursday whether he was personally stung by Palin’s criticism of his top aides. “Look, we're very close friends, and I talk to her all the time and look forward to seeing her, I think, in a week or so,” he said. “We're very close.”
McCain also side-stepped the question of whether he’d ever raised those comments with her. “Oh - these things always happen in campaigns,” he said. “She has my respect and my affection and that's undying.”
Last month, he told an interviewer Sarah Palin could not necessarily count on his support his former running mate if she chose to run for president.
"I can't say something like that. We've got some great other young governors,” he told ABC then. “I think you're going to see the governors assume a greater leadership role in our Republican Party," he said, citing Governors Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Jon Huntsman of Utah.
“...Have no doubt of my admiration and respect for her and my view of her viability, but at this stage, again … my corpse is still warm, you know?"


More lipstick for the same old pig!
No amount of lipstick or extravagant GOP sponsored high end fashion shopping sprees will change the fact that this individual is no more than a dolt and any attempt to portray her as otherwise is a futile as polishing a turd!
Oh please - please do not encourage this idiot to stay in the limelight. Sarah cannot even complete a proper sentence structure let alone have anything of value for even a ghostwriter to put into a book. You couldn't pay me to read a book about her. If McCain is smart, he will tell her to fade into the sunset, preferably to Russia.
She's coping with her loss by blaming others.
Palin is in a world of her own, a delusional one where her opinions of herself are markedly different from a majority of the voting public. She would help by recognizing her limited experience in world politics and sticking to her local scene. george
John – please give it up!! You lost big because of Palin. You would have lost anyway, but not as badly. She was a ridiculous choice. A total dimwit and airhead. Perhaps a fine mother and good Governor even, but certainly not prepared to be V.P. or (God forbid) President in the event of your sudden demise.
It's nice of you to say you are "close" but really, be honest. You made an awful choice and have to live with the consequences.
As I've posted numerous times on these boards, just wait until Sarah Palin has to stare down the old, angry, white men of the GOP in the 2012 primary, if it comes to that. The boys in the GOP will use your daughter's out-of-wedlock baby until your ears bleed. And don't think they haven't already begun to dig into your background, too!!! They have no time for women in high places, and they will go after her as only they can. And Sarah, if you think you're cute about making-up crap about people, just wait until you sample it from your own GOP!!! You showed yourself for what you are at the end of an obvious failed campaign – an opportunist!!!
Your fifteen minutes are up!
Compare her behavior with how Obama is handling his team. (Not so sure about Pelosi and Reid, though!)
Her new book title is "The Audacity of You Betcha!"
How come Sarah didn't show up at the Inauguration?
The only reason Sarah Palin is still being attacked is because she represents a threat to the Democratic party. Palin is not stupid and Obama is not the messiah that everyone is making him out to be. Why don't we leave Palin alone and concentrate on things that are currently happening, like the socialistic agenda of the democrats. The media and Democrats are still attacking Palin because she is a threat to their future plans. If she wasn't then they would do as they did with John McCain, Bob Dole, and other Republicans that lost to Democrats... nothing.
Beisbol, has been bery, bery good to me...
I understand that GW Bush will be writing him memoirs in crayon.
I was missing my Palin fix, you make me smile, I hope you never go away, you are a constant flow of entertainment
but on a lighter note, thank god Bush is gone, what a tweaker
did anyone decide whose baby Palin was discussing?
TO PAM:
You betcha. Amazingly dumb!
The Lipstick Fido from Alaska is truly a gift to anyone even remotely left of "the world is flat and dinosaurs and men lived together." I PRAY she is the 2012 GOP candidate. That dimwitted wannabe and her dysfunctional family (slutty daughter included) would deliver the White House to ANY Democrat. To all you dittohead, lemmings out there WE WANT HER TO BE THE CANDIDATE. WE ARE NOT AFRAID OF HER. Get with the program people. Because we make fun of her (so so easy) does not mean we are afraid. She provides so much material to mock we can't help outselves
So Mark, "Rush Rules?" -surely yee jest! Unless, of course you have a thing for overweight hypocritical drug-addicted pedophiles who get busted for coming back from the Dominican Republic with viagra...geeee I wonder what he was doing with that?
Rush is a Mr. Richard Smoker ...and so are you. You're constant Rush-servicing reveals a lot about you Marko.
I know some stupid people. Can they be the governor of Alaska for a day? Some of them would probably pay to do it; it would be like a raffle to raise money for Sarah's favorite charities (obviously not protecting wild animals, planned parenthood, etc).
I would be thrilled if she comes back for the next election and so would Obama. For now, please let her be. She has a grand child to take of, perhaps more to come.
McCain meeting with Palin?
Better watch out Cindy. You are not as young as you used to be. Remember what happened to Carol.
Better get that Private Investigator on retainer.
The Lipstick Fido from Alaska is truly a gift to anyone even remotely left of "the world is flat and dinosaurs and men lived together." I PRAY she is the 2012 GOP candidate. That dimwitted wannabe and her dysfunctional family (slutty daughter included) would deliver the White House to ANY Democrat. To all you dittohead, lemmings out there WE WANT HER TO BE THE CANDIDATE. WE ARE NOT AFRAID OF HER. Get with the program people. Because we make fun of her (so so easy) does not mean we are afraid. She provides so much material to mock we can't help ourselves
McCain cannot admit that choosing that right-wingnut is what doomed him, for that would be a petty and arrogant statement; similar to what Sarah Rockhead says on an almost daily basis now.
Not to worry, all will be revealed in her upcoming book:
"The Audacity of a Dope"
Don't need to take time from the beautiful moment of welcoming our Wonderful PRESIDENT and FIRST LADY, there is time for that in the long hot, summer months.
John McCain is a fine statesman. Nothing can change that. And though as a Republican I voted for our current President, Barack Obama, I still respect John McCain. He's a fine Republican.
Sarah Palin – you ignited the racists and the bigots in this past campaign. I do not have your respect. You turned me and a lot of people off. All you ever appealed were the silent KKK and Neo-Nazi members from Vermont all the way down to Orange County, California. You have no future here in the mainland and I will campaign within the Republican Party to make sure you do not get any place in 2012 for our campaign.
I still hope for a Republican President in 2012 and I believe my party can find that person. Sarah Palin is not that person.
get lost McCain, you lost the election go to the left wingers , you belong with them!
I listen to the Palin babble with a smile. She has a very bad habit of making general statements that she cannot back up when asked for specifics. It should be pretty obvious to everyone her qualifications for any national office are worse than the average American.
It should also be obvious that the voters of this country did not buy into her hate and distortion of the facts. The "base" that she appeals to will always be there but she will appeal to very few others. The Republicans would be absolutely stupid to nominate her again and I think they know it. If she's gets her book deal I hope the publisher is ready to declare a loss because the majority of the country doesn't care about her.
I don't know why, because I really detest her, but I find her sexy on some level
@ Hammer
Doesn't that just make McCain a real maverick since he's not just a "yes" man to his party? Isn't he just being "mavericky" by helping Obama? Wasn't that his big selling point during the election?
Well?