Aug 29, 2008 4:44 pm US/Pacific
Schwarzenegger Approves Of McCain Picking Palin
SAN DIEGO (AP) ―
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he likes John McCain's pick for the first female running mate on a Republican presidential ticket, calling Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin a courageous reformer.
Schwarzenegger, who appeared at a budget-related event in San Diego on Friday, said he knows Palin from conventions hosted by the National Governors Association.
"I know Governor Palin from the national governors' conference, and she's a very effective leader and she's a reformer and I like her very much because she has the strength to go and push back," said Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican who has endorsed McCain.
Speaking to reporters, Schwarzenegger described Palin as a tough, smart executive.
While Schwarzenegger and California lawmakers have been locked in a budget battle for 60 days, Schwarzenegger praised Palin's negotiating skills in her home state. He also commended her stance against Alaska's congressional delegation on earmarks for the "Bridge to Nowhere," which became a national symbol of wasteful, pork-barrel spending.
"She had the strength to fix the budget problem that they had, to reform the system and also to push back really hard on that 'Bridge to Nowhere,"' Schwarzenegger said. "And I think she's cleaning up the mess up there, and I think she has tremendous courage."
The Republican governor also said the selection was "great for women.
"I mean, it's spectacular because I'm a big believer that women can do just as great a job, if not better job, as guys can do," he said.
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, offered a different assessment.
She said McCain placed a former part-time mayor with no foreign policy experience "a heartbeat away from the presidency."
"This pick had nothing to do with being qualified to step into the presidency, which Sarah Palin clearly isn't," Bass said in a statement. "It had everything to do with the dim political outlook for John McCain's campaign."
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