Daily Beast columnist Meghan McCain asserts that there are more qualified presidential contenders than former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
“I think there are more qualified candidates,” McCain told a Kennesaw State University audience on Monday.
Author of “Dirty Sexy Politics,” Meghan McCain is also the daughter of Ariz. Sen. John McCain, who picked Palin to be his running mate the 2008 presidential race. Last year, Meghan McCain wrote a Daily Beast column titled, “The Palin Girls Don’t Share.”
McCain, who got to know Palin during the 2008 presidential campaign, says Palin has made some poor choices in the election aftermath.
“I just don’t agree with the moves she’s made since the election. If I was advising her I would have told her to go away, stay silent, read up on everything, then really start campaigning hard. The reality shows, it’s just not what I believe in for the White House.”
Though she believes Palin wouldn’t make a strong president, McCain says the former vice presidential candidate is an engaging, intelligent individual.
“She is captivating on every level, and she’s a lot smarter than people ever give her credit for,” McCain said. “I do not think she’s stupid. I do not think she’s crazy. There are these things that she is stereotyped to be.”
McCain is not a fan of billionaire Donald Trump, who spoke at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference and is considering running as a Republican for president in 2012.
“I have actually kind of a problem with people like Donald Trump saying they’re going to run for president. This shouldn’t be something you do for publicity,” McCain said. “I think it’s very strange.”
As of late, McCain’s top choice for a Republican president is former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who ran in the 2008 presidential primaries.
“My personal favorite right now is Mitt Romney,” McCain said. “I like that he’s not so radical. I like that he has really, really played his cards right, almost perfectly since the last election.”
Last year, McCain expressed an interest in becoming a political strategist and said she wanted to “kick Obama’s ass” in the upcoming presidential election.