Kristol: Palin is in touch with middle-class America

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Bill Kristol was interviewed by Australian Television Thursday. Here are some quotes:

"You know, a lot of people are counting Sarah Palin out. I don't. She's awfully popular and attractive. She has challenges and she'll have to rise to the occasion."

"She was being harassed by these endless ethics complaints which were taking up her time, her staff's time, putting her in debt, actually. She had accomplished most of what she was going to accomplish in her two-and-a-half years as Governor. And I think she is interested in running for national office, and Alaska's a long way away, and she wants to travel the country, campaign for Republicans. I think she wants to study up more on national and international issues. It's a little hard to do when you're full-time Governor of Alaska."

"You know, a lot of... pundits don't like her and they sit here in Washington and write her out.... I think that's silly. She has a lot of support. In the polls right now, she's a co-frontrunner with two or three other people for the Republican Presidential nomination. You wouldn't bet on her, necessarily, but I wouldn't bet against her. She's got a real natural political talent."

"The liberal media here are so hostile to Governor Palin, that... she speaks her mind and it's described as rambling. I think most people who saw it thought it was a perfectly reasonable statement."

"I think she's intelligent. I agree with her on most issues. I think she would be strong, pretty populist conservative leader. And one problem the Republican Party has had is that it's considered the party of big business, of Wall Street - not in touch with middle-class America. And she is in touch with middle-class America. She's worked with Democrats in the last because she's taken on the big oil companies. She's a little more of a populist, I think, in a responsible way."

"As a person, I don't know her that well, but I like her and respect what she's accomplished, obviously. She's very young and she's had a pretty meteoric rise, and she's made it herself..."

"People didn't think Ronald Reagan was up to it, when he was a former actor and a right winger and then he lost his presidential bid in 1976 and everyone said, 'He's finished.' So you don't know. I'm not touting her - I'm not saying everyone should get behind her. I'm saying give her a chance."

"I think her instincts are good, her judgment on issues is good. She had a very intelligent op-ed in The Washington Post just the other day on President Obama's energy Bill. So... she's a strong internationalist in foreign policy, a free trader, believes in a strong American will in the world. Yeah, I'd be comfortable with her [as president]."

- JP