Rice’s faint praise for Palin

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Condoleezza Rice has already raised some eyebrows during this election by passing on a chance to explicitly endorse John McCain. In a new interview with CNN, the U.S. Secretary of State also doesn’t seem too excited by his choice of running mate. The last quote in this excerpt seems destined to become a classic:

These are decisions that Senator McCain has made. I have great confidence in him.” Confidence in Palin? Rice didn’t say.

Rice added: “I’m not going to get involved in this political campaign. As Secretary of State, I don’t do that. But I thought her speech was wonderful.”

Comparing Vice President Cheney’s foreign policy background [with] Palin’s, the interviewer asked Rice to respond to critics who say she “just won’t be able to handle it.”

Rice’s response: ” There are difference kinds of experience in life that help one to deal with matters of foreign policy.”

More Rice: “You know, she’s governor of a state here in the United States.”

Stop the presses.

It’s reasonable and even admirable that the secretary of state wants to stay out of the partisan fray, but as someone who’s spent eight years giving foreign policy advice to another former governor with no previous international experience, she’s in a unique position to comment on the preparedness question. In this light, her non-response seems quite significant.