You’re Doin’ a Heckuva Job, Palin

In a fresh interview tonight with Ms. Couric in Ohio, Mr. McCain said that Ms. Palin had generated unusual excitement in the race. He did not discuss her qualifications.

“I’ve seen underestimation before,” Mr. McCain said. “I’m very proud of the excitement that Gov. Palin has ignited with our party and around this country.”

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Ms. Couric asked Ms. Palin for her reaction to complaints that she is not ready for prime time.

“Not only am I ready but willing and able to serve as vice president with Senator McCain if Americans so bless us and privilege us with the opportunity of serving them, ready with my executive experience as a city mayor and manager, as a governor, as a commissioner, a regulator of oil and gas,” Ms. Palin said.

The interview began with a question about an incident on Saturday in Philadelphia, in which a voter in a restaurant asked Ms. Palin about cross-border attacks from Afghanistan into Pakistan.

She had said she approved of such attacks, to “stop the terrorists from coming any further in,” which is the position of Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee.

Asked if she and Mr. McCain were “on the same page” on this subject, Ms. Palin said:

“We had a great discussion with President Zardari as we talked about what it is that America can and should be doing together to make sure that the terrorists do not cross borders and do not ultimately put themselves in a position of attacking America again or her allies. And we will do what we have to do to secure the United States of America and her allies.”

Ms. Couric noted that Mr. McCain had said earlier that such attacks were not something that should be discussed out loud, and asked him again: “Is that something you shouldn’t say out loud, Senator McCain?”

Mr. McCain said: “Of course not. But, look, I understand this day and age ‘gotcha’ journalism. Is that a pizza place? In a conversation with someone who you didn’t hear — the question very well, you don’t know the context of the conversation. Grab a phrase. Governor Palin and agree that you don’t announce that you’re going to attack another country.”

Ms. Couric asked Ms. Palin if she was sorry she had made the statement, but Mr. McCain jumped in.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “Before you say, ‘is she sorry she said it,’ this was a ‘gotcha’ sound bite that, look …”

Ms. Couric said it was not a “gotcha” moment and that the question was tossed out by a voter, not a journalist.

“No,” Mr. McCain said. “She was in a conversation with a group of people and talking back and forth. And, I’ll let Governor Palin speak for herself.”

Ms. Palin said that Mr. McCain was “absolutely right on.”

She added: “In the context, this was a voter, a constituent, hollering out a question from across an area asking, ‘What are you gonna do about Pakistan?

You better have an answer to Pakistan.’ I said we’re gonna do what we have to do to protect the United States of America.”

Ms. Couric said: “But you were pretty specific about what you wanted to do, cross-border … .”

Ms. Palin said: “Well, as Senator McCain is suggesting here, also, never would our administration get out there and show our cards to terrorists, in this case, to enemies and let them know what the game plan was, not when that could ultimately adversely affect a plan to keep America secure.”

Ms. Couric asked her what she had learned from the experience.

“That this is all about ‘gotcha’ journalism,” she said, smiling. “A lot of it is,” she said, quickly adding, “But that’s O.K., too.”

After Ms. Couric had asked Ms. Palin about her negative reviews and Ms. Palin had said that she was ready, willing and able to serve, Mr. McCain put in:

This is not the first time that I’ve seen a governor being questioned by some quote, ‘expert.’ I remember that Ronald Reagan was a cowboy. President Clinton was a governor of a very small state that had ‘no experience’ either. I remember how easy it was gonna be for Bush One to defeat him. I still recall — whoops, that one. But the point is I’ve seen underestimation before.

I’m very proud of the excitement that Governor Palin has ignited with our party and around this country. It is a level of excitement and enthusiasm, frankly, that I haven’t seen before. And I’d like to attribute it to me. But the fact is that she has done incredible job. And I’m so proud of the work that she’s doing.