CNN's Cafferty Replays Two Year Old Commentary to Bash Palin

On Tuesday's Situation Roon, CNN's Jack Cafferty revisited his longstanding Palin Derangement syndrome by rebroadcasting one of his commentaries from September 2008 where he played an excerpt from the infamous Katie Couric interview and disparaged the then-vice presidential candidate. Most of the viewer responses to his 'Question of the Hour' bashed the former Alaska governor.

The commentator devoted his 5 pm Eastern hour Cafferty File segment to his old nemesis, since the Republican stated in a recent interview that she wouldn't "waste her time" doing another interview with the CBS anchor. He replayed the bulk of a September 26, 2008 segment where he highlighted one of Palin's less-than-satisfactory answers during the Couric interview. He concluded at that time that "if John McCain wins, this woman will be one 72-year-old's heartbeat away from being president of the United States, and if that doesn't scare the hell out of you, it should."

Cafferty didn't play the part of the 2008 segment where he ripped the excerpt as "one of the most pathetic pieces of tape I have ever seen from someone aspiring to one of the highest offices in this country." Between August 29 of that year and the day of that commentary, the CNN personality devoted 35% of his Cafferty Files segments to Mrs. Palin.

The CNN personality concluded his Tuesday segment by asking his viewers, "If Sarah Palin runs for president, should she agree to an interview with Katie Couric?" Near the end of the hour, Cafferty read some of the replies from CNN viewers, and only two could be considered either neutral or supportive of Mrs. Palin. As you might expect, the rest attacked her:

CAFFERTY: Bonnie says, 'Anybody who runs for the highest office should answer any question from any journalist. If they can't do that, they shouldn't be running for president. We citizens need to know all about the candidates. So far, I don't think she's capable of anything remotely close to being qualified as president. She only has money on the brain. Would you want her beside the red phone in the middle of the night?'

Lynn writes, 'Sarah Palin should just answer some questions from anyone! She won't run because she isn't qualified, and she doesn't want to work. Loving all this attention, at the very last minute, she will bow out, saying that her family needs her. Wait and see!'

Mark in Colorado writes, 'I hate to blow everyone's Obama bubble, but Palin was more qualified to be president than your Messiah- oh excuse me, the community agitator! Please, Couric is a liberal soldier in the mainstream media's far-left push into our lives. It was a shame how you all treated Miss Palin just because she's from the right.' That's not the reason.

Sue writes, 'Poor, pathetic little girl should stay away from all the big girls who can show her up for what she is.'

Gary in Florida: 'No. If Palin runs, she shouldn't give an interview to anyone. She's better served by doing reality TV, book signings, and having her daughter on Dancing with the Stars.'

Jerry in Toronto: 'Holy mackerel, Jack. Palin's dumber than a 5th grader. Couric did her job, asked basic questions, and Palin failed miserably- period. If Palin decides to run for the presidency, she has no choice but to allow all accredited media the right to question her intelligence, or lack thereof. Enough of this picking and choosing and PR spin- either you're smart enough to be president or you're not.'

And Naveen writes, 'Yes, she should. But don't expect a different outcome.'

The full transcript of Cafferty's segment from Tuesday's Situation Room, which began nine minutes into the 5 pm Eastern hour:

CAFFERTY: Sarah Palin told Fox News that if she runs for president, she will not 'waste' her time on another interview with CBS's Katie Couric. Here's why:

CAFFERTY (from September 26, 2008 commentary): There's a reason the McCain campaign keeps Governor Sarah Palin away from the press. I want to play an excerpt from an interview that Palin did with the CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, where she was asked about the bail-out package. Listen to this.

KATIE COURIC, CBS NEWS (from September 25, 2008 interview): Why isn't it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries- allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy, instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

SARAH PALIN: That's why I say I, like every American, I'm speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail-out. But ultimately, what the bail-out does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping- it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health care reform and reducing taxes, and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade- we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today. We've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bail-out is a part of that.

CAFFERTY: Did you get that? If John McCain wins, this woman will be one 72-year-old's heartbeat away from being president of the United States, and if that doesn't scare the hell out of you, it should.

CAFFERTY (live): That clip has gotten more than 4,150,000 hits on YouTube.

Here's the question: if Sarah Palin runs for president, should she agree to an interview with Katie Couric? Go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile, post a comment on my blog.