While a lot of the members of the mainstream media were scratching their heads, trying to figure out just who Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was, CNBC actually came through with an almost immediate positive response.
The August 29 broadcast of CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" featured two of the network's prominent personalities analyzing Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's choice of a running mate. "Closing Bell" host Maria Bartiromo and "Kudlow & Company" host Larry Kudlow said McCain's decision was wise.
Bartiromo, who was set to feature Palin in an upcoming CNBC special on energy, called the governor a "terrific choice."
BARTIROMO: "I can tell you a lot about Gov. Palin just from my conversation with her and from the day that we spent with her and that is she challenged the establishment in Alaska. She is very, very popular in Alaska and what she brings to the table predominantly is her knowledge and her know-how of energy. That's the bottom line."
"In an environment where energy is probably the number two after the economy and housing issue in this election, she is really a terrific choice for McCain here. She's also obviously a terrific choice because she's a woman trying to attract those Hillary voters now and those supporters."
Bartiromo said she suspected Palin might get the nod because of her answer when asked directly about her vice presidential aspirations:
BARTIROMO: "We talked about energy as the key issue and I asked her directly - ‘Did John McCain approach you to be his running mate?' Bartiromo recounted. "You know she answered me really very sheepishly saying, ‘Well, we've spoken many times about a number of issues and we've spoken recently, obviously about energy.'"
Kudlow also shared his opinion of Palin, saying she has "impressed" him during two recent interviews on his primetime program.
KUDLOW: "And I was impressed at the time with her attitude - you know, she wasn't sucking up to it - she's saying, ‘Well, wait a minute, I got a good job here. And she's trying to clean out the corruption in Alaska with all this horrible, you know, [Sen.] Ted Stevens [Rep.] Don Young stuff. She's drill, drill, drill. She's a supply-sider and I think, by the way, politically, she is going to cut in to the working class women - the Hillary-disaffected vote that's leaving Barack Obama, so this is just a fascinating, fascinating choice."
