QUESTION: Just a couple of last quick questions, political questions, if I may. Fancy that.
There have been a lot of questions raised about Governor Sarah Palin. If you were prepping her for a foreign policy debate with Joe Biden, what would you advise her?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, let me be the last do to that.
QUESTION: You should be the first to do that.
SECRETARY RICE: No, no, no. Let me just say this. I thought that Sarah Palin gave a terrific speech, and not to get into the politics of it. You know, she’s governor of a state here in the United States, and she came across extremely well.
QUESTION: Does she have enough experience to handle the kinds of things that you need to handle?
SECRETARY RICE: These are decisions that Senator McCain has made. I have great confidence in him. 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.
QUESTION: But the – a lot of Republicans are also saying that she just lacks the experience. I mean, you can dispatch Vice President Cheney to deal with Ukraine and Georgia, but Sarah Palin just won’t be able to handle it.
SECRETARY RICE: There are different kinds of experiences in life that help one to deal with matters of foreign policy.
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/09/109223.htm