Carly Fiorina, who is inexplicably a top McCain economic advisor after being fired as CEO of Hewlett-Packard (the company halved its market share and shed a lot of jobs during her tenure) was on Saint Louis radio today. According to Fiorina, Palin does not have the experience to run a major company.

“Do you think [Sarah Palin] has the experience to run a major company, like Hewlett Packard?” asked the host.

“No, I don’t,” responded Fiorina. “But you know what? That’s not what she’s running for.”

Listen to the audio here.

H/T Sam Stein.

Really?

UPDATE: I shouldn’t mock McCain. Here’s evidence from an old magazine that McCain did indeed create the Blackberry.

I’m not really a huge fan of Claire McCaskill, but she hits the nail on the head regarding Sarah Palin and John McCain’s “reformer” claims.

I will say this, Hillary Clinton didn’t but I will say this, I have a hard time imagining that Sarah Palin is a reformer if she took taxpayer money to sleep in her own bed. That is not a definition of a reformer, that’s a deifnition of somebody who’s gonna fit right in in Washington.

Barack Obama’s new ad, taking on the myth of the maverick:

I wish that Palin part had been more hard-hitting, but bonus points for calling John McCain out for lying.

McCain gave a speech worse than some of the ordinary folks that both parties gave a chance to speak in their respective conventions. Was this his way of trying to prove he’s an outsider?

Many Republican legislators who have worked with John McCain have publicly skewered him for his temper. On July 30th, I quoted some of them. Today seems like an appropriate time to remind you of what they said.

“He is a vicious person. Nearly all the Republican Senators endorsed Bush because they knew McCain from serving with him in the Senate. They so disliked him that they wouldn’t support him. They have been on the hard end of his behavior.” –Former Representative Charles LeBoutillier, R-NY

“John was very rough in the sandbox. Everybody has a McCain story. If you work in the Senate for a while, you have a McCain story. He hasn’t built up a lot of goodwill.” –Former Senator Santorum, R-PA

“I don’t like McCain. I don’t like him at all.” –Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-CO

“What has struck me about McCain is that everybody underestimated the ability of his advisers and him to hypnotize the national media, because most of us in the media in Arizona thought of him as a guy who had a terrible temper, occasionally had a foul mouth, a guy who whined and pouted unless he got his way. McCain has a temper that is bombastic, volatile, and purple-faced. Sometimes he gets out of control. Do you want somebody sitting in the White House with that kind of temper?” –Pat Murphy, former editor of the Arizona Republic, and a former friend of McCain

McCain seems to have successfully hidden this side of himself from the media who travel with him, but it frightens the brethren in his own party:

“The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.” –Senator Thad Cochran, R-MS

“I decided I didn’t want this guy anywhere near a trigger.” –Senator Pete Domenici, R-NM

“His temper would place this country at risk in international affairs, and the world perhaps in danger. In my mind, that should disqualify him.” –Former Senator Bob Smith, R-NH

“What happens if he gets angry in crisis in the presidency? It’s difficult enough to be a negotiator, but it’s almost impossible when you’re the type of guy who’s so angry at anybody who doesn’t do what he wants. It’s the president’s job to negotiate and stay calm. I just don’t see that he has that quality.” –Former Arizona GOP Chairman John Hinz

And the coup de grace:

“John McCain (as President) will make Cheney look like Gandhi.” —Patrick Buchanan on NBC Today show, Feb 6, 2008.

No matter how inexperienced Obama may be … compared to McCain?–he’ll look like a combination of Gandhi and Solomon.  

And by Quayle, I mean an inexperienced, weak vice-presidential candidate. And that’s what Sarah Palin brings to the table – almost no experience in governance even in her own state.  I might add that Alaskan Republicans could be the most corrupt in the country, and Sarah Palin is close with them, even Republican Senator Ted Stevens after he was indicted. She’s actually under an ethics investigation right now.

What a weak, desperate move.

UPDATE: Obama’s response:

“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.  Governor Palin shares John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies — that’s not the change we need, it’s just more of the same,” said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

UPDATE II: In a CNBC interview earlier this month, Palin admitted that she didn’t even know what the VP does:

“But as for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell ya, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me, what is it exactly that the VP does every day?” – Sarah Palin, 8/1/08, CNBC, “Kudlow and Company”

Today is John McCain’s birthday. That’s easy to remember, because on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans as a Category 3 hurricane, bringing ruin and devastation to an impoverished population unable to evacuate partially because of decades of neglect and partially because of an unresponsive government.

And part of the unresponsivity is directly tied in with John McCain. On August 29, 2005, John McCain was celebrating his 69th birthday with George Bush in Arizona, and apparently the festivities couldn’t be called off so that the president of the United States could coordinate some sort of effective response. Now we have indelible images like this:

juxtaposed with this:

This is yet another shameful legacy Bush, along with his enablers like John McCain, has given us. When you don’t believe government can be useful or effective, you don’t spend time trying to figure out how it can actually be useful or effective.

Speaking of responses, our very own Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor Sam Page volunteered his time and effort providing free medical services for Katrina in Jennings, LA. That’s especially touching to me, because not only was I born in Louisiana, I still have lots of extended family in Jennings. Thank, Sam, for showing that you cared when those higher up in government did not.

Photos courtesy of Flickr users John McGaffe and weBranding.

What did you think of the speech last night? What were your favorite lines? Least favorite?

The entire text of the speech is here.

In the midst of the confusion as to exactly how many houses John McCain owns, Barack Obama nails him again with a new ad titled, “Out of Touch.”