McCain Defending Palin on Meet The Press

Quotes from John McCain on Meet The Press on Sarah Palin:

On her decision to resign: "I understand that Sarah made the decision where she can be most effective for Alaska and for the country. I love and respect her and her family. I'm grateful that she agreed to run with me. I am confident she will be a major factor in the national scene and, and in Alaska, as well."

On the personal attacks: "I have never seen the sustained personal family attacks that were made on Sarah Palin and her family in, in, in my life. Carl Cannon has a very interesting piece about the media establishment and the attacks that were made on her, and I'm sure that that had some impact. Ethics charge after ethics charge, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of, worth of legal fees. But the fact is she is very popular with our Republican base. She will be a strong voice. I chose her because she was a reformer, because she beat an incumbent governor, she was a popular Republican of her own party, she ignited our base, she did a great job as my running mate even under the most sustained personal attacks in recent American political history."

On the 2012 Presidential race:

MR. GREGORY: You think she's qualified to seek the high, highest office in the land?

SEN. McCAIN: I know she's qualified. I know she's qualified.

MR. GREGORY: She is qualified?

SEN. McCAIN: Sure. Absolutely.

MR. GREGORY: No doubt about it.

SEN. McCAIN: No doubt about it. She has all the right instincts, all the right principles. She was a, she was a, a mayor, she's a governor. She understands the challenges that families face. She has, she has a great background, and I am confident that she will continue to play, as I say, a major role.

On those who blame Palin for loising the 2008 election: "...in all due respect to those who like to examine the entrails and, and, and look backward, the fact is we were three points ahead on September 15th, and the stock market crashed and we went seven points down. Sarah Palin ignited our party. We were winning and we could have won. But I'm proud of the campaign we ran. I'm proud of the people around me. I'm grateful for their support. I love them. I am proud to have had the honor of being the nominee of the party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Quotes from the Roundtable:

Political Analyst Roger Simon: "If the Republicans were choosing a nominee today, I believe they would choose Sarah Palin."

Democratic Strategist Bob Shrunm: "I agree with you, she's got a big base and I think she might win the nomination. I hope she does."

Bush Advisor Karen Hughes: "I think the weeks and months ahead are going to be very critical for Sarah Palin. She's got a lot of charm. I like her. She's feisty, she's a maverick. But there's a fine line between maverick and quirky, and so I think she has to be very careful that the next steps she takes are very thoughtful and that she really thinks them through before she takes them."

Coorespondent Andrea Mitchell: "..look, she's really warm. She was acting, I think, on behalf of her family, which were, were hurting, and she needed to do something about that. She was very deeply unhappy. She's got enormous charm, as Karen points out, and she's feisty, she's attractive. Lord knows she's attractive. But she has to have a coherent world view to be the Republican nominee."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy