John McCain is hurting. The latest polls are beginning to solidify at a substantial Obama lead, and the shakeout on this financial crisis is far from over. I heard a report on radio yesterday that McDonalds is suspending its usual policy on extending credit to it’s franchisees. A McDonalds having liquidity problems? No matter what happens in the vote in the House tomorrow, we’ve got more economics on our minds from here to election day. It isn’t just the national polls (latest AP poll) that have John McCain ready to make another roll of the dice; the polling in Arizona, John McCain’s home state, is getting uncomfortably tight. So what’s the content of that roll of the dice McCain the gambler is about to make? He’s praising Sarah Palin, hoping for a big win tonight. It’s in an interview with Steve Inskeep on NPR. Here’s the first bit:

Palin is a relative political novice, and questions about her readiness to step in as commander in chief if necessary have intensified in the wake of an interview with Katie Couric of CBS News that was roundly criticized. Some conservative pundits have even suggested that Palin should step down. But McCain defended his VP choice.

“I’ve turned to her for advice many times in the past,” McCain says. “I can’t imagine turning to Sen. [Barack] Obama or [Sen. Joseph] Biden because they’ve been wrong. They were wrong about Iraq. They were wrong about Russia.”

McCain specifically praised Palin’s knowledge of energy issues, as well as her oversight of the natural resources of Alaska and her experience running that state’s government.

That’s from the NPR preview of the interview, and perhaps throws out the most egregious and bald statement McCain made, but that statement doesn’t have McCain seeming to mock Palin herself as he grapples with his syntax in trying to find a way to defend his running mate. Oh, this is torture to read if you ever had an ounce of respect for John McCain. Heck, it would be torture to read if presented by a high schooler at his debating society. But John McCain seemingly wants to boost the stakes for tonight’s debate. All in? I don’t suppose he’s going all in with his bets on Sarah Palin, but his mindset seems focused on the daily as opposed to the long-term campaign issues, and Palin’s polling numbers are getting shredded. A poll reported at MSNBC has independent voters thinking she is unqualified for the job by a margin of 2 to 1. So McCain makes the claim that, though he met Sarah Palin for the very first time just five weeks ago, he has turned to her for advice “many times in the past.” This is a line that someone ought to call McCain on.

Now for the Busted Syntax of John McCain, wherein he wanders into Sarah Palin territory, from the NPR interview with Steve Inskeep. Here he is exaggerating Palin’s experience yet again:

Senator, as you know, the vice presidential debate comes on Thursday — your running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, against Joe Biden. Gov. Palin has been asked about her foreign policy qualifications and cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as one reason she’s qualified. I’d like to ask you, senator, what specifically do you believe that Alaska’s proximity to Russia adds to Palin’s foreign policy qualifications?

Well, I think the fact that they have had certain relationships, but that’s not the major she has stated, and you know that. The major reason she has stated is because she has the knowledge and background on a broad variety of issues, including probably the major challenge of America, and that’s energy independence. And she has been responsible, taken on the oil companies, and we now are going to have a $40 billion natural gas pipeline. She has oversighted the natural gas and oil and natural resources of the state of Alaska and, by the way, quit when she saw corruption there. She has the world view that I have. She is very highly qualified and very knowledgeable.

She has the world view McCain has. That’s damning in itself, as it is the world view where he confuses the name of the leader of Spain, where he confuses who has decision-making ability in Iran, where he fully endorsed the failed invasion of Iraq. We don’t need that world view, and we don’t need McCain’s mangled syntax as he defends and tries to prop up Sarah Palin. But this is more than a prop. John McCain has as much as said that Sarah Palin is an expert on foreign policy. Now watch her duck foreign policy questions tonight with her own mangled syntax.

But the interview shows more than just the rising expectations McCain has for Sarah Palin. It shows how dearly out of touch McCain is, as he defends his campaign on a particularly egregious attack ad against Barack Obama before veering off on a completely unrelated subject, like some 12 year old with ADHD. (12 year olds, even with ADHD, are cute. There is no excuse for a leader who wishes to be President going off on unrelated tangents. Also from the NPR interview with Steve Inspeep:

Have you come back to your advisers at any point and said — for example, the ad that ran with your name on it saying that Barack Obama supported comprehensive sex education for primary school students, something that factcheck.org said was wrong. Have you ever gone to your staff and said, “Take that ad off. It’s not right”?

It’s factually correct. It’s absolutely factually correct, and you can go on my Web site and you can see the exact language of the bill that Senator Obama sponsored. But the point is that if he had agreed to the town hall meetings that I asked him to do all around the country, like Jack Kennedy and Barry Goldwater had once agreed to do, the tenor of this campaign would be dramatically different. If we’d have gone around the country, and stood side-by-side before the American people and listened to their hopes and dreams and aspirations, the whole tenor of this campaign would be dramatically different. I’m proud of the campaign we are running, the ads are factually correct. And if someone named factcheck.org or anybody else doesn’t agree with it, I respectfully disagree with their conclusions.

I’d truly love to see McCain’s sneer and hear his sarcasm as he made this answer. Alas, we can only hear the interview on the NPR page, but McCain’s sarcasm certainly comes across. It’s right here, rivaling the sneers and sarcasm of his interview with the DeMoines Register.

McCain is desperate. Let’s hope Palin sinks him for good tonight.