Specter on Palin: Strong on sensuality, not intellectualism

Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter told WHYY's Radio Times this morning that he found former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin strong on "sensuality" but short on "intellectualism" when she ran for vice president on the ticket with Sen. John McCain in 2008.

Specter is hawking his new book -- Life Among the Cannibals: A Political Career, a Tea Party Uprising and the End of Governing as We Know It -- and was asked to discuss a section we reported on two weeks ago, about when he first met Palin.  In the book, Specter writes that he noticed Palin's short skirt length and found that she "radiated sensuality."

"She is a beautiful woman," Specter said on Radio Times. "Intellectualism is not her long suit. Sensuality is. I think people would be interested in reading that section. I don't want to give too much of the book away on this program."

Asked if Palin damaged the Republican Party, Specter said he believes McCain would have lost to President Obama if she had not been on the ticket in 2008.

"I don't think she's an integral part of the Republican Party today," Specter said of Palin. "She's a personality. She's a media star."