GOP foreign policy experts cool to Palin

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- An adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain concedes GOP foreign policy experts are cool about vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

"To a lot of people it was a surprise choice so there was caution," the adviser told Politico. "There was a pause because they didn't know her. My own personal view is I'm feeling more and more enthusiastic

and I think they will, too."

In a recent interview with CNN, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice didn't respond directly to a question about whether Palin had enough experience "to handle the kinds of things that you need to handle?"

McCain made the decision, Rice said, and "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."

John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, answered questions about Palin's foreign policy inexperience compared to McCain's experience,

"You want your strength on national security at the top of the ticket," Bolton told Politico. "I feel

very comfortable with her as a vice presidential nominee, how it plays politically beyond that I don't know.