Palin interviewed about Clinton

WASILLA , Alaska, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Republican U.S. vice presidential pick Sarah Palin says Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama likely regrets not making Hillary Clinton his running mate.

"I think he's regretting not picking her now, I do," Palin told ABC News in interviews this week. "What, what determination and grit and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way -- she handled those well."

Clinton, a senator from New York who has said little publicly about Palin, is stepping up her campaigning for Obama, a senator from Illinois, with stops in Ohio scheduled Sunday.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain's campaign has said Palin's selection could lure more women voters to him, especially those who supported Clinton in the primaries, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

But at least one Obama ally, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said Palin, the governor of Alaska, and McCain, a senator from Arizona, should drop the "phony sentiment and respect."

"John McCain and Sarah Palin represent no meaningful change," she said, "just the same failed policies and same divisive, demeaning politics that has devastated the middle class."