Mondale blasts McCain's VP pick

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale said Wednesday Republican presidential contender John McCain might have made a hasty vice presidential pick.

The Hill reported Mondale, the 1984 Democratic presidential nominee, said he believes McCain, the senator from Arizona who is about to become his party's nominee, did not give "a lot of his personal time and attention" to his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

In his run, Mondale picked as his running mate then-U.S. Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York, the first woman vice presidential candidate.

"I don't really know her but it looks like she was selected to placate the right wing of the Republican Party, where McCain was having trouble," Mondale was quoted as saying about Palin in an interview from his Minneapolis law office.

Mondale said Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's did a better job in picking Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware for the No. 2 spot on his ticket.

"As a measure of presidential status, McCain picked Palin and Obama picked Biden, and I think that describes brilliantly the dimension of the difference between the two," Mondale said. "Biden is ready to be president if necessary. He can really help the president by giving him advice, by being a troubleshooter, by working with Congress and by handling crisis situations. I would be hard-pressed to see how any of that could be true of Palin."