One person who isn’t being blamed for McCain’s loss Nov. 4 at a meeting of Republican governors and strategists in Miami today is vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

But they aren’t exactly leaping to defend her, either.

A surprising moment occurred late this afternoon in a press roundtable featuring Govs. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Jon Huntsman of Utah, former Ebay CEO and McCain national campaign co-chairman Meg Whitman, and former OMB Director Rob Portman.

A reporter asked whether they would have felt comfortable with Palin as president. After a moment of awkward silence, there were several answers given—but no one said “yes.”

Whitman, who had traveled the campaign trail with Palin, was the first to venture a response: “It’s hard to speculate – she is incredibly enthusiastic, a very fast study,” she said.

Huntsman then said, “I don’t think it’s as simple as yes or no – were the raw ingredients there? She’d been an effective leader in Alaska.”

Pawlenty then called her “an extremely talented person. We’re still getting to know her. John McCain made it very clear that one of his criteria [for a running mate] was that that person was ready to be president from Day One. ... I would have to defer to his judgment.”

The Republicans also made it clear Palin injected a badly needed spirit of enthusiasm into the McCain campaign.

“She energized the base in a way that was necessary,” Portman said.

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