Lincoln Chaffee, the non-Republican who is a charter member of Obama’s “Republicans for Obama” group, had some not-so-nice words for Sarah Palin.  The funnest comment, though, might be the suggestion that Palin’s selection energized Democrats:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Former Rhode Island Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee has called vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin a “cocky wacko” and said her selection as John McCain’s running mate has energized supporters of Democrat Barack Obama.

Chafee left the Republican Party last year after losing his bid for re-election and now supports Obama. He told an audience Tuesday at the New America Foundation in Washington that the Alaska governor has revived a “lackluster McCain candidacy.”

“They’ve just thrown this firestorm, this tornado, into the whole presidential election,” Chafee said in response to an audience member’s question about whether the Obama campaign should worry about Palin’s presence in the race.

He said her speech at the Republican National Convention had the unintended effect of energizing Democrats and Obama supporters.

“People were coming into my office, phone calls were flooding in, e-mails were coming in, ‘I just sent money to Obama, I couldn’t sleep last night’ — from the left. To see this cocky wacko up there,” Chafee said to laughter.

I love the headline the AP uses for this article: “Former GOP senator calls Palin a ‘cocky wacko’”

Kind of makes it sound like this clown is just a former Senator and not a former Republican.  Which is, I’m sure, just what the media - desperate for anything to impugn Palin with - wants.

As for Palin energizing liberals, I don’t doubt that’s true.  But they haven’t exactly been rallying to Obama.  I’ve just seen them rallying to accuse Sarah Palin of being a bad person for daring to be a mother and pursue a career at the same time.