Glenn Beck Dishes on Sarah Palin, Obama, the Economy

Dec. 9, 2009 — -- When conservative shock jock Glenn Beck launched his Fox News talk show last January, he moved to the top of the left's symbolic hit list.

Beck calls his show a fusion of entertainment and enlightenment. Whatever else it may be, the Beck brand is immensely popular: He has one of TV's most-watched cable news shows, a radio program drawing over 9 million listeners and six bestselling books.

Barbara Walters recently interviewed Beck as one of the "10 Most Fascinating People of 2009." Walters asked Beck about Sarah Palin, Marxism in government and his mother's suicide.

Watch Barbara Walters' "The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009" Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET

"Would you like to see Sarah Palin as a nominee for president?" Walters asked.

"Haven't made up my mind yet on Sarah Palin," said Beck. "I think she's very, um ... Contrary to 'Saturday Night Live''s opinion, I think she's very shrewd. I think she's very, um, sharp, at least ... in her gut, I think she, um, knows ... where the country is headed. Whether she has the chops to be the president of the United States, I mean really, Barbara. Who does? I mean, do you want that job?

"No," Beck continued. "Would you want that -- listen to this. I wouldn't have wanted this job, with, uh, when Barack Obama -- I remember saying to, during the campaign, to all of them: Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. Can you imagine, the shape of the economy and everything, in 12 years? In -- I mean by, by 2012, by ... 2016? We have Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid -- all of that stuff starting to come to roost. Who is going to have ... the ability to look at the American people and say... 'Here's the truth'?"