The daughter of John McCain has said her father could have had Jesus Christ as his running mate and still not won the 2008 US presidential election.

McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, a move which many blamed for his eventual defeat against Barack Obama.

But Meghan McCain told Larry King in an interview for his PoltiKING show that this is not the reason why her father lost the election. 

"I think my father could have had Jesus Christ as his running mate and it wouldn't have mattered in '07.  I truly believe that," she said. 

Palin was derided in the media in the run-up to the election but although McCain agreed with King that she did "bring a lot on herself", she was "not given a great hand and people really wanted to rip her apart".

She believes the treatment is also down to the fact that the media likes to "annihilate" strong women. 

"I wish the media had been easier on her during that time, or at least more understanding," she said. 

McCain went on to criticise the Secret Service who protected her for several months during her father's presidential campaign.

"I respect that they're there to protect people, but I found them very cliquey and very gossipy and very voyeuristic.  I did not like the secret service," she said. 

But she had even stronger words for the Republican strategist Karl Rove, who her family suspect of being behind a rumor during John McCain's previous presidential bid in 2000 that he was the true father of Meghan's adopted sister from Bangladesh.

"I hate Karl Rove and I think he still needs to apologise to my family, which he has not done, for the things that happened in 2000 and I think there was an era where Karl Rove was relevant and I don't konw why people still give him attention," she said.