CNN’s Campbell Brown on Monday interviewed a spokesman for John McCain about what experience Sarah Palin, McCain’s pick for VP, has to be commander in chief.

The interview began with a discussion of when McCain knew about the pregnancy of Palin’s 17-year-old daughter and whether Palin had thought about the ramifications of putting her daughter in the spotlight. Spokesman Tucker Bounds sidestepped the questions, and the conversation transitioned — as every conversation with Republicans in St. Paul does — to Palin’s qualifications and reform-mindedness.

But this time around, an interview with a campaign spokesman quickly moved into the realm of Must See TV.

“I’m just trying to get someone form the campaign to explain to me what foreign policy experience she has, or what qualifications she has that would allow her to be ready to be commander in chief if something were to happen to Sen. McCain,” said Brown, with some exasperation.

Of course, there’s is no straightforward answer to that simple question, but Bounds was resilient, sticking to talking points and insisting that Palin’s time in executive office meant she had far more experience than Barack Obama. Take, for example, her command of the Alaskan National Guard, which has been deployed overseas.

Brown noted that the National Guard is deployed by Washington, not the governor, but Bounds took the response as an insult. Brown pushed, but she didn’t lose her temper — and she even concluded the interview with a shrug and a resigned smile. “Tucker, I’m just gonna give it to you, baby,” she said, adding that she wasn’t beating up on him.

Of course she wasn’t. But this is about as hard-hitting as it gets these days, so perhaps it’s no surprise the campaign struck back by cancelling McCain’s previously scheduled interview with Larry King. The campaign complained that Brown’s questioning was “over the line.”

“After a relentless refusal by certain on-air reporters to come to terms with John McCain’s selection of Alaska’s sitting governor as our party’s nominee for vice president, we decided John McCain’s time would be better served elsewhere,” said McCain campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella.

Missed the interview? Talking Points Memo has a four-minute except that focuses on the foreign policy questions; below is the full 8 minutes and 51 seconds of Brown and Bounds.

Plus: Maybe the next set of tough questions will focus on managerial experience? Be sure to check out Laura McGann’s feed from Wasilla …