Sarah Palin was interviewed on the 'Larry King Live' show yesterday(11-12-08). Read the complete transcript.
KING: All right. Our new CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll shows that 49 per cent of adult Americans have a favorable feeling about you, 43 percent an unfavorable. In retrospect, do you think you might have hurt the ticket?
PALIN: If I hurt the ticket at all, and cost John McCain even one vote, I am sorry about it because John McCain is a true American hero, he's got great solutions in terms of the challenges that are facing America right now with national security and needing to get our economy back on the right track. John McCain has solutions. I look forward to seeing him as a leader in the Senate, reaching out to Barack Obama and the new administration, being able to work together with the solutions that he has. Again, sorry if I cost him any votes, if I did.
KING: But you, you don't have an opinion as to whether you did or didn't?
PALIN: I personally don't think that I, Sarah Palin from Alaska, the VP pick, I don't believe that I caused the outcome to be what it was. I think the economy tanking a couple of months ago had a lot more to do with it than the VP pick. But I think too not winning the Hispanic vote and being outspent so tremendously in this campaign, John McCain had fulfilled his promise in just keeping with the public financing of the campaign and Barack Obama went on to accept the private donations and contributions that allowed us to be very, very greatly outspent.
There were a lot of contributing factors. I'm not going to point the finger right back at me and say that I was the cause of the outcome, but there were a lot of contributing factors. But again, if I caused even one person to shy away from electing an American hero, John McCain, to the presidency, than I apologize.
KING: Do you -- what role do you think you have in the party? You're at the Governors Association Convention, the Republican governors. How do you see yourself down the road?
PALIN: Every Republican governor has a tremendous role to play in making sure that Americans understand that -- what it is that we do out there on the front lines, balancing multibillion dollar budgets and dealing with tens of thousands of employees in our organizations. The executive experience that we all have as governors needs to be put to good use in helping in the new administration, reaching out to Barack Obama, in order to progress this nation and find solutions to the many challenges that we face. Every Republican governor has much to contribute.
KING: But your own role --
PALIN: Well, I'm one of them. I am one of them, desiring to reach out and assist the new administration that has recently been elected. What I can do specifically in helping our nation become energy independent, of course, comes from my experience as an oil and gas regulator in a huge energy-producing state. And now as governor of that state, we know that we have the domestic solutions and the domestic supplies of energy. And we have the American ingenuity and we have the American workers ready to be put to use to allow our nation to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy, volatile foreign regimes that control too much of our energy supply and use energy as a weapon.
We need to get away from that and domestic solutions that are at our fingertips. I want to help lead in that area. Also, what I can do as a Republican governor is do all that I can in my state and hopefully in the nation also in helping our families who have children with special needs.
It's an issue near and dear to my heart. It resonated well throughout the campaign also, Americans recognizing that this is time that our families who have children and adults with special needs, that America shows its good heart to them also. And we start cherishing every life, I want to help in that arena also.
