Sarah Palin in a radio talk show interview speaks about her personal faith, journalistic ethics, Joe six-pack, Washington elite, personal attacks and rumors and how Americans are struggling during tough economic times.
Yesterday Hugh Hewitt conducted a talk radio show interview with Sarah Palin, where they discussed a variety of issues, including how her own family struggled to pay out-of-pocket for health coverage crossing their fingers hoping no one in their family got sick or injured, the attacks on her and her family in the media and throughout the blogosphere, her pro-life position and personal choices, her religious faith, Israel and much more.
Hewitt starts off with the reactions to the announcement of her candidacy for vice president on the GOP ticket, asking if she was surprised at the hostility shown and what she attributes the reactions to.
Palin answers by saying people were not used to someone coming from the "outside", continuing on to say "It’s time that normal Joe six-pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency, and I think that that’s kind of taken some people off guard, and they’re out of sorts, and they’re ticked off about it, but it’s motivation for John McCain and I to work that much harder to make sure that our ticket is victorious, and we put government back on the side of the people of Joe six-pack like me, and we start doing those things that are expected of our government, and we get rid of corruption, and we commit to the reform that is not only desired, but is deserved by Americans."
Hewitt goes on to ask about the public interviews Palin has conducted and the "pop quizzes" were considered by some to be attempts to embarrass her, asking if she shares that view.
Palin says she doesn't fight it, she invites it, because they make one work harder, articulate better, stating "Well, I have a degree in journalism also, so it surprises me that so much has changed since I received my education in journalistic ethics all those years ago. But I’m not going to pick a fight with those who buy ink by the barrelful," she goes on to say they should continue on in that mode.
When asked if she follows the number of attacks made on her, she says she doesn't have time to follow along with them all and those attacks on her are "nothing compared to what real shots are against Americans in this world," the Palin lists some of those attacks the American public are taking right now by stating "Americans today who are worried about losing their home and figuring out how in the world they’re going to pay their fuel bill next month, and send their kid to college, and may be worried about losing a loved one that they’re sending off to a war zone to protect our rights. Those are the shots that Americans are taking, so all this political nonsense and the lies, the rhetoric that is spun out there about someone just trying to offer themselves up in the name of service to this great country, I’ll take it. "
Hewitt continued on that topic of struggling Americans, and asked Palin if she and her family has had to struggle, if they faced those same hard economic times and if they have had to make those tough choices.
This is a topic Palin hasn't been asked in any public interviews as of yet and many are expressing surprise at her answer.
Palin:
SP: Oh my goodness, yes, Hugh. I know what Americans are going through. Todd and I, heck, we’re going through that right now even as we speak, which may put me again kind of on the outs of those Washington elite who don’t like the idea of just an everyday working class American running for such an office. But yeah, there’s been a lot of times that Todd and I have had to figure out how we were going to pay for health insurance. We’ve gone through periods of our life here with paying out of pocket for health coverage until Todd and I both landed a couple of good union jobs. Early on in our marriage, we didn’t have health insurance, and we had to either make the choice of paying out of pocket for catastrophic coverage or just crossing our fingers, hoping that nobody would get hurt, nobody would get sick. So I know what Americans are going through there. And you know, even today, Todd and I are looking at what’s going on in the stock market, the relatively low number of investments that we have, looking at the hit that we’re taking, probably $20,000 dollars last week in his 401K plan that was hit. I’m thinking geez, the rest of America, they’re facing the exact same thing that we are. We understand what the problems are. It’s why I have all the faith in the world that John McCain is the right top of any ticket at this point to get us through these challenges. It’s a good balanced ticket where he’s got the experience, and he’s got the bipartisan approach that it’s going to take to get us through these challenges. And I have the acknowledgment and the experience of going through what America is going through.
They also speak of how the economic crisis facing America today is affecting her family.
Hewitt and Palin go on to discuss Israel, her personal faith, her pro-life position, her decision to have her latest child, Trig, despite knowing he was a Down Syndrome baby, her religious faith and her son Track who just left Kuwait and is heading to Iraq.
The interview transcript can be found at Town Hall and the audio recording of the interview can be found here.
Jim Geraghty participated after Palin in the show to analyze some of her answers, describes the beginning as "generic talking point Sarah", then highlighted four areas which caught his attention.
* She mentioned that she and Todd had lost $20,000 in the past few weeks in their 401(k)s. Can you recall the last time a politician gave a specific number to how much an economic crisis had impacted them? She talked about how she and Todd were worried about paying for college for their children.
* She mentioned she and Todd got their first health insurance when they were hired for union jobs.
* She said the only time the criticism had gotten "hurtful" was the commentary about Trig Palin, and the insinuation that carrying him to term was a mistake.
* She said she had spoken to her son in the Army, Track, when he was in Kuwait on his way to Iraq and that "the little stinker" had called his girlfriend before calling his mother in recent days.
He goes on to point out that Palin put the economic crisis, culture of life, and the war in Iraq, in "personal, human terms."
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