CQ Transcriptswire

Oct. 30, 2008

SPEAKERS:

GOV. SARAH PALIN, R-ALASKA

ELIZABETH VARGAS, ABC ANCHOR

ROBIN ROBERTS, ABC ANCHOR

ROBERTS: One of Barack’s -- Barack Obama ’s toughest critics lately has been Governor Sarah Palin . And ABC’s Elizabeth Vargas had a chance to sit down with Sarah Palin , and asked her about the tone of this campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: But when you use words like “socialism,” or say he’s palling around with terrorists, or hanging out with a Palestinian professor -- which you just said in -- in the rally, you seem to be saying that he is un-American somehow or he might be dangerous.

PALIN: Not at all. Not calling him un-American. There is nothing wrong, though, with calling someone out on their record, their associations. The association issue here, it’s not mean spirited, it’s not negative campaigning. It’s important and fair to the electorate.

VARGAS: Do you think Senator Obama is as patriotic, as American, as honorable as John McCain ?

PALIN: I am sure that Senator Obama cares as much for this country as McCain does. Now, McCain has a strong, solid track record of his -- I think some manifestations of the opportunities that he’s had to prove that patriotism and that love for country. But no, I’m, for the record, stating no -- that I’m not calling someone out on their love of country or level of patriotism.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: And we will have more of Elizabeth’s interview with Governor Palin coming up in our next half hour. She did that interview in Toledo, Ohio. And there’s no doubt how important this state is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Elizabeth Vargas had a chance to talk with his running mate, Governor Sarah Palin .

VARGAS: I did. I did, Robin. Yesterday, I met up with Sarah Palin in Toledo, Ohio. We had a wide-ranging conversation about the strains of this campaign on her family life, about whether or not she’s been a victim of sexism, and about the rough ride she’s had since John McCain stunned nearly everyone by naming her his running mate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: A lot of women were really, really excited when you were -- and intrigued by your candidacy, when you were named to the ticket.

Today, polls show that 60 percent of women have an unfavorable opinion of you. Why do you think you’ve lost that connection?

(CROSSTALK)

PALIN: I don’t look at polls, so I would not be able to answer that. You would have to poll one of those females, ask them, perhaps, why anything has changed there.

But you have to consider, though, that when there has been the constant barrage of -- a kind of a spin on my record or my positions -- and there has been much of that negative spin -- that perhaps it would change someone’s perception if they had not met that person.

I don’t care what the polls say, though, I honestly don’t.

VARGAS: There have been a chorus of voices from the Republican Party, stalwart Republicans who’ve come out and said they don’t think you’re qualified to be vice president.

PALIN: And I have never met any of those whom I have heard to have written something or said something negative. I would love to meet these people, have a conversation. And instead of them just superficially making a statement like that, it would be nice if -- if they would take it a step further and at least interview me.

VARGAS: Perhaps some of those people, like Colin Powell or Peggy Noonan or Ken Adelman, should have come out and met you first before coming out publicly...

PALIN: That would’ve been nice.

VARGAS: ... and saying you’re unqualified.

But what about the voters? I mean, why -- why is there this lingering issue with you and this question about whether or not you have what it takes to be an effective vice president?

PALIN: I don’t know, but there have been many underestimated persons who’ve been elected to office and have really been in -- provided the opportunity to prove the pundits wrong. Again, it’s motivating for me to work that much harder.

But I can’t speak to the negative perception that somebody would have, because -- again, I know who I am and I know the truth and I know my record. It’s going to have to be me walking the walk, not just talking the talk, trying to correct it, but to prove who I am and what I stand for.

VARGAS: If you could take a do-over in this campaign, what would it be?

PALIN: I can’t think of anything. I -- I would just have...

VARGAS: Really, nothing?

PALIN: ... I would just have desired to have more hours in the day to be able to accomplish more in terms of getting John McCain ’s message out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELISABETH HASSELBECK, CO-HOST OF THE VIEW: Governor Sarah Palin .

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: This past weekend, when Elisabeth Hasselbeck was campaigning with you, she said the campaign coverage of you had been deliberately sexist. And you seem to agree.

I wanted to ask you: Do you think the campaign coverage of you has been sexist?

PALIN: Oh, I think there’s obvious been -- been double standards there. I mean, talk about my wardrobe and never talking about the male candidate’s wardrobe. Or the questions posed to me of how will I be able to serve in office and still raise a family. I’ve never heard that asked of a male candidate.

But I’m not going to complain about that, because if my -- if my skin isn’t thick enough to take that as a candidate, I should not be even thinking of serving this nation as vice president.

VARGAS: But is it a double standard? I mean, reporters certainly mocked John Edwards a lot for his $400 haircuts. And when the report did come out about the -- the wardrobe purchase for your whole family -- it was a lot of money, $150,000.

PALIN: Well, double standard or not, this -- this is what we’re dealing with. And I’d much rather be talking about the issues that are important to Americans -- not that -- and it wasn’t $150,000. I never saw a final bill.

But what the RNC purchased was -- with staging, with lighting, with wardrobe for the family. And it’s not our property -- the clothes aren’t; like the staging and the lighting, it’s not our property. That’s returned, or it’s in the belly of an airplane. That’s not who we are, even. It was convenient, because we showed up for the convention with overnight bags. So it was convenient to have some tools there to be able to borrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, D-N.Y.: ... are not going to make America...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: Hillary Clinton did talk very candidly, and so did Geraldine Ferraro, other women who have been in this position and have been under this amount of scrutiny, about what you call that double standard, about how all those questions and issues that a woman faces that a man doesn’t.

Just give me one example.

PALIN: The -- the simple question that I’m asked often, “Well, how would you raise a family serving in office, especially with a couple of young children?” The only double standard here -- hint -- is that I have not heard that asked of male candidates. VARGAS: A lot of working mothers out there struggle with juggling all of it -- you know, motherhood, the career. You’re going for, arguably, the biggest career we have in this country. Have there ever been moments -- I mean, I know when I’m traveling and I -- and I’m on the road, I miss bedtime with my -- my two boys.

PALIN: Well, I probably miss the same things that the male candidates miss when they’re not with their children for a day or two. But I’ve been very thankful in that my kids, for the most part, are with me. And of course, they’re -- they’re a phone call away also. But I’m very thankful that, relying on my network of support at home with aunts and uncles and siblings -- a lot of that network of help reassures me also. My kids are just fine.

VARGAS: OK, just one last question. If it doesn’t go your way on Tuesday, 2012?

PALIN: I’m just thinking that it’s going to go our way on Tuesday, November 4th. I truly believe that the wisdom of -- of the people will be rebuild on that day. As they enter that voting booth, they will understand the stark contrasts between the two tickets.

VARGAS: But the point being that you haven’t been so bruised by some of the double standard, the sexism on the campaign trail to say, “I’ve had it. I’m going back to Alaska.”

PALIN: Absolutely not. I think that if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we’ve taken, that -- that would bring this whole -- I’m -- I’m not doing this for naught. No, we’re going -- we’re going to progress. We’re going to keep going forward. So it is all worth it, and I’m not complaining about any of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: And as you can imagine, Robin, that last comment about possibly running in 2012 has kicked up a bit of a political dust up on the campaign trail. She does remain committed, though, and confident that they’re going to win on Tuesday.

END

Source: CQ Transcriptions, Oct. 30, 2008

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