Editor’s Note: Gov. Sarah Palin chatted one on one with Newmax’s David A. Patten for an exclusive interview on Tuesday. Here is the transcript:
Palin: Let me start off by thanking you [Newsmax] so much for your daily updates. If it weren't for Newsmax, there'd be a lot of us wondering what the heck was going on that day… it is very valuable, very helpful, and I appreciate all that you guys are doing to get a good message out there.
Newsmax: Thank you very much. The Newsweek cover – what's your theory as to why the mainstream media has this anti-Sarah Palin fixation?
Palin: First, addressing that Newsweek cover: I fired off an e-mail to my daughters, to my sisters, and my mom, and I said, "You know I almost feel like I have to apologize for some of these surprises that happen in our lives here." I don't know why I felt like I had to apologize because I didn't do anything wrong with it, but I didn't like it.
And it was a bit of a shot there by Newsweek that I thought was unnecessary, and I didn't like it . . . Maybe some people are feeling threatened by just a normal, everyday average American who is very blessed to have a megaphone right now, and doesn't want to squander or blow this opportunity to get a common sense conservative message out there heard across the nation. I'm very blessed to have the opportunities that I have in speaking up for normal Americans.
Newsmax: If a nation is to be judged by how it treats "the least of these," where are we at as a country right now?
Palin: We are to be judged by how we treat the least of these. In my mind that's … those with special-needs, our elderly, it's our soon-to-be-born babies. The heart of our nation shines brightly when we take care of those who are less fortunate, who have more challenges than the rest of us. And I think that in a lot of respects we're seeing some wonderfully encouraging trends in our country that should give all of us who believe in that a lot of hope. There are more Americans today saying, "Yes, I believe in the sanctity of life and that innocent life is to be protected, and that people have purpose, and destiny," and they're proclaiming themselves as pro-life. There are more on the pro-life side than on the other side, and that's encouraging.
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Newsmax: We noted that, in your book "Going Rogue," you said that our country is "at a crossroads." Which way do we need to turn on that crossroad and where do we need to go?
Palin: Thankfully, at this time of where we are today facing this crossroads, we have history to learn from, and we have individuals like Ronald Reagan who has laid out for us a path, solutions that he found to apply to put America on the right path. We would be foolish not to apply the same principles that he did. When we talk about our economy, he had a steel spine. And despite opposition within his own party he said, "No, we're going to cut taxes on the job creators, and we're going to ramp up industry here in our own nation," and we need to do that. We also need to reduce our federal debt – quit piling on and growing more.
And what Reagan did, too, with national security issues, there is where his steel spine strengthened our entire nation. The leadership he provided, where he allowed us to believe in ourselves as a superpower — not in an abusive way as a superpower, but as a power and a light and a hope for the rest of the world that allowed us to be a healthier, safer, and more generous nation to help other nations. So those things that Ronald Reagan did … you know he said with national security issues, he said you know, "We win. They lose." Leadership like that we need today allows a very clear path in front of us we'd be foolish not to follow.
Newsmax: Americans who admire Ronald Reagan couldn't imagine him bowing to the Japanese emperor. Is that a trivial thing, or do you think the current administration is being too deferential?
Palin: That made me and many of us uncomfortable, and I don't think it was just an accidental breach of protocol, because we've seen it before with one of the Saudi leaders too. I think it goes along with that same mode of operation that was apologizing for who America is. . . In order to build relationships with other countries and strengthen our allies and allow more alliances across the globe, we don't need to apologize for who we are. In fact, I think we would be respected to an even greater degree if we exerted more of the diplomatic power that, again, Ronald Reagan did.
Newsmax: President Obama's aides have really slammed Fox, and they won't admit MSNBC and other media are biased in the least. Should the grass roots make a concerted effort . . . is it time to make an effort to actually boycott liberal news outlets that demonstrate a blatant bias.
Palin: You know we don't even have to formally do that. I think we're evolving into a place of that happening anyway. The sin of omission from the fringe media — it used to be called the mainstream media, but I don't think we can consider it mainstream anymore — I think the sin of the omission in their reporting. . . the wisdom of the American people is so apparent to me, as I hear from so many of them saying, "I can't watch that stuff anymore. I only believe that I'm getting fair and balanced information from some of the conservative commentators and reporters, and that's what I tune into." I just think you're going to see more and more of that atrophy of respect and credence and viewer and listenership, via the actions of the public when it comes to tuning in, tuning out the mainstream media.
Newsmax: You've spoken highly of Glenn Beck. It might sound a little farfetched, but if you ever were to run for president, could you ever envision a Palin-Beck ticket?
Palin: [Laughs] "I can envision a couple of different combinations, if ever I were to be in a position to really even seriously consider running for anything in the future, and I'm not there yet. But Glenn Beck I have great respect for, and he's a hoot. He gets his message across in such a clever way. And he's so bold — I have to respect that. He calls it like he sees it, and [is] very, very, very effective.
Newsmax: A lot of Americans are really battling through tough times right now. You know what it's like to face adversity. When Newsweek or another outlet disparages you or your family in a personal way, how do you keep from getting discouraged? What's your advice to other Americans?
Palin: I can keep this in perspective and not worry too much about the political shots I take, because I see other Americans who are taking real shots that really hurt: Those who lose a loved one in a war zone, or who have a child who may be ill, or a parent losing a job. Those are the shots that really hurt, and I can put the little political pot shots that are taken at me in perspective.
My kids of course too, they keep me grounded. And if ever they see me get a little bit grumpy because of the things I read or hear, you know they remind me about some of the things I'm always telling them about keeping things in perspective, and remembering that, "Well, we know the truth." And really at the end of the day I put it all in God's hands, and I say, "God, protect my children from this. I don't want them to be hurt. I don't want their feelings hurt. I don't want their confidence diminished." And bring it right back away from me, onto my kids, asking for God's hand of protection over them, gets the focus off me. That's what I need to do.
Newsmax: Could Obamacare permanently alter what we think of as American life?
Palin: It certainly can. Economically, because a government healthcare takeover would result in one-sixth of our economy being controlled by Washington, D.C. . . . That's a very uncomfortable thing for any of us to consider. It's a dangerous place economically for us to be. But there's still so many questions with Obamacare: What's it gonna cost? How many are going to be insured? Will there the tax funding of abortions in there? Are you going to face jail time if you don't purchase that government-mandated level of coverage?
There are so many questions right now that I'm like every other American, just kind of scratching my head, saying, "When are we going to get the answers so that we can debate this very responsibly and very intelligently?" I think it's purposeful that some in Washington, D.C., don't want us to have all of the answers, so that the debate is more nebulous and puts more of the generalities out there. Even knowing what we do know about it though, I think it is a very dangerous place for Americans to be, to be told that the only solutions to the healthcare challenges in our country . . . the only solution is that government has to take it over.
Newsmax: This is what the tea party people are saying, that there is an intentional obfuscation of what the real plan is, the real intention is. It sounds like you're echoing that.
Palin: Listen to [GOP Minority Leader Rep. John] Boehner and [Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele] Bachmann and some of the others in Congress, too. They're saying, "Hey, we've got some commonsense conservative solutions that we've put forth and were shut out of the discussions."
That's a broken promise of Obama's and others in Congress, who promised an open, transparent, bipartisan approach to finding these solutions, and that's unfortunate. But these commonsense conservatives have put forth the solutions suggesting the intra- and interstate competition amongst healthcare providers, and the tort reform, and the waste and fraud measures that can eliminate so much of the rising cost problems right now. Those things aren't even being considered in the bills pending before Congress. [It's] very frustrating for a lot of us as Americans, saying wait a minute, this isn't what we've bargained for.
Newsmax: What's your prediction for the outcome of the 2010 midterm elections?
Palin: I think we're going to see more and more of voters deciding that we need to get back to common-sense conservative solutions. We're going to look back on history to see what Ronald Reagan did to get our country back on the right track. And we're going to look for candidates who will have that steel spine that he had and will be bold enough to make the tough decisions, and we're going to see more of that New Jersey and Virginia and New York [Congressional District] 23 type of change in our country. And by the way, New York 23, I consider that a great success of Doug Hoffman's. He came out of nowhere, underfunded, an underdog, and yet effected great change there.
Newsmax: It seems like people either hate you or love you. Do ever ponder that in your quiet moments, and do you ever regret that you've become this cultural lightning rod?
Palin: It's ironic, it's funny, because as a council member and then a mayor and oil regulator and as a governor, I got along with everybody. And that's why I had almost 90 percent approval rating as a governor.
In national politics, it's a whole different bloodsport. [It] amazes me the effects of the mainstream media. If they find somebody they don't like, and want to put them on a path to personal to destruction. . . Wow! They'll stop at nothing. But at the end of the day, I know the truth, and as long as I've got Todd and my kids and my family, and friends who know me and still love me, and I love them, then I'm going to be perfectly fine.
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