Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said she thinks Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama regrets not making Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton his running mate.
Palin praised Clinton’s “determination, and grit and even grace” during the Democratic primaries, sounding an altogether different note than when she suggested earlier this year that the New York senator was whining about negative press coverage and campaigning in a way that was not advancing the cause of women in politics.
“I think he’s regretting not picking her now,” Palin told ABC News on Friday, referring to Obama.
Palin’s highly anticipated first televised interview since joining the race was airing last week as Americans seek to learn more about her since Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain chose her two weeks ago. She has been Alaska’s governor for less than two years and before that was a small-town mayor.
Although she was not widely known in the US before getting the nod, Palin has energized the Republican party’s conservative base, pulling many of them closer to a presidential candidate they had initially eyed with wariness.
Palin’s entry in the race has also drawn support from many white women and the McCain campaign hopes in particular that she can pull Clinton’s supporters away from Obama. It was in that spirit that she heaped praise on Obama’s defeated rival.
“What determination, and grit, and even grace through some tough shots that were fired her way — she handled those well,” Palin said.
Those comments contrasted with Palin’s words in March when she was asked about coverage of Clinton at a Newsweek forum, and said: “Fair or unfair, I think she does herself a disservice to even mention it, really. I mean, you gotta plow through that. You have to know what you’re getting into ... when I hear a statement like that coming from a woman candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism, or you know maybe a sharper microscope put on her, I think, ‘That doesn’t do us any good — women in politics.”
Her comment brought a sharp rejoinder from Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, on behalf of the Obama campaign: “Sarah Palin should spare us the phony sentiment and respect. Governor Palin accused Senator Clinton of whining.”
Clinton bowed out of the contest in June after a close race with Obama for the Democratic nomination. Obama chose a veteran senator, Joe Biden as his running mate.
The Palin interview also touched on two claims that have been a staple of her reputation since joining the ticket: that she was opposed to federal earmarks, even though her request for such special spending projects for next year was the highest per capita figure in the country and that she opposed the US$398 million Bridge to Nowhere linking Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport.
Palin actually turned against the bridge project only after it became a national symbol of wasteful spending and Congress had pulled money for it.
She told ABC that since she took office, the state had “drastically” reduced its efforts to secure earmarks and would continue to do so while she was governor.
“What I’ve been telling Alaskans for these years that I’ve been in office, is, no more,” Palin said.
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