Um artigo de Andy Barr, no Politico.com:
In a much anticipated interview with television host Oprah Winfrey that aired Monday, Sarah Palin tamped down speculation that she might run for president in 2012 and took shots at CBS News’ Katie Couric, who conducted a series of interviews with the former Alaska governor in September that seriously damaged Palin’s standing.
Palin’s appearance on Oprah, the first in a media blitz that includes several high profile interviews and an eight-state tour promoting her book, was taped last week and ran just prior to Tuesday’s release of her book “Going Rogue.”
When asked about her plans for 2012, Palin said that a presidential run in two years is “not on my radar screen right now.”
“I am dealing with so many issues that are important to me,” she said. “What I am seeing every day is that you don’t need a title to be important.”
Palin – who resigned as governor of Alaska in June – said that she left office “because I wasn’t going to run for a second term” and that she felt she had already become a “lame duck.”
“My dad’s quote sums it up: ‘She’s not retreating, she’s reloading,’” Palin said of her decision.
Looking back on her run for vice president with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the GOP’s presidential nominee, Palin said the pair lost because “our ticket represented what was perceived as the status quo.”
“I wasn’t to blame for losing the race, just like I wouldn’t have gotten credit for winning the race,” Palin said.
Palin said she did not take early speculation that she would be McCain’s vice presidential choice “too seriously” because “there were the other names that were really being considered much more seriously.”
Still, Palin said when McCain called her to ask if she would join the ticket, it was “not such a shocking call” and that she responded by saying, “Yes, I would love to. Yes, I’d love to contribute.”
When Palin traveled to Arizona to meet with McCain’s staff and go through the vetting process, she said she was “surprised” that the Republican’s aides knew that her daughter Bristol was pregnant.
“I was surprised too that we didn’t handle the issue better,” she said.
Palin insisted that she did not approve of the statement that went out from the campaign announcing Bristol’s pregnancy.
“I read it,” she recalled, “and I said ‘no, no, no. Here’s our opportunity to tackle the problem of teen pregnancy in America.”
“I rewrote it, and a couple hours later I see that first statement scrolling across the [television] screen,” Palin said. “That was an indication of how things would go.”
“I thought it might be an issue,” the former governor said about her daughter’s pregnancy. “But I also thought there was more realism about American life.”
“I was naïve to think that the media would leave my kids along,” she continued. “I wasn’t given that privilege of being able to protect my kids, my family.”
Media coverage of her and her family remains a sore spot with Palin, who was extremely critical of the media during her hour-long sit down with Winfrey.
Palin disparaged Couric’s approach to a series of interviews that were conducted soon after the Alaska governor was picked as McCain’s running mate, suggesting that she had been misled and unfairly treated by the CBS news anchor.
Asked if she prepared for the interview with Couric, Palin said “not so much, but it was supposed to be a light-hearted thing.”
“After the first segment, it didn’t go well. It didn’t go very well, I was annoyed by her badgering,” Palin said.
The former Alaska governor accused Couric of trying to trap her on the issue of abortion, asking her “12 different times on my position on abortion and the morning after pill.”
Palin also said she grew annoyed by Couric’s presence at campaign rallies. After one particular rally when she left the rope line “fired up,” Palin recalled that she turned around to see Couric and thought, “There is the perky one again with the microphone.”
Palin indicated that she was offended when Couric asked her what newspapers and magazines she reads, saying that she took the question “in the context of ‘do you read?’”
“Obviously I have over the course of my life,” Palin said. “I’m a lover of books and magazines and newspapers.”
Palin resisted attacking the McCain aides she has spent much of the last year sparring with, though she did criticize unnamed McCain staffers who she claimed were too focused on her weight.
“Of all the things to worry about while the McCain campaign numbers – we were kind of taking a nose dive and Obama was soaring. We should not have spent a lot of time worrying about what I was eating,” she said.
When asked about the denial of her request to deliver a speech on Election Night, following the GOP loss, Palin said she was disappointed “that we did not take one last opportunity to remind all Americans that united we will move forward, and that’s what I wanted to talk about.”
On a more personal note, Palin admitted that she waited a period of time before telling her husband Todd that their youngest child would be born with Down syndrome.
“It took about three weeks before we connected,” Palin said in describing the talk. Her husband “probably had a better reaction than I did when he first heard the message,” Palin said.
Asked about Levi Johnston, the father of her infant grandchild, Palin at first said she did not want to talk about Johnston because “so much of the discussion with Levi has to do with my baby boy grandson.”
But Palin then backhanded the young father for not seeing “the baby much while he has been on his media tours.”
The ex-governor went on to say that “some of the things that [Johnston] is doing is kind of heartbreaking,” specifically pointing to his photo shoot with Playgirl magazine.
“I call that porn,” Palin said of the magazine spread.
Palin insisted though that she continues “to hope for the best and pray for Levi.”»