Sarah Palin frequently disparaged the political press when campaigning with John McCain. But she tells Human Events' John Gizzi in an interview that she wishes she had spent more time talking to the media:
GIZZI: What was the biggest mistake made in the '08 campaign?
PALIN: The biggest mistake made was that I could have called more shots on this: the opportunities that were not seized to speak to more Americans via media. I was not allowed to do very many interviews, and the interviews that I did were not necessarily those I would have chosen. But I was so thankful to have the opportunity to run with John McCain that I was not going to argue with the strategy decisions that some of his people were making regarding the media contacts?
But if I would have been in charge, I would have wanted to speak to more reporters because that's how you get your message out to the electorate.
In general, the Alaska Governor (named "Conservative of the Year" by the magazine) seems to think she was over-managed.
GIZZI: And what was the most important lesson you learned from the campaign?
PALIN: The campaign was 99.9% amazing and invigorating and inspiring. But looking back, there were so many things that were outside of my control. I was in a campaign in which I did not know the people individually running the campaign. So I had to put my life, my career, my family, and my reputation in their hands. That's kind of a scary thing to do when you don't know the people you are working with.
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As an administrator, as a chief executive of a state, I am not used to that. I am used to proving my abilities by calling the shots. Then I know the buck stops with me. I made the decisions, and I'm responsible. When others are making decisions for me, as they were in the campaign, and I am the one to live with the fallout from the decisions that were made on my behalf, that is something I am not very comfortable with.
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[M]y reliance on seeking God's direction in all that I do -- that is good enough for me. And others who have a different worldview and different strategy on messaging and such, I would like to have the opportunity to prove to them that my gut instincts were going to be quite adequate.
Robert Stacy McCain, a blogger at the conservative American Spectator agrees. Read the whole interview, in which Palin discusses the auto bailout and former Sen. Ted Stevens.