Part 1 of the Palen interview

ABC New's Charlie Gibson first part of his interview covers mainly foreign policy and she handled him pretty deftly. She talked about NATO and Russia and its abuse of Georgia and threats to Ukraine. When he questioned her about experience she did a nice pivot to the energy issue and its impact on national security.

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"Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that's with the energy independence that I've been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States... but I want you to not lose sight of the fact that energy is a foundation of national security. It's that important. It's that significant," she said.

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She also deftly handled one of teh canards of the left on her statements about God and the war.

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Palin defended a previous statement in which she reportedly characterized the war in Iraq as a "task from God."

Gibson quoted her as saying: "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God."

But Palin said she was referencing a famous quote by Abraham Lincoln.

"I would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words. But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that's a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's side."

When asked if she believed she was "sending [her] son on a task that is from God," Palin said: "I don't know if the task is from God, Charlie. What I know is that my son has made a decision. I am so proud of his independent and strong decision he has made, what he decided to do and serving for the right reasons and serving something greater than himself and not choosing a real easy path where he could be more comfortable and certainly safer."

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I think they will have a hard time with that meme now. Actually her answer was brilliant. It is what Christians believe. While the text of the story has some of the accusations of the angry left I see little in her answers for them to pick at. This has to be a big disappointment to the Democrats who thought foreign policy was her weak spot and with Gibson leading with it, I suspect they have little to look forward to in the future interviews and it will wind up being an interview that will sustain her appeal to voters.

Jim Rutenberg of the NY Times reviews the interview and says she frustrated some attempts to box her in or get a contradiction out of her.

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Mr. Gibson expressed exasperation with Ms. Palin toward the end of the interview segment shown on “World News” — another segment was to be shown later, on “Nightline” — complaining that she had buried him in “a blizzard of words” as he sought a direct response to his question of whether the United States had the right to attack terrorists in the Waziristan area of Pakistan without the Pakistani government’s approval.

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It looks like some in the media have gone from complaining about her not talking to complaining about her talking too much. Gibson should have known he was going to get nuanced answers to those questions, because all the politicians keep their options open.

Some excerpts from the interview here.