Palin blasts bad faith claims

Fox News:

Gov. Sarah Palin was coy about her presidential aspirations but criticized both President Obama and the Republican Party in her first interview since announcing she was stepping down as governor of Alaska.

Standing astride a fishing boat she would later climb aboard to haul in fishing nets and salmon, Palin expressed bitterness at bloggers who peppered her with ethics accusations, whom she said brought government in Alaska to a grinding halt.

"The critics want to put you on a course of personal bankruptcy, so you can't afford to serve," she said, calling the attacks "bull crap."

The governor made the remarks in an interview with FOX News in Dillingham, where she was fishing with her husband, Todd, and daughter Piper. Reporters from three other networks were also in attendance.

Watch the full interview on FOX News Channel at 9 a.m. ET

Palin said she has started a legal defense fund to raise money for legal fees.

She said Obama is taking the country in the wrong direction, and while she wouldn't reveal her future plans, indicated she has fight left in her.

"Average, hard-working Americans need to be able to get out there, unrestrained, and fight for what is right," she said. "Fight for energy independence and national security, fight for a smaller government instead of this big government overgrowth that Obama is ushering in."

Palin also offered criticism of the Washington, D.C., political establishment, and even the Republican Party, which nominated her to be vice president last year.

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Palin had cited attacks on her family and multiple ethics complaints that had forced her family to rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills. As a result, it's unlikely she'd run for president in 2012, suggested Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

"Not having talked to the governor, I take 2012 off the table right now simply because given everything she's going through personally, dealing with the financial mess that all these ludicrous investigations have put her and Todd in, at the moment, I think she's trying to focus on getting her house in order, her personal house in order," Steele told FOX News.

"I look forward to welcoming her out and helping us in our campaigns this fall if and when shes ready to do that. Sarah Palin will be the ultimate arbiter of when she will engage and how she will engage," he said.

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I think Steele has the right approach at this time, though it is probably too soon to say she has taken 2012 off the table. The Palins did take the media on a fishing trip in Bristol Bay. I suspect we will see more of her in this type of outing.