Scott Hennen Show Exclusive: Interview with Governor Sarah Palin 10/27/08
Scott Hennen: “And we are so pleased, ladies and gentlemen, to bring you our next guest…the candidate with the most executive experience on either presidential ticket this year, the Common Sense Club proudly welcomes Sarah Palin to our microphones. Greetings, governor.”
Sarah Palin: “Hey! Thank you so much Scott. It is an honor to speak with ya.”
SH: “Another exclusive in our election ‘08 coverage, and we’re happy to have you on the Scott Hennen Show today. Time is short so we’re going to get right to it and tackle some issues today. Like Alaska, here in the Heartland where we have listeners throughout the Upper Midwest of North and South Dakota and Minnesota, people love to hunt and fish. And I have a letter here from the Chief Lobbyist for the Illinois State Rifle Association that says Barack Obama has proven himself to be an enemy of the law abiding gun owner. Who is the real Barack Obama on the Second Amendment governor?”
SP: “Wow. That’s a great statement already coming out of the chute. Yea, Barack Obama, he supported banning guns and ammunition, and that says it all, doesn’t it? And you take that position that he has and you contrast that with the position that John McCain and I have: that we will do whatever it takes to defend our Second Amendment rights. I’m a lifetime member of the NRA and hopefully that says a lot also, but a stark contrast between the two positions on how we respect our Constitution and that Second Amendment right.”
SH: “There is not another elected official in this country that has the résumé that you do, or is better equipped to tackle the nation’s energy crisis. And as North Dakotans we’ve seen what the oil and gas industry, clean coal, wind and ethanol can do for the state’s economy —we’re recession-proof right now—I want to know as Vice President, what you would do—what the most important priority you would take into that office—to lessen our dependence on foreign oil would be.”
SP: “We’ve got to quit these 30 years of failed energy policy that makes us rely on foreign sources of energy… these volatile regimes that we’re beholden to—asking them to ramp up production of energy sources for us so that we can purchase from them—these regimes, some of them use energy as a weapon and they can cut off our supply at any time if they so chose, and we circulate the hundreds of billions of dollars every year into those countries. Some (as I say), do not like America and do not abide by strict environmental standards, and production, we have the domestic solution here. Barack Obama and Joe Biden have said “no” to the domestic solutions that have been proposed. They’ve opposed offshore drilling. They oppose of course, even some of the alternative forms of energy that have been laid out on the table for them. We need the “all of the above” approach. Drillin here—offshore, onshore—clean coal technology that must be developed, alternative sources also…we cannot keep going down the path that we’ve been on, relying on foreign sources of energy.”
SH: ”Let’s talk a little bit about the economy. It’s certainly dominated the last two months of this election cycle, and one frustration from the listeners I talk to everyday is that they believe the current economic crisis is directly the result of Democratic malfeasance at best—or poor policies driven by the left—at worst Democratic malfeasance, at best just poor policies. And by that I mean everything from the Community Reinvestment Act to subprime loans (as a means for more affordable housing); you got ACORN, Fannie and Freddie, government-sponsored entities in the mortgage business (while dolling out campaign donations), Barack Obama as the second-highest recipient in his short tenure in the US senate; a perfect storm of the housing crisis which lead to this meltdown, while calls for reform from Senator McCain and President Bush and others were ignored. Did Democrats cause the mess we’re in, governor?”
SP: “Um, I would say “yes”, they did. And can you imagine if we have a Democrat controlled House, Senate and (heaven forbid) White House? The Obama-Pelosi-Reid trifecta there? An agenda there of big government, big spenders who would have um, already proven (via their track record) that they don’t know how to get us out of this crisis, because the decisions they’ve made have gotten us into this crisis? And who was it that asked for these reforms? It was John McCain. He was the one who sounded that warning bell and said “look, this is what’s gonna happen with Fannie and Freddy…this is what’s going to cause these problems we are facing today,” and yet, John McCain as a Senator, his colleagues (including Barack Obama) didn’t lift a finger to help him…”
SH: “Are you there governor? Sounds like a bad cell connection there and it just kind of went quiet…let’s see if we can reconnect with the governor. We’ll wait and hook up with the governor soon…”
SH: “Govenor Palin on our exclusive interview today, on the Scott Hennen Show and the Common Sense Club…alright, we’re back with the good governor?”
SP: “Hey Scott, I don’t know where we were cut off there but I was telling you “yea, let’s look at people’s track record.” Let’s look at the Democrat’s record: the actions they took or did not take that got us into the crisis we’re in today. Heaven forbid that the Republicans be solely to blame for what’s been going on today, and it’s not mean-spirited, and it’s not negative campaigning to call people out on their record…that’s in fairness for the electorate, and that’s what we’re going to do. Barack Obama needs to be called out on his inaction there as a senator. He did not accomplish anything as a senator to halt the crisis that now we’re facing. John McCain did. He sounded that warning bell, letting people know what was going on in Fannie and Freddie that was going to lead to a crisis, and his colleagues especially…”
SH: “I’ve seen experts suggest that the volatile stock market right now—the bumpy ride—is partly caused by poll numbers suggesting that Barack Obama is leading this race. Do you believe that one of the reasons the Stock Market is so spooked right now is because of a potential Barack Obama presidency?”
SP: “I want to still stick with somebody’s record, and calling Barack Obama out on the opportunities that he had to be on the side of the American people. On our homeowners, on our small business owners, and he has over and over again chosen to be on the side of bigger government, and no reform that was needed to halt the crisis that we’re now facing. Even if we just stick to someone’s record, it tells the whole story.”
SH: “Meanwhile, we know from the conversation he had with Joe the Plumber that his plan to fix the economy is to “spread the wealth around…” there’s an interview circulating today from 2001 in which Obama says that it’s a tragedy the Constitution wasn’t radically interpreted to force redistribution of wealth for African-Americans…is that the real Barack Obama? Issue after issue it seems that he’s a man of the Radical Left. Is he, governor?”
SP: “Scott, that is the real issue in that he has the track record…he’s made the statements. He has defined who he is and what his positions are, what he stands for and where he wants to take this country. It is so important to voters to hear what he has said and what he is saying today. And finally, of course, I am so thankful that Joe the Plumber succeeded to get him to speak plainly on what his intentions are in spreading your hard-earned income—according to his priorities (growing government, making government be more and more in control of our lives)—that’s his intentions. It’s clear as day. He said it.”
SH: “If you could sit down one-on-one with every voter here in the Heartland at the kitchen table, how would you differentiate the real Barack Obama from the one Americans see celebrated in what we call the “Obama-Media?”
SP: “And the media has been, I think, giving Barack Obama a pass when they have not called him out on his own record, and again “negative campaigning” to call somebody out…I would love to get to speak with voters across the United States at their kitchen table, and talk about the stark contrast, the choices that you have on November 4th, and let you know that John McCain and I—our ticket—represents a growing economy of pro-growth, pro-private sector economy, that will create jobs because we will lower taxes and we’ll reign in government growth, and we’ll let you keep what you’ve produced and earned and let you reinvest and grow, and thrive and prosper. As opposed to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who want bigger government, higher taxes, not allowing you to control your own investments and those things that you’ve based all your productivity and work ethic on, and that’s just on the economic front. We haven’t even talked about the war yet! We haven’t even talked about national security, and of course, there are the stark contrasts there.”
SH: “I want to talk about a couple of those things there…it’s an outrage to us, in these final days of this important election given everything this country faces…we’ve seen your clothes become the subject of intense media scrutiny, while the character questions of Barack Obama have been virtually ignored during this entire campaign—including the fact that he’s spent twenty years in the pews of a church with a man who’s been preaching hatred for America, and his radical Black Liberation Theology, and serving as a spiritual advisor (of course, talking about Reverend Wright). Will that be an issue in the closing days and is it an issue that voters should consider?”
SP: “I think associations are absolutely something that um…voters should be considering. And again, I can’t reiterate it enough about how simple it is for people to just go back on someone’s record and look at the votes that they’ve cast, or the actions or inactions or the associations that make a person who they are today. Really quickly if we could talk about the war though? John McCain and I, we will not fly the white flag and surrender to terrorists. We will never support (as Barack Obama did) cutting off funding for our troops over there in the warzone, our troops—fighting for us, for our freedom, for our Constitutional rights, for security here in the homeland—John McCain knows how to win the war, and I have a son over there today—and it’s not just my son who I’m worrying about; our young men and women who are over there risking their lives for all of us…um…heaven forbid that…”
SH: “You could not be more right. No question. On the national security question, again I have a question here about keeping us safe—Joe Biden says he guarantees some force will find the need to gin up a generated, international crisis to test the mettle of Barack Obama…this from the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee who said this several times last weekend…does Joe Biden know something the rest of us don’t? What was he hinting at, governor?”
SP: “I don’t know, but I think we should say, “Joe, thanks for the warning…all the more reason to elect John McCain.” He’s proven, he’s been tested; they’re not going to mess with John McCain, because again he knows the strategy to win the war. He knows what it takes.”
SH: “I want to ask you last about the poll numbers. A lot of people are watching this closely—Minnesota obviously has become a battleground state, some say North Dakota is (although we don’t buy that)— our listeners are quite honestly concerned about this, scared about it…what’s bucking you up right now on these polls? What are you looking at that says in the closing arguments here that this thing is gonna tighten and we’ll have a McCain/Palin administration?”
SP: “It’s just as Thomas Jefferson has said: “You never underestimate the wisdom of the American people.” And I think at the end of the day on November fourth, people are gonna realize they have this clear choice. You wanna win the war? You wanna get our economy back on track? You vote for John McCain. It’s as simple as that. Now, if you want to wave that white flag of surrender to the terrorists, and if you want to grow government (allowing them to make more decisions for you and take more of what you earn and produce), than you vote for Barack Obama. One or the other, it’s quite clear.
SH: “Governor, it’s been a pleasure watching you and your family…we’ve got to meet your husband recently over in Moorhead, Minnesota and we really appreciate everything you have done to energize this presidential campaign and wish you the best of luck. Many people are praying for you in our audience and wanted us to relay that to you. All of these questions today came from our listeners. God bless you and your family…Senator McCain and his family…and we’re praying the right outcome happens one week from tomorrow.”
SP: “I join you in that prayer. Thank you so much! Thanks, Scott!”
SH: “Good to talk to you. Governor Sarah Palin, our exclusive interview on the Scott Hennen show today on the program—you know ten minutes is not enough time, folks, because we had at least thirty minutes of questions at a minimum, and that’s consolidating the hundreds that came in from you. And I really appreciate all the input we did have from the good listeners of this program to get as many of those questions we did have on the program today.”
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