Sarah Palin Attends First Town Hall

As she took questions from voters for the first time since she was tapped as Senator John McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin was asked here Wednesday about her “perceived lack of foreign policy experience.” She responded with an invitation for people to play “stump the candidate” with her. “As for foreign policy, you know, I think that I am prepared,” Ms. Palin said at an enthusiastic town-hall-style meeting she held alongside Mr. McCain. “And I know that on Jan. 20, if we are so blessed as to be sworn into office as your president and vice president, certainly we’ll be ready. I’ll be ready. I have that confidence. I have that readiness. And if you want specifics with specific policy, or countries, go ahead and you can ask me. You can even play stump the candidate, if you want to.” But before anyone could take her up on the offer, Mr. McCain stepped in to praise Ms. Palin’s qualifications, saying that she understands energy issues, had led negotiations for a new gas pipeline, and, as governor of Alaska, was the commander of the Alaska National Guard. “So I think she understands our national security challenges,” he said. …

Governor Palin showed herself to be a crowd-pleaser, and it was clear that she and Mr. McCain – who had only met once before offering her a spot on the ticket – have begun to develop an easy rapport. (She no longer called him “Senator John S. McCain,” as she sometimes did right after she was picked, calling him “John.”) Ms. Palin highlighted her breezy style, as with her remark that energy independence was “going to be my baby” in a McCain administration, but sometimes seemed less sure-footed on other issues. … Ms. Palin got her biggest cheer of the night when a woman who identified herself as a mother asked her to rebut the false suggestion that she would have difficulty balancing her role as a mother with being vice president. “Well, let’s prove them wrong!” Mr. Palin said, to huge applause. “I was pregnant when I was the governor and they asked how are you going to be their governor and have a baby in office?” she elaborated. “And I said, ‘The same way that every other governor has brought up a family, had a baby in office.’ Granted they were men, maybe that was the difference. But we’re going to be able to do it.” “Thank you so much for recognizing though, that this is the maverick who would have even chosen such a candidate to partner up,” Ms. Palin said, “and this is the party that embraces the change and the progress that America and American women are craving and deserving.”