Palin Says Oprah "Gracious"; Book Details Leak

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Republicans

(AP/Harper)

On her Facebook page last night, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin said that Oprah Winfrey had been "very hospitable and gracious" during Winfrey's interview of Palin, which is scheduled to air on Monday.

"Willow, Piper, and I are in Chicago and just wanted to let you know that I had a great conversation with Oprah today," Palin wrote. We taped the show for Monday, November 16th, and enjoyed it so much that we went way over on time. The rest will air on Oprah.com. Oprah was very hospitable and gracious, and her audience was full of warm, energized and (no doubt) curious viewers."

Audience members told NBC Los Angeles that Palin's response to a question from Winfrey about whether she would be interested in a talk show "suggested she was considering the move," though Palin did not offer a yes or no.

One member of the audience suggested there was tension between the two women, though Palin's Facebook comments suggest otherwise. Winfrey supported Barack Obama during the presidential campaign.

"We talked about inside the campaign, about what it felt like when she was first asked to be Vice-President, the candidate," Winfrey said in a video posted after the interview, which you can see at left. "We talked about Bristol, the pregnancy. We talked about Trig, her baby. We talked about Levi Johnston. We talked about her marriage. We talked about everything. There's nothing that we didn't talk about."

Palin sat down with Winfrey to promote her book "Going Rogue," which comes out the day after the interview airs. Time Magazine's Mark Halperin spoke to associates of Palin's who have read the book in advance, and he says the book includes "a hearty bashing of the national media" as well as "some score settling with McCain aides she believes ill-served her (names will be named)."

The book is reportedly five "very, very long" chapters, and includes "an account of how her upbringing shaped her maverick sensibilities" and "a testimonial to the importance of faith in her life."

(CBS/AP)

Halperin also writes, in ready-for-the-book-cover language, that the book has "a warm and personal tone, written in Palin's own voice." Palin wrote the book with Lynn Vincent, an evangelical writer and editor.

Reportedly not in the book, which has an initial printing of 1.5 million copies: "hefty policy prescriptions."

"Going Rogue," for which Palin was paid an advance of at least $1.25 million, is rumored to exceed 400 pages. As Mark Silva notes, the "score settling with McCain aides" isn't surprising, seeing as the title of the book comes from McCain aides' complaints about Palin.

Palin's book tour begins November 18th. She is largely avoiding liberal-leaning cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Instead, she is stopping in Sioux City, Iowa; Noblesville, Indiana; Washington, Pennsylvania; and Rochester, New York.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by rsamps1 November 13, 2009 7:03 AM EST: Boy, this hugely egotistical & underqualified lady from the outback has had way more than her deserved 15 minutes of fame. Why anybody would even think about shelling out $25 for a fundraiser for a lady who somehow got elected governor of one of the U.S.'s most backwards states, then quit little more than a year later, is beyond me. Maybe its because hate monger Rush Limbaugh liked her- she single-handidly destroyed any hope John McCain had for the presidency. Going rogue is quite appropriate- great title for a lady that has no business outside of a small, drug-infested town in the wildnerness, except perhaps to serve as a model in lenscrafter eyeglass commercials. Her family needs her, America certainly does not.; Reply to this comment


by Unclemercer November 13, 2009 5:54 AM EST: Best-selling author Sarah Palin's latest book is profound, moving, fascinating, and...exciting. She is bold, brilliant, beautiful.; Reply to this comment


by thesevenveils November 12, 2009 10:55 PM EST: When is Sarah (Wailin)Palin going to be on Dr. Phil's show? That'd be one to watch.; Reply to this comment

by justamoment1 November 12, 2009 9:18 PM EST

Sarah Palin is just Sarah ... like her or not. She's not trying to be someone that she isn't and that is probably why so many in the Liberal party fear her. Unlike John Edwards, the scum bag cheater, Unlike Edward Kennedy, the lying cheating coward who left a young woman to die in a lake, Unlike Barney Frank who solicits male prostitutes and tells one lie after another, Unlike Nancy Pelosi who is absolutely insane, and most important, unlike Barack Obama who is so completely fake it's laughable. You may not like Sarah Palin, but at least we know who she really is and she is probably the only politician who was in the last Presidential race that really had the intention of working for the American people, not her party. She is a rarity, she is not a seasoned politician, and she has a lot to learn, but she is genuine and that scares the hell out of the Liberals.

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by dweap November 15, 2009 9:53 PM EST: Ignorance truly is bliss as evidenced by your staunch defense of one of the most over-rated, uninformed, inept egos of our time. As for your anti-Liberal tirade (we'll try to excuse the fact that you included the late Senator in the same breath as you mentioned the the Great Republican Joke), let's not forget some of those icons of Conservatism: Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, John Ensign...the list goes on and on. Oh yea...and the fellow who went missing for several days with his Argentinean mistress...Sarah Palin doesn't scare the hell out of any thinking person...I personally think she's the ideal Presidential candidate for 2012...a slam dunk for Obama! The only thing scary is that people like you idolize her. It really says a great deal about the number of uneducated voters out there...that's scary...


by mjkoonce November 16, 2009 7:15 PM EST: I agree with you justamomement1 - Hatemongers were out to destroy her before they knew Her. Why? Because they say you are un-imformed if you are pro-life. Or you are un-imformed if you are a Conservative period.

dweap.

People like you thought She was over-rated before you knew anything about Her. So, really, who cares what un-imformed judgemental people like you really think? You voted for a man, who NOONE knew. Someone who attended a church for 20 years, and didn't know it was "Anti-American". Chose someone who discards people as it fits them politically. Who obviously has no moral character when it comes to getting in His way for Higher office. Someone when elected President of the greatest Nation on Earth, who for the first time ever representing that office, bows to foreign leaders, then, lies himself out of it, and when put in the position again, bows again, and no excuse. Someone who surrounds Himself with Socialists, and Communists, yet his posse, the liberal press, denies pure facts as if their word is greater than fact. Someone who once said He had visited all "57" States.. Yeah, I am sure you were all over His mistakes.. If you want to talk about Hate.. Talk about your relentless hatred for a good Mother, caring person, and elected leader, who got smeared by 98% of the media because of Her Conservative beliefs.


by johnny991 November 12, 2009 9:03 PM EST: So Palin thinks Oprah was gracious? It must be because Oprah, unlike Katie Couric, didn't ask any rude, unfair questions. You know like "what newspapers or magazines do you read?"; Reply to this comment

by saj210 November 12, 2009 2:42 PM EST

If I were Oprah, I would not have given Palin the time of day! She is a disgrace to women!

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by mjkoonce November 16, 2009 7:22 PM EST: Of course She is right? She's pro-life.. And, any woman who is pro-life, is a disgrace.. Get over it.. You elected a President who thought there were 57 States.. The stupid comments can only go so far..


by Oregon_State_OSU November 12, 2009 2:36 PM EST: And this is NEWS ------ Why.; Reply to this comment

by hockeymom441 November 12, 2009 1:30 PM EST

Oprah's such a sell-out for having this twit on her show!

Palin has called our President a Muslim terrorist and accused him of many terrible things.

Anything for a rating, I guess.

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by endurorob_5 November 12, 2009 2:27 PM EST: She already had Obama on her show how much lower could she go.


by mjkoonce November 16, 2009 7:24 PM EST: Yeah.. Obama only takes credit for things that are going good.. I have yet to see Him take credit for His horrible waste of tax payers money that went to the "Stimulus" bill. Pathetic.. And, He thinks Afghanistan can wait.. But, Healthcare needs to be RUSHED THROUGH NOW? The guy is a moron.. So liberal it's sickening..


by rickwar November 12, 2009 1:22 PM EST: A couple of dim wits. However, this is what we've sunk to in America, celebrties as the informed. Worse still, we hang on every word.

If Oprah says it, it must be true. Righttttttttttt.; Reply to this comment


by endurorob_5 November 12, 2009 1:01 PM EST: actornaught November 12, 2009 12:33 PM EST
by inventagod November 12, 2009 12:14 PM EST

Sarah not only pals around with white supremecists, she had her book written by one. Not that her fans mind...

What makes her co author a white supremecist?; Reply to this comment