All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Calling all pachyderms! The Republican Party is looking for a few good men and women.

As Politico reported, there's growing concern among some GOP leaders that controversial commentators and far-right conservatives have hijacked the message.

People like Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin appeal to the base - and you certainly need that base to win elections. But in an age when 42 percent of Americans call themselves Independents - you can't win with just the base, either.

Minority Whip Eric Cantor is calling for more voices in the Republican Party. And Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty says the party needs to be all about addition right now - as the number of declared Republicans hits a 26 year low, according to a poll in the Washington Post.

Before the 2010 midterm elections roll around, Republicans need to get the focus back onto the Big Tent where all are welcome and off the sideshows that are popping up along the party's fringe.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

There aren't a lot of Joe Six-packs out there who can drop six figures on a new wardrobe, so Gov. Sarah Palin's $150,000 shopping spree seems excessive to some people.

You'd think for that kind of coin, you could dress the entire Sisterhood of the Travelling Pantsuit, as Sen. Hillary Clinton calls it.

Just like John Edward's $400 haircut or, if you're really retro, Nancy Reagan's decorator bills, these stories unfortunately always make headlines. I guess they're a lot easier to relate to than complex healthcare policy, although they are nowhere near as important.

There's a way to turn this story into a positive, though. If and when Gov. Palin no longer needs those fancy duds, she could consider donating them to Dress for Success, an organization that outfits needy women for job interviews and helps them transition into the working world.

Whether we're red or blue, women helping women is always in style.

First off, if you missed our VP debate Webcast last night, you can catch it right here.

While that very Webcast was going on, our crack Investigative Unit was already crunching facts to see whether some of the claims made by Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin actually add up. Of course, several claims completely missed the mark. See what producer Laura Strickler found right here.

And tonight on the Evening News, Laura's working on a piece with Correspondent Wyatt Andrews, during which he'll break down even more of the assertions and accusations - and set the record straight with a little help from FactCheck.org. You'll find Wyatt's piece right here at our Reality Check section right after it airs on the Evening News at 6:30.

All eyes tonight are on St. Louis, where the two vice presidential candidates will hold their one and only debate, at Washington University.

Whether it's curiosity about Governor Palin or Senator Biden, 65 percent of voters, in our latest poll, say they are very likely to watch tonight. The audience may be even bigger than for last week's presidential debate.

But before we all get carried away, one cautionary tale: 20 years ago, the vice presidential candidates Lloyd Bensten and Dan Quayle met for one debate. Bensten told Quayle he was no Jack Kennedy, and was widely considered the winner.

The underdog Dukakis campaign couldn't wait for their bump in the polls the next day. And when the results came in, they had gained one point. Their pollster said, people never vote for vice president. Over the next few weeks, we'll learn whether this year makes history, yet again.

Yesterday, Katie spent a lot of the day in Columbus, Ohio, on the campaign trail with Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. At a campaign rally, Palin said: "I do look forward to Thursday night and debating Sen. Joe Biden. We are going to talk about those new ideas, new energy for America. I'm looking forward to meet him too. I've never met him before. But, I've been hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in, like, 2nd grade." And Katie hung out with Palin behind the campaign scenes later in the day. We'll show you more on the Evening News tonight, but first, check out what Katie asked the Republican VP nominee about that very statement.

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Katie Couric: You made a funny comment, you've said you have been listening to Joe Biden's speeches since you were in second grade, something like that.

Sarah Palin: It's been since like '72, yah.

Couric: You have a 72-year-old running mate - is that kind of a risky thing to say, insinuating that Joe Biden's been around a while?

Palin: Oh no, it's nothing negative at all. He's got a lot of experience and just stating the fact there, that we've been hearing his speeches for all these years. So he's got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I'm the new energy, the new face, the new ideas and he's got the experience based on many many years in the Senate. And voters are gonna have a choice there of what it is that they want in these next four years.

Watch the clip here:

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Earlier today, Katie asked Alaska Gov. and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin if she's really ready for prime-time. You'll see more of Katie's interview - the first ever with both of the Republican candidates - tonight on the CBS Evening News at 6:30 p.m. EST.

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Katie Couric: Gov. Palin, since our last interview, you've gotten a lot of flak. Some Republicans have said you're not prepared; you're not ready for prime-time. People have questioned your readiness since that interview. And I'm curious …

Sarah Palin: Yeah.

Couric: … to hear your reaction.

Palin: Well, not only am I ready but willing and able to serve as vice-president with Sen. McCain if Americans so bless us and privilege us with the opportunity of serving them, ready with my executive experience as a city mayor and manager, as a governor, as a commissioner, a regulator of oil and gas.

Last night, we showed you what Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin had to say about the economy (in case you missed it, she said we're at some risk of repeating the Great Depression). Tonight, we'll show you what Katie asked her about foreign policy - and where Palin said she stands. First, a little taste of what's to come. (Just click through for the video.)

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Katie Couric: You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?

Sarah Palin: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and, on our other side, the land-boundry that we have with Canada. It's funny that a comment like that was kinda made to … I don't know, you know … reporters.

Couric: Mocked?

Palin: Mocked, yeah I guess that's the word, mocked.

Couric: Well, explain to me why that enhances your foreign-policy credentials.

Palin: Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of. And there …

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This morning, Katie sat down with Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin in New York. In the exclusive interview, Katie asked her a wide range of questions on foreign policy and the current economic situation. You can read the full transcript right here, or check out some highlights below.

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Sarah Palin: The interesting thing in the last couple of days that I have seen is that Americans are waiting to see what John McCain will do on this proposal. They’re not waiting to see what Barack Obama is going to do. Is he going to do this and see what way the political wind’s blowing. They’re waiting to see if John McCain will be able to see these amendments implemented in Paulson’s proposal.

Katie Couric: If this doesn't pass, do you think there's a risk of another Great Depression?

Palin: Unfortunately, that is the road that America may find itself on. Not necessarily this, as it's been proposed, has to pass or we're gonna find ourselves in another Great Depression. But there has to be action taken, bipartisan effort – Congress not pointing fingers at this point at … one another, but finding the solution to this, taking action and being serious about the reforms on Wall Street that are needed.

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There's been a heated debate swirling on the blogs about Gov. Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account, and whether she may have conducted official state business there. The question certainly raises eyebrows, but the FBI is now focused on another incident involving her personal e-mail.

On Tuesday, an anonymous person or persons hacked into Gov. Palin's account, changed the password, and proceeded to forward her personal information around the Internet. That included private photos of her kids that ended up on websites such as Gawker and Wikileaks.

Sarah Palin is a public figure, but she has the right to privacy and so does her family. The scary lesson here is how easy it is to invade that privacy online, and the damage that can be caused by just a few mouse clicks.

If she used her personal account for the wrong reasons, it's up to the authorities to investigate it – not hackers.