NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2008
Palin Meets World Leaders In NYC
Republican VP Candidate Gets A Tightly Controlled Crash Course On Foreign Policy
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Play CBS Video Video Bush, Palin At The U.N. The U.S. economic crisis has overshadowed President Bush's final visit to the U.N. Also, GOP vice presidential nominee, Gov. Sarah Palin, will meet with world leaders, reports Bill Plante.
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Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, left, meets Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008, in New York. (AP)
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Timeline Palin's Path A look at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's life and career
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Interactive United Nations For more than 60 years, the United Nations has struggled to forge peace, end poverty and heal the world.
It was a tightly controlled crash course on foreign policy for the Republican vice presidential candidate, the mayor-turned-governor who has been outside North America just once.
Palin sat down with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The conversation was private, the pictures public, meant to pad her resume for voters concerned about her lack of experience in world affairs.
The self-described "hockey mom" also asked former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for insights on Georgia, Russia, China and Iran, and she'll see more leaders Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings.
It was shuttle diplomacy, New York-style. At several points, Palin's motorcade got stuck in traffic and New Yorkers, unimpressed with the flashing lights, sirens and police officers in her group, simply walked between the vehicles to get across the street. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, three hours behind Palin in seeing Karzai, found herself overshadowed for a day as she made her own rounds.
John McCain's presidential campaign has shielded the first-term Alaska governor for weeks from spontaneous questions from voters and reporters, and went to striking lengths Tuesday to maintain that distance as Palin made her diplomatic debut.
The GOP campaign, applying more restrictive rules on access than even President Bush uses in the White House, banned reporters from the start of the meetings, so as not to risk a question being asked of Palin.
McCain aides relented after news organizations objected and CNN, which was supplying TV footage to a variety of networks, decided to pull its TV crew from Palin's meeting with Karzai.
Overheard: small talk.
Palin is studying foreign policy ahead of her one debate with Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, a senator with deep credentials on that front. More broadly, the Republican ticket is trying to counter questions exploited by Democrats about her qualifications to serve as vice president and step into the presidency at a moment's notice if necessary.
There was no chance of putting such questions to rest with photo opportunities Tuesday.
But Palin, who got a passport only last year, no longer has to own up to a blank slate when asked about heads of state she has met.
She also got her first intelligence briefing Tuesday, over two hours.
Randy Scheunemann, a longtime McCain aide on foreign policy, was close at hand during the sessions. Another adviser, Stephen Biegun, also accompanied her at each meeting and briefed reporters later in the day.
Karzai and Palin discussed some of the security challenges that still remain in Afghanistan, including cross-border insurgencies. They also talked about the need for more U.S. troops there, which both McCain and Democrat Barack Obama say is necessary, Biegun said.
With both Karzai and Uribe, Palin discussed the importance of energy security. With Uribe, the conversation also touched on the proposed U.S.-Colombian Free Trade Agreement that McCain and Palin support but Obama opposes.
Her meeting with Kissinger, which lasted more than an hour, covered a range of national security and foreign policy issues, specifically Russia, Iran and China, Biegun said.
"Gov. Palin, in these meetings, is cognizant that she is a candidate for office, that she's not, that there is a president of the United States and she is in the middle of a campaign for president of the United States," Biegun said. "So rather than make specific policy prescriptions, she was largely listening, having an exchange of views and also very interested in forming a relationship with people she met with today."
Before Palin's first meeting of the day, with Karzai, campaign aides had told reporters in the press pool that followed her they could not go into meetings where photographers and a video camera crew would be let in for pictures.
Mr. Bush and members of Congress routinely allow reporters to attend photo opportunities along with photographers, and the reporters sometimes are able to ask questions at the beginning of private meetings before they are ushered out.
At least two news organizations, including AP, objected to the exclusion of reporters and were told that the decision to have a "photo spray" only was not subject to discussion. After aides backed away from that, campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said the reporter ban was a "miscommunication."
On Wednesday, McCain and Palin are expected to meet jointly with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko. Palin is then to meet separately with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Palin, 44, has been to neighboring Canada and to Mexico, and made a brief trip to Kuwait and Germany to see Alaska National Guard troops.
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The secrets of tennis legend 
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See all 602 CommentsTHE BIRTH OF SARAH PALIN, AND MISSION OF JOHN MCBUSH
Palin has one purpose, only-- to distract everybody from John McCain. If Palin may seem a plastic Barbie doll with no understanding of government, but a striking talent for spawning controversy, that is precisely her value to McCain.
In fact, the more agitated people become about Palin as political ingenue, the more McCain is spared further attention to his own deficiencies and contradictions as a candidate.
After all, distraction is a classic Karl Rove defense, used in 2004 to deflect attention from Bush and his Texas ANG scandal. When the press finished debating Swift Boat lies about Kerry, there was no time left for the truth about Bush and issues of national policy.
(See "The Birth of Sarah Palin, and Mission of John McBush"--2)
THE BIRTH OF SARAH PALIN, AND MISSION OF JOHN MCBUSH--2
Likewise, while Palin made her press debut, no one noticed that John McCain simply vanished. McCain finally had become "McBush". Back in February-- his campaign moribund, out of financial backing and low in the polls-- McCain nearly gave up his bid for the presidency, and one he knew, at 71, would be his last.
In a Faustian moment of temptation, as he watched his ambition slipping away, McCain abruptly sold his soul to the Bush wing of the GOP. This was the faction which, in 2000, had stolen his chance at the presidency with a storm of racist propaganda, and McCain nursed an understandable grudge.
Although McCain''s appeal to Bush must have been a bitter blow to his pride, McCain knew Bush needed a proxy for 2008 after Guiliani and Romney ingloriously flamed out. Although personal tensions persisted, McCain had high expectations of a deal in-the-making.
(See "The Birth of Sarah Palin, and Mission of John McBush"-- 3)
Desperation carried the day for both McCain and Bush. McCain immediately got the Bush seal of approval-- and more. Instantly, Llmbaugh was gagged, along with the entire anti-chorus of CPAC protest. Fox News took a new look at McBush, and its swirl of emotionally-loaded commentary suddenly sweetened.
All-important financial backing appeared, opening a torrent of contributions from the very industries McBush once considered part of the problem with American campaign finance. In June, McBush got a single check for $1.2 million from grateful oil ondustry representatives.
But when McCain became McBush, he dropped his advocacy of a number of salient issues. The reformer of campaign finance no longer campaigns for stronger control of soft PAC money and lobbies.
The outspoken opponent of torture now regards waterboarding as acceptable. The advocate of alternative energy no longer opposes offshore drilling or supports a strong program of incentives for energy alternatives to oil.
All, and so much more, the sorrow and the pity of John McCain.
John McBush, the Manchurian Candidate for George Bush.
Just smile, wave, and pose.
Posted by MANDALAY-BAY
So eloquently put. I don''t understand how anybody can even compare Sarah with Obama. Go Obama/Biden!!
Posted by lValerius at 01:34 PM
Actually you are the one who is uninformed and look stupid. How many people voted for Palin during the primary season? Not one. Obama on the other hand, competed against some of the most seasoned DEM presidential candidates. He had to campaign against them, sit down for interviews with the press, and even debate them. In the end, almost 18 million people voted for him. Palin was selected my McSame and not the American people. Use a little forethought as it is not harmful like Rush tries to get you to believe.
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Posted by BigMJ9 at 02:19 PM : Sep 24, 2008
It has nothing to do with her being a woman. She is clueless. That''s the problem and it is an insult to womens intelligence all across the US to think they would vote for this wack job just because she has a *** like they do.
She''s a disgrace of the Women''s Movement, she wants to take away 100 years of fighting for women''s rights, and kick us back to the Stone Age.
How can American women be so stupid, as to conceive this woman could represent the rights of all women.
Sarah Palin is a "throw-back" of preindustrialization, I can''t for the life of me figure out the attraction to this moron.
She''s an idiot!!!!
If you don''''t like Palin''''s positions then argue that, but to attack her experience while supporting Obama make you look completely foolish.
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Posted by lValerius at 01:34 PM : Sep 24, 2008
Obama had 18+ million of the american people and even more now that say not only is he ready to be president but we WANT him to be president. He even took on and beat the Clinton Machine. Palin was picked out of the blue by ONE GUY to possibly rule this country and she is DANGEROUSLY underqualified and I think John McCain is PLAYING with the welfare of the american people with this pandering to women and joke of a VP pick. So don''t even try to compare Obama to this lady.
It should scare the HELLLLLLLLLLL out of Americans, if, God forbid, she has to fill in as president.
This woman is an idiot, say what you want to about Senator Obama, inexperience, followed Rev. Wright for 20 years, etc., he still doesn''t scare the HELLLLLLLLLLLLLL OUT OF ME
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Posted by BigMJ9 at 12:34 PM : Sep 24, 2008
Why? because this country is in horrible shape right now and the republicans have put this woman up here who is obviously clueless like the welfare of this country is some kind of a joke. Do you realize that if McCain is elected and his health fails this woman could be our president? And she can''t even answer question without it being scripted. This is seriously scary.
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Posted by HugoChavez9 at 01:23 PM : Sep 24, 2008
She''s hiding the fact that she doesn''t know ANYTHING.
what she doesn''t realize is anyone with half a brain already knows that and this "meeting with world leaders" was a joke where the press was let in for 29 seconds....LOL gimme a break....
If you don''t like Palin''s positions then argue that, but to attack her experience while supporting Obama make you look completely foolish.
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