Sarah Palin on Global Warming, Evolution, and Abortion

X Facebook Email Flipboard Pinterest Print Reddit

Last updated on August 11th, 2014 at 12:00 am

Sarah Palin was back on the CBS Evening News with Kate Couric tonight, and she ducked, dodged, and gave half answers to questions about abortion, global warming, the environment and even what newspapers and magazines she reads to stay up on current events.

Here is the exchange between Palin and Couric over what newspapers and magazines she reads:

Palin: I’ve read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media.

Couric: What, specifically?

Palin: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.

Couric: Can you name a few?

Palin: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too. Alaska isn’t a foreign country, where it’s kind of suggested, “wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?” Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.

Palin was equally elusive on abortion and the morning after pill. She refused to say if she thinks it should be illegal for a rape victim to have an abortion, “I’m saying that, personally, I would counsel the person to choose life, despite horrific, horrific circumstances that this person would find themselves in. And, um, if you’re asking, though, kind of foundationally here, should anyone end up in jail for having an … abortion, absolutely not. That’s nothing I would ever support.” In terms of tshe morning after pill, Palin refused to answer, and only said that it was a form of contraception that she would not choose to use.

Like most Christian fundamentalist conservatives, Palin seems to believe that evolution is a principle, not a fact, “Oh, I think it should be taught as an accepted principle. And, as you know, I say that also as the daughter of a school teacher, a science teacher, who has really instilled in me a respect for science. It should be taught in our schools. And I won’t deny that I see the hand of God in this beautiful creation that is Earth. But that is not part of the state policy or a local curriculum in a school district. Science should be taught it science class.”

She also refused to say that global warming was completely man made, and gave the cyclical weather patterns answer, “You know there are – there are man’s activities that can be contributed to the issues that we’re dealing with now, these impacts. I’m not going to solely blame all of man’s activities on changes in climate. Because the world’s weather patterns are cyclical. And over history we have seen change there. But kind of doesn’t matter at this point, as we debate what caused it. The point is: it’s real; we need to do something about it.”

This interview represented some progress for Palin, because when she did answer a question she expressed watered down versions of her views. It seems that the McCain campaign is trying to moderate her views, because she appears to be a garden variety social conservative in the mold of George W. Bush. This nothing maverick in her answers, just a whole lot of the same views on the issues that we have been hearing from the current White House for eight years. Palin still dodged too many questions, and is running off of her script too often. The reality is that the more America hears from Sarah Palin, the more she sounds like more of the same.

Full Transcript of Palin Interview

Author
Recent Posts

Follow Me

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

Follow Me