Below The Beltway

The first two parts of Charlie Gibson’s interview with GOP Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin concentrated on foreign policy and global warming:

In the day’s first interview, Palin hewed closely to the McCain talking points, mirroring the presidential nominee’s positions on foreign policy and national security.

In the day’s second interview, when it came to the discussion of energy policy, turf the Alaska governor is far more comfortable discussing, many of the differences between she and McCain were exposed. McCain has said he believes humans are responsible for climate change and that the government should not allow drilling in ANWR, positions opposite to those of his running mate.

It’s the foreign policy segment of the interview, though, that is likely to generate the most commentary:

When asked if Georgia joined NATO, whether the United States should go to war if the country was again invaded by Russia, Palin responded: “Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help.”

“And we’ve got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable,” she said.

While this is an correct interpretation of the NATO treaty, it ignores the more fundamental question of whether America’s defense umbrella should in fact be extended into the Caucuses to the point where an attack on Georgia would be treated as an attack on the United States.

In another part of the interview, Palin seemed to not be aware of what the Bush Doctrine actually is:

Though seemingly flummoxed by the term, Palin agreed in principle to the “Bush doctrine,” or the idea that the United States has the right to preemptively strike another country before first being attacked.

“Charlie, if there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend.

Here’s the video of that exchange:

To be honest, Palin probably deserves a pass on this simply because the Bush Administration itself has never been clear about what it’s position on pre-emptive war actually is, to the point where even the Republican candidate for Vice-President isn’t sure.

Palin also addressed the issue of her qualifications:

Palin said she knew immediately that she was prepared to run as vice president when McCain offered her the job. It is a core of shared values and drive that makes them a good team, she said.

“I answered [McCain] ‘yes,’ because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink.”

“I thought yes right off the bat. … When he offered me the position as his running mate, the first thing I said to him was, ‘Do you really think that I could help the ticket? Do you really think that I could help this country? Absolutely, I want to do this with you.’”

All in all, it seems that Palin has done well so far but this is only the beginning of the media scrutiny she will have to go through.