Even as little girl, I was very interested in current events, government, and U.S. history. My dad was an elementary school teacher so we talked a lot about current events, which built my interest--not so much in politics--but in what was happening in the world.

I am pleased to see Senator Obama acknowledge the huge potential Alaska’s natural gas reserves represent in terms of clean energy and sound jobs.

I have a 19 year old who's getting ready to be deployed to Iraq. His striker brigade leaves on September 11 of this year. He's 19 and he'll be gone for a year. [And so] on a personal level, when I talk about the plan for the war, let's make sure we have a plan here.

The GOP needs to live the planks of its platform, not just offer lip service.

I'm the first female governor in Alaska, so that's brought with it kind of a whole new chapter in Alaska's life. Like my husband — up here they refer to him as the "first dude," not the first gentleman. And Todd... And he is such a dude. He's a four-time winner of the Iron Dog snow machine race, which is the the world's longest and they say toughest snow machine race, 2,000 miles across Alaska. A whole new chapter here when Todd is asked to do things like — and he graciously complies and he has a good time doing it — hosting, as he did a couple of weeks ago down in Juneau, our capital city, the former first ladies tea party.

Usually yes, such a red state up here. It’s a no-brainer that the “R” is going to take the cake up here. But this is a little bit different situation now with Obama’s message resonating, even with Alaskans. That being change, a desire for no embracing of the status quo and politics as usual. But something different, something dynamic and charismatic. That does resonate well, that message of Obama’s.

As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position.

In 1998, [Alaskan] voters defined marriage in a traditional way, as between a man and a woman, and I think most people believed that inherent in that vote was that benefits presently supplied to couples would be exclusively supplied to married couples.

As for vice president, it would be certainly an exciting thing to consider, but to me it's so farfetched and out there that I don't spend any time thinking about it because we have so many things to do in Alaska.

[Ron Paul] ... he's cool. He's a good guy. He's so independent. He's independent of, like, party machine, and I'm like "right on!", you know, so am I. The party machinery, on both sides of the party, you know, I mean, American's are tiring of the obsessed partisanship that gets in the way of just doing the right thing for this country.

Alaskans are frustrated because there is opposition in Congress to developing our vast amount of natural resources. We want to contribute more to the rest of the United States. We want to help secure the United States, and help us get off this reliance of foreign sources of energy. It's a very nonsensical position we're in right now. We send President Bush and Secretary Bodman overseas to ask the Saudis to ramp up production of crude oil so that hungry markets in America can be fed, your sister state in Alaska has those resources. But these lands are locked up by Congress, and we are not allowed to drill to the degree America needs the development.

I am pro-life and I believe that marriage should only be between and man and a woman.

What's more of a challenge for me over the years being in elected office has been more the age issue rather than a gender issue. I've totally ignored the issues that have potentially been affecting me when it comes to gender because I was raised in a family where, you know, gender wasn't going to be an issue. The girls did what the boys did.... But the age issue I think was more significant in my career than the gender issue. Your resume not being as fat as your opponent's in a race, perhaps [but] being able to capitalize on that... being able to to use that in campaigns — I don't have 30 years of political experience under my belt ... that's a good thing, that's a healthy thing. That means my perspective is fresher, more in touch with the people I will be serving.

You’re absolutely right on the cleansing that’s needed in our party, in the Republican Party.

Feeling safe in our communities is something we cannot accept any compromise on. This includes policing in all its forms, the court system, prosecutors and corrections. If the legislature passed a death penalty law, I would sign it. We have a right to know that someone who rapes and murders a child or kills an innocent person in a drive by shooting will never be able to do that again.

I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place; I want assurances that we are doing all we can to keep our troops safe. Every life lost is such a tragedy.

Because I have both boys and girls I have a greater respect for equality and making sure that gender is not an issue and that everyone is treated equally.

In the past, Alaska's reputation didn't lead the rest of America to believe we were adamant about safe, clean, responsible development here. I say that because we had legislators who are now serving prison time because they were found guilty of being corrupted for their votes on oil and gas taxes by oil and gas industry players. That reputation has really hurt Alaska, and it's no wonder that some have not wanted to believe that we are opening a new chapter in Alaska's life.

My son being in a striker brigade in the army has really opened my eyes to international events, and how war impacts everyday Americans like us when we have a child who chooses to enlist and to serve [for] the right reasons. Certainly a child born with Down Syndrome has opened my eyes too to challenges that others have. Every American has a challenge. Every American has battles and bumps in the road in their lives. It's just really opened my eyes to a larger world than maybe what I had been used to.

A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.

I support flexibility in government regulations that allow competition in health care that is needed, and is proven to be good for the consumer, which will drive down health care costs and reduce the need for government subsidies. I also support patients in their rightful demands to have access to full medical billing information.

I want people to remember me as having always conducted the state's business in an upright and honest manner. I want them to understand that I put Alaska first in every decision I made.