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Opinion: Does Palin want to be vice president? You wouldn’t know it from the interviews

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Sarah Palin, John McCain’s freshly anointed running mate, scoffed at the idea of running for vice president in three interviews earlier this year.

Of course, etiquette does call for politicians to be coy about these kinds of things. And in an interview with Vogue in February, the Alaska governor sidestepped the issue this way:

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‘Right now, I’m just so grateful to be serving out this term. Beyond that? Dang, that’s a long time away.’

But in other interviews, Palin didn’t say that she just wouldn’t take the job -- she also admitted that that she didn’t know ‘what exactly that the VP does every day.’

That was what she revealed in an appearance with Larry Kudlow of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co,’ when she was asked about her possible interest in the No. 2 job:

Palin: “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, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.”

Palin also said she would not accept the VP role (or, go ‘to that den of vipers in Washington,’ as the interviewer put it) in an appearance in June with CNN’s Glenn Beck. Here’s the transcript of that portion of the interview which comes in right before the 4-minute mark on video above:

BECK: Have you -- have you considered or have you been talked to or anybody said anything about you running with John McCain?

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PALIN: There’s a lot of rumor and speculation about -- not just me, though, a lot of governors who may be tapped, at least for consideration. There are rumors out there.

BECK: Well, would you -- would you go to -- I hate to ask you this -- would you go to that den of vipers in Washington if you were asked?

PALIN: You know, if I had to make such a decision today, it would be, no, there are a lot that Alaska could be, should be doing to contribute more to the U.S. and I think that I can help do that as governor of the state staying here.

-- Kate Linthicum

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