Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Thursday told Republicans to put last week’s election losses behind them, arguing her ticket lost the presidential race not because of any campaign failures but because “it was not our time. It was not our moment.”
“As far as we’re concerned, the past is the past. It’s behind us,” Mrs. Palin, who was John McCain’s vice presidential nominee, told reporters at a press conference in Miami.
She also gave a speech to fellow Republican governors, who are meeting in Miami, telling them they are now the backbone of a Republican resurgence.
“We want America to be able to trust their federal government again. And here I think the public’s going to be looking to Republican governors to show them the way,” she said.
She praised President-elect Barack Obama and told Republicans to reach out to him to try to convince him of the benefits of low taxes and allowing local government to experiment.
“If he governs with the skill and the grace and the greatness of which he is capable, we’re going to be just fine,” she said.
She called for Republicans to lead on ethics, saying the party must “end the corruption and abuse once and for all.”
The senior senator from her state, Sen. Ted Stevens, a fellow Republican, has been convicted in federal court on charges of failing to report gifts he received. He is seeking re-election and ballots are still being counted in that race.
If he wins, fellow senators have indicated they will try to expel him, probably some time next year — which means governor Mrs. Palin would choose his successor. She has suggested she might be open to filling the seat herself.
She called the election loss “a hard and honorable defeat,” but found humor in it as well, joking that since the Republican governors last gathered she’d “managed to fill up the time.”
“I had a baby. I did some traveling. I very briefly expanded my wardrobe. I made a few speeches, met a few VIPs, including those who really impact society, like Tina Fey. Aside from that, it was pretty much same old, same old since we last gathered,” she quipped.
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