They Call Her Sarahcuda, Then They Give Her Nice Soft Pillows and Some Tea

The relaunch of brand Sarah Palin (TM) begins with a no-holds-barred interview with Hugh Hewitt. Says Jim Geraghty, "This is the Sarah Palin who had gotten conservatives fired up like little else a month ago."

How'd Hewitt find her? Here were his questions.

Governor, your candidacy has ignited extreme hostility, even some hatred on the left and in some parts of the media. Are you surprised? And what do you attribute this reaction to?

Governor, the Gibson and the Couric interview struck many as sort of pop quizzes designed to embarrass you as opposed to interviews. Do you share that opinion?

Have you followed the attacks on you, say, via Drudge or the blogs? Some of them are just made up and out of left field, others are just mocking. Do you follow those?

Governor, you mentioned the people who are struggling right now. Have you and your husband, Todd, ever faced tough economic times where you had to sit around a kitchen table and make tough choices?

Governor, when you say things are tight right now, is that simply because of Todd being off not working? Or is it because of extraordinary demands on the fiscal resources of the Palin family? What's the situation there?

Governor, let's turn to a couple of issues that the MSM's not going to pick up. You're pro-life, and how much of the virulent opposition to you on the left do you attribute to your pro-life position, and maybe even to the birth of, your decision, your and Todd's decision to have Trig?

Do you think the mainstream media and the left understands your religious faith, Governor Palin?

Governor, let's close with some foreign affairs. It is reported that you had an Israeli flag in your governor's office. You wore an Israeli flag pin occasionally. One, is that true? And two, why your support for Israel?

Have you and Todd heard from your son? And how is it on your nerves having your son deployed?

So, all Palin needs to score a Thursday knockout is for Gwen Ifill to ask questions like that. Let's go and check how she opened the 2004 debates.

Vice President Cheney, there have been new developments in Iraq, especially having to do with the administration's handling.

Paul Bremer, the former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, gave a speech in which he said that we have never had enough troops on the ground, or we've never had enough troops on the ground.

Donald Rumsfeld said he has not seen any hard evidence of a link between Al Qaida and Saddam Hussein. Was this approved—of a report that you requested that you received a week ago that showed there was no connection between Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Saddam Hussein?

If you want to start your watch, it's 49 and a half hours before Gwen Ifill is accused of sexism and bias against moose-hunters.