NEW YORK: Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has began a diplomatic marathon in New York in an effort to bolster her foreign policy credentials ahead of the Nov. 4 presidential election.
Palin — who did not get her first passport until 2007 and had never met a foreign head of state — held brief separate meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
Ever since Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose Palin, 44, as his running mate, the Alaska governor has been criticized for having virtually no foreign policy experience.
At first the McCain campaign said it would only allow photographers and a TV crew into the meetings, but relented and let in a pool reporter from CNN into the Karzai event after some television networks threatened to not cover Palin’s first steps on the world stage.
Palin spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt later attributed the ban on print reporters at the Karzai meeting as a staff “mix-up.” Palin and Karzai’s conversation began with talk about their children. Hamby reported that Karzai spoke of the birth of his first child last year.
“What is his name?” asked Palin. “Mirwais,” replied Karzai, adding, “which means ‘The Light of the House.’” “Oh nice,” Palin responded.
Palin’s relations with the media have been strained — after four weeks of campaigning Palin has granted just two interviews, and held no press conferences.
Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, told Fox News in early September that Palin will not take questions from reporters “until the point in time when she’ll be treated with respect and deference.”
