An interview Gov. Sarah Palin did Thursday is causing a stir.

(CNN) — It’s the ultimate holiday photo-op for any governor: the yearly pardoning of a turkey to spare it from demise days before Thanksgiving.

But former Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin is causing a stir for an interview she gave after pardoning an Alaska turkey Thursday, during which one bird was being slaughtered in the background.

Palin appeared unaware of what was going on directly behind her, though she did seem to take a glance at the unfortunate event at one particular point during the interview.

"It's nice to support a local business and just participate in something that isn't so heavy handed politics that invites criticism," Palin said during the interview. "Certainly will probably invite criticism for even doing this too, but at least it was fun."

"I am always in charge of the turkey so I am where I need to be today to prepare for that," she also said.

Palin thanked Ted Stevens for his service to Alaska.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is congratulating Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich on winning his Senate race against veteran lawmaker Ted Stevens.

“I extend my congratulations to Mark Begich and his family,” Palin said in a statement released by her office Wednesday. “This is a new era for Alaska and I look forward to working with Mark on the many issues that are important to our state. I am confident he will add a compelling new voice to the U.S. Senate.”

"I also thank Senator Ted Stevens for his 40 years of dedicated service to Alaska,” the statement said. “His tireless efforts on behalf of the state he loves have benefited all those who call it home. Todd and I join all Alaskans in gratitude to Sen. Stevens."

Palin wasn’t always so effusive toward Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the Senate. During her vice presidential bid, after Stevens was indicted on seven felony counts, she would not say whether she planned to vote for the senator in his re-election bid.

In October, after Stevens was found guilty of making false statements on his financial disclosure reports, Palin initially said it was “a sad day” for Alaska but did not call for the senator to step down. The next day, in a television appearance with John McCain, Palin went a step further and said Stevens should indeed resign.

On Election Day in her hometown of Wasilla, Palin refused to say if she voted for Stevens.

“I am also exercising my right to privacy, and I don't have to tell anybody who I vote for, nobody does, and that’s really cool about America also,” she told a reporter.

Some GOP governors weren't happy with how Palin's press conference unfolded. (Getty Images)

MIAMI (CNN) — Some Republican governors tell CNN they were not particularly happy with the way the Republican Governors Association press conference was executed Thursday, saying that they agreed to go as a show of GOP governors’ unity — but they ended up feeling like silent Palin supporters, since it was clearly a press conference called for her.

The GOP governors spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity.

One called it awkward: “I’m sure you could see it on some of our faces.”

Another Republican governor eyeing a presidential run in 2012 told CNN the event was “odd” and “weird,” and said it “unfortunately sent a message that she was the de facto leader of the party."

There has been palpable tension among some GOP governors gathered in Miami that Palin has been sucking up all the media oxygen.

In an interview with CNN, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour shrugged off that suggestion.

"That's just somebody running down a rabbit trail. There's plenty of oxygen here,” he said.

Palin's pres conference was changed at the last minute.

MIAMI (CNN) – Two hours before Thursday morning’s press conference at the Republican Governors Association — her first since the Republican presidential ticket lost last week — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was still scheduled to appear alone. Instead, she spoke with a row of fellow governors standing silently behind her.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour told CNN producer Evan Glass that they all met at 9 a.m. — an hour-and-a-half before the press conference’s scheduled start time — and by then it had been "decided" that they'd all go out together.

An RGA official told CNN the reason for the change is a "long story."

He said that when the governors were all at their private morning meeting, someone brought up the desire to get beyond what happened in the McCain campaign and look towards 2009 and 2010.

Then, this source said, Palin piped up and said she agreed that she didn't want to talk about the past.

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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is in Florida Thursday for annual conference of the Republican Governors Association.

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin sharply questioned the changing federal economic bailout plan Thursday during her first extended remarks since the end of the presidential campaign.

Addressing fellow GOP governors and party leaders at the annual Republican Governors Association convention in Miami, Palin criticized the growing list of industries and other entities seeking federal assistance.

"We're hearing now more talk of additional taxpayer bailouts … for companies, for corporations, perhaps even states now who may be standing in line with their hands out despite, perhaps, some poor management decisions on their part that helped tank our economy," she said.

"Republicans can help shore (these sectors of the economy) up without getting any more addicted to opium, other people's money," she argued. "We need to have a rational discussion. What and when is enough enough?"

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Gov. Sarah Palin says she will support President-elect Barack Obama and his new administration.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Wednesday she does not regret her interview with Katie Couric of CBS and wishes she had been more available to the media during the campaign.

"I should have done it, yes. And her questions were fair," Palin told CNN's Larry King Wednesday. "Obviously being a bit annoyed with some of the questions, my annoyance shows through."

Palin had some well-publicized fumbles during interviews with Couric in late September leading up to her vice presidential debate.

"Certainly I should have done the interview. And to attribute I think that interview to any kind of negativity in the campaign or a downfall in the campaign, I think it's ridiculous."

Palin added she wished she talked more to the media.

"In retrospect, in hindsight, I wish I would had more opportunities or that we would have seized more opportunities to speak more," Palin said.

Full story

Wolf Blitzer sat down with Gov. Palin Wednesday in Florida. Watch the interview on Situation Room.

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Wednesday she would be honored to help out President-elect Barack Obama in his new administration, even if he did hang around with an "unrepentant domestic terrorist."

Watch: I will help Obama, says Palin

The Alaska governor said in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer that if Obama asked her for help on some of the issues she highlighted during this year's campaign, such as energy or services for special-needs children, "It would be my honor to assist and support our new president and the new administration."

"And I speak for other Republicans and Republican governors, also," said Palin, whom Sen. John McCain tapped as his running mate in August. "They would be willing also to seize this opportunity that we have to progress this nation together, in a united front."

But asked moments later about some of the tough rhetoric she hurled from the stump, she said she was "still concerned" about Obama's ties to former Weather Underground member-turned-Chicago college professor William Ayers.

"If anybody still wants to talk about it, I will," she said. "Because this is an unrepentant domestic terrorist who had campaigned to blow up, to destroy our Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol.

"That's an association that still bothers me, and I think it's fair to still talk about it," she continued. "However the campaign is over. That chapter is closed. Now is the time to move on and make sure all of us are doing all that we can to progress this nation."

Palin was attending the annual Republican Governors Association convention in Miami, Florida. She was interviewed for CNN's "The Situation Room" — the latest of several high-profile appearances for the ex-VP candidate — and will also appear Wednesday night on CNN's "Larry King Live."

If Sarah Palin runs for the White House in 2012, history suggests her chances of success are not good.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – If Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin decides to run for the White House in 2012, she'll be bucking history.

Just eight days after Senator John McCain and Palin lost the election to Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden, speculation is swirling around a possible Palin run for the top spot in four years.

But a look back at recent history shows that the track record of vice presidential running mates on the losing ticket who ran for their party's presidential nomination in the next election cycle is not a promising one.

Four years ago, John Edwards was in much the same situation Palin finds herself in right now. Edwards was John Kerry's running mate on the losing ticket in 2004, and officially launched his presidential bid in this campaign in December of 2006 — only to come in second in the Iowa caucuses this January, followed by a third place finish the following week in the New Hampshire primary. The former North Carolina senator withdrew from the race for the White House on January 30.

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New polls suggest just under half the American public have an unfavorable opinion of Palin.

(CNN) — Just a week after this year’s presidential election, 2012 buzz may already be swirling around Sarah Palin – but a new national poll suggests just under half the American public holds a favorable opinion of the Alaska governor, with nearly as many viewing her unfavorably.

Forty-nine percent of those questioned in the survey released Wednesday have a favorable opinion of the woman John McCain picked as his running mate. Forty-three percent view her unfavorably.

And perceptions of Palin seem to be dropping.

"In early September, just after the GOP convention, her favorable rating among registered voters was 57 percent, and only a quarter of all registered voters had an unfavorable view of her," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. Now, Palin is less popular than vice president-elect Joe Biden, with a 64 percent favorable rating, or ticket-mate John McCain, who is seen favorably by 61 percent of the public

The poll also suggests that men may have a slightly more positive view of Palin than women, with 51 percent of males viewing her favorably, compared to 48 percent of female respondents. Forty-one percent of males questioned in the survey have an unfavorable opinion of Palin, as do 44 percent of women.

"With fairly high negatives and lower support among women, who should be a natural constituency for Palin, she's not starting off from a position of strength," says Holland. "The question is no longer whether Palin was a drag on the McCain ticket, but whether her unfavorables could be a drag on a future Palin ticket."

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Palin is considering a presidential bid over her own.

(CNN) — As Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin heads to Florida to attend the Republican Governors Association annual conference in Miami, she says she'd consider a run for the White House in 2012 or beyond.

Less than one week after the victory by Barack Obama and Joe Biden over the GOP ticket in the presidential election, John McCain's running mate is speaking out about her political future in national politics.

"Don't let me miss the open door. Show me where the open door is and even if it's cracked up a little bit, maybe I'll just plow right on through that and maybe prematurely plow through it, but don't let me miss an open door. And if there is an open door in '12 or four years later, and if it is something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I'll plow through that door," Palin said in an interview with Fox News Monday.

Palin will be with her fellow Republican governors on Wednesday and Thursday as they meet in Miami. In the crowd will be other possible contenders for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Palin also sits down Wednesday for a one on one interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Tune into the Situation Room, starting at 4 pm ET Wednesday to see Wolf's candid conversation with Palin.

Palin told Alaska reporters the Republican ticket could not overcome the headwinds.

(CNN) – Sarah Palin told local reporters in Alaska that unhappiness with the Bush administration’s Iraq war policy and spending record were responsible for the GOP ticket’s defeat this year.

“I think the Republican ticket represented too much of the status quo, too much of what had gone on in these last eight years, that Americans were kind of shaking their heads like going, wait a minute, how did we run up a $10 trillion debt in a Republican administration?” Palin told the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska’s KTUU Channel 2.

“How have there been blunders with war strategy under a Republican administration? If we're talking change, we want to get far away from what it was that the present administration represented and that is to a great degree what the Republican Party at the time had been representing. So people desiring change I think went as far from the administration that is presently seated as they could. It's amazing that we did as well as we did.”

Watch: Actions Obama may take to reverse key Bush policies

Palin returned to Alaska last week amid growing speculation about her political future. The Alaska governor is slated to attend the Republican Governors Association’s meeting in Miami this week.

Palin told Alaska reporters the Republican ticket could not overcome the headwinds.

(CNN) – Sarah Palin told local reporters in Alaska that unhappiness with the Bush administration’s Iraq war policy and spending record were responsible for the GOP ticket’s defeat this year.

“I think the Republican ticket represented too much of the status quo, too much of what had gone on in these last eight years, that Americans were kind of shaking their heads like going, wait a minute, how did we run up a $10 trillion debt in a Republican administration?” Palin told the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska’s KTUU Channel 2.

“How have there been blunders with war strategy under a Republican administration? If we're talking change, we want to get far away from what it was that the present administration represented and that is to a great degree what the Republican Party at the time had been representing. So people desiring change I think went as far from the administration that is presently seated as they could. It's amazing that we did as well as we did.”

Watch: Actions Obama may take to reverse key Bush policies

Palin returned to Alaska last week amid growing speculation about her political future. The Alaska governor is slated to attend the Republican Governors Association’s meeting in Miami this week.

Palin takes your questions Wednesday on CNN.

(CNN) — Wolf Blitzer interviews Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin Wednesday in The Situation Room, and you can be a part of it.

If you've for any questions for the former Republican vice presidential candidate, CNN is giving you the chance to ask them.

Fire up your camera and upload your video question for Palin here.

Watch Palin take your questions this Wednesday in The Situation Room.

Palin has been the target of tough leaks from some former McCain staffers.

(CNN) – The war of words between supporters of each half of the Republican presidential ticket escalated Thursday, as a spokeswoman for Sarah Palin called charges circulated by former campaign aides to John McCain ‘sickening,’ and the Alaska governor herself said the advisers spreading the rumors were ‘small, evidently bitter’ people.

Former McCain campaign aides have been sources for a string of embarrassing stories about Palin that have become public since GOP defeat Tuesday night, including the charge that she spent thousands of dollars more on clothing for herself and her family than the $150,000 that has been reported.

There have also been reports of a somewhat distant relationship between John McCain and his running mate.

“This is so unfortunate and, quite honestly, sickening,” said Palin aide Meghan Stapleton in a statement. “The accusations we are hearing and reading are not true and since we deny all these anonymous allegations, there is nothing specific to which we will respond.

“We have the highest regards for Senator John McCain. Governor Palin was honored to be chosen as McCain’s running mate. And as Governor of Alaska, Governor Palin looks forward to working with President-elect Obama on securing energy independence for America.”

Back home in Alaska, Palin herself said she would not respond to individual accusations.

“If they’re an unnamed source, then that says it all,” she said. “I won’t comment on anybody’s gossip, or allegations that are based on anonymous sources. That’s kind of a small, evidently bitter type of person who would anonymously charge something foolish like that, that I perhaps didn’t know an answer to a question. So until I know who was talking about it, I won’t have a comment on false allegations.”

Some McCain advisers were frustrated by Palin.

(CNN) — Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin had prepared to deliver a concession speech before John McCain’s Tuesday night — and brought her remarks with her to his Phoenix concession — but senior McCain campaign adviser Steve Schmidt told her she could not.

Two McCain sources say Palin clearly did not understand the protocol of a concession speech, and expected she would have the chance to deliver one of her own.

Update: Palin camp fires back

McCain advisers were also upset with the Alaska governor for setting up what she thought was a call from French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The call, which turned out to be a prank from Quebec radio hosts, was not cleared with the McCain campaign and some saw the effort to set it up as evidence of her future presidential ambitions.

A Palin ally involved in setting up the call, however, suggests McCain advisers had ample time to object given the call was on her schedule for three days.

Two McCain sources also say Palin did not know Africa was a continent and could not find it on a map. A third source, a Palin ally, says that was a miscommunication.

Palin's staff in the Alaska governor's office decorated the former Republican VP nominee's office in Anchorage in anticipation of her return. (Tracy Sabo/CNN)

Vice President-elect Biden said Thursday that he has not spoken to Sen. McCain since the election but also said he was still friends with McCain.

GEORGETOWN, Delaware (CNN) – As he headed back to Delaware to ceremonially “bury the hatchet” Thursday as part of a state tradition, Vice President-elect Joe Biden told reporters that John McCain was “still my friend.”

He also said that he and President-elect Obama had begun meeting daily to “flesh out the transition” – and did not deny speculation that Sen. John Kerry could be under consideration for a position in the new administration.

Last week, Biden had told reporters he was not sure if the friendship could be saved. “I don’t know, I hope [the friendship] is intact, John and I have not had a chance to speak,” Biden said. “I hope [it’s] intact because I still admire him, I still like him. … I believe when this is over, win or lose, John and I are likely to be around in one form or another, in one job or another, and I hope, my hope is we can work together.”

The Delaware native said he hasn’t spoken to McCain – his friend of over three decades – since the Democratic ticket’s victory. Asked what he’d say to McCain and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin if they were on hand, Biden seemed to reach out to his Senate colleague, but did not seem as eager to make peace with the Arizona senator’s running mate.

“I’d say John, we’re still friends,” he said, adding “I don’t know Sarah Palin. I’m not being a wiseguy, you know, it’s over. I mean, I think it’s pretty remarkable, for the all the ups and downs, [a] pretty remarkable run for her. I mean, here’s a woman who is out of Wasilla as a mayor and then governor for two years. I think it’s pretty remarkable, pretty remarkable.

“But John’s still my friend. I say, John, I need you. We need you. This is an opportunity. We really mean what we said…. Barack and I met yesterday, and we’ll be meeting every day for a while until we flesh out this cabinet and everybody else. But we really mean it. We’ve got to reach out, man. You can’t get from here to there with just Democrats, you can’t do it. And I, and I’m…well anyway, when I talk to John, that is, that’s my, that’s what I’m going to tell him.”

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Palin, at McCain's concession Tuesday night, boosted the GOP ticket at first but ultimately became a drag on it.

PHOENIX, Arizona (CNN) – Sarah Palin's selection as John McCain's running mate redefined how vice-presidential candidates influence a campaign. Unfortunately for McCain, the Alaska governor hurt his presidential bid more than she helped.

Watch: Palin weighs in on 2012

Palin had been unfamiliar to most Americans, aside from some conservative writers and bloggers, who had admired her since she upended Alaska's Republican establishment by knocking off incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2006.

That all changed on August 29 — the morning after Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention — when Palin was introduced by McCain.

It wasn't just reporters who were stunned. Even McCain staffers at the event itself were shocked. Many assumed McCain would tap a GOP heavyweight like Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty. The most daring option, many thought, would be Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat.

But Palin's debut instantly energized the Republican base, which had long been cool to McCain, and the GOP ticket surged in the polls.

Full story

PHOENIX, Arizona (CNN) — Sarah Palin will join John McCain on stage tonight in Phoenix, say aides, but the Alaska governor will not speak.

A Federal Judge in Virginia ordered election officials to hold on to late-arriving ballots from Military members.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Virginia election officials to hold on to late-arriving absentee ballots from members of the military stationed overseas.

Republican John McCain's presidential campaign has sued the state election board, contending tens of thousands of votes from those in the armed forces might be voided unless a deadline is extended.

Judge Richard Williams ordered a hearing on the lawsuit next Tuesday afternoon in Richmond, and said in the meantime, those ballots will be set aside and preserved.

At issue is whether Virginia officials allowed enough time to print and mail ballots to military members in foreign countries who requested them.

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