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James Dobson interviews Sarah Palin

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson interviewed Sarah Palin on his radio show earlier this week, and the clip was posted this morning.

Mark Barna at the Colorado Springs Gazettewrote Monday that although Dobson didn't attend a rally, he spoke with her on the phone for 18 minutes.

Update: The interview is about 20 minutes long and starts at about 2:52 minutes into the show.

Most of the interview is chit chat, with very little discussion of what policies McCain-Palin would implement, except Palin says that she and McCain support the planks in the Republican Party's platform. However, the platform does say it supports stem cell research without the "unethical destruction of embryonic human life." McCain has said he would support embryonic stem-cell research. The platform also supports a constitutional amendment as between a man and a woman, something McCain does not support on a national level. Finally, the platform supports a constitutional amendment banning all abortion, which McCain has said should be decided on the state level.

After the jump, here's an interview play-by-play, in case you don't have time to listen.

Palin tells Dobson that her children do their schoolwork on the campaign trail, and head back to the classroom to get caught up. Dobson says that he is one of Palin's "great fans" and is praying for her.

Palin: It is that intercession that is so needed and so greatly appreciated. And I can feel it, too, Dr. Dobson. I can feel the power of prayer and that strength that is provided through our prayer warriors across this nation. And I so appreciate it.

Dobson: You hear that everywhere you go, don't you?

Palin: I do, and that is what allows us to continue to be inspired and strengthened. It's that great reminder when we hear along the rope lines that people are interceding for us and praying for us. It's our reminder to do the same, to seek his perfect will for this nation, and to of course seek his wisdom and guidance in putting this nation back on the right track.

Dobson: Your faith is very much a part of who you are, isn't it?

Palin: It is my foundation, yes. My Christian faith is.

Dobson said that he wrote her a letter after she chose to carry Trig, her baby who has Down Syndrome, to term. He said that Palin wrote him a letter back.

Palin: I so appreciated your words. When we found out, I was about 13 weeks along when I found out that Trig would be born with Down Syndrome.

To be honest with you, it scared me, though, and I knew it would be a challenge, and I had to really be on my knees the entire rest of the pregnancy, asking that God would prepare my heart. The second he was born, it was absolute confirmation that that prayer was answered with all of us falling just so in love with him.

This whole new world has been opened up to me. I've always had near and dear to my heart the mission of protecting the sanctity of life and being pro-life or a hard-core pro-lifer, but I think this opportunity to be walking the walking and not just talking the talk. There's purpose also for a greater good to be met there. I feel so privileged and blessed to have been, I guess, chosen to have Trig into our lives because I do want it to help us in our cause here in allowing America to be a more welcoming nation for all of our children.

Dobson told her that one of the most touching and dramatic moments for him was when he saw Piper wet her fingers and smooth Trig's hair down.

Palin: That was a nice kind of a manifestation there of one of our little mother hen there in Piper, the innocent child-like love that kids certainly have for one another. And truly that is that love that our country needs more of. Dr. Dobson you have been on the fore-front of all of this, of all of this good for many years. Your reward's going to be in heaven because I know that you take a lot of shots also, but please know that on our end, as kind of outsiders looking in at what you've accomplished all these years, if it were not for you, so many of us would be missing the boat in terms of hearing the message and know what that is we can do to further the cause of life and of ethics in our nation. Those things that we should be engaged in, we owe so much to you.

Dobson and Palin talked about the media, Joe the Plumber, and the Republican platform.

Dobson calls the Republican platform "the strongest pro-life, pro-family document to come out of a political party, even more so than the platforms during the campaigns of Ronald Reagan."

Palin: Dr. Dobson thank you so much for recognizing that. This is a strong platform built around the planks in this platform that respect life and respect the entrepreneurial spirit of this great country and those things, back to the social issues that are what Republicans, at least in the past, had articulated and tried to stand on. Now, finally, we have very solid planks in the platform that will allow us to build an even stronger foundation for our country. It's all good and it's encouraging. You would maybe have assumed that we would have gotten further away from those strong planks. But no, they're there, they're solid, we stand on them and again I believe that it is the right agenda for the country at this time. Very, very clear and contrasted tickets in this election November 4. People are going to see the clear contrasts, you just go to the planks in our platforms and that's where you see them.

Dobson asks whether, based on her private conversations with McCain, she thinks he will implement the planks.

Palin: I do, from the bottom of my heart. I am such a strong believer that McCain believes in those strong planks and we do have good conversations about some of the details too of the different planks and what they represent. I'm very heartened that John McCain ... he doesn't want a Vice President who will check the opinions ... of me at the door and we talk about some of these and they're very important. It's most important though, as you're suggesting, that Americans know that John McCain is solidly there on those solid planks in our platform that build the right agenda for America.

Dobson asks Palin what lessons she has learned in the last couple of months.

Palin: Back to the media, you really can't pick a fight with those who buy ink by the barrelful in the mainstream media.

This is where my faith becomes even more important to me. I have to have faith that our words message will get out there minus the filter of the mainstream media so that American voters understand the clear choices that they have on the fourth of November. ? Even bigger than that, then I have to have that faith that God's going to help us get that message out there.

Dobson: My goodness, if our audience is any indication, they're getting it. There are millions of people praying for you and for Sen. McCain.

It's always risky to kind of politicize your prayer life, but there are issues here that are important to me than my life.

Dobson invited Palin to Focus on the Family and Palin told Dobson to give his wife, Shirley, a big hug.

March
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