Republicans Manoeuvre Palin on to Tv Circuit

Sarah Palin, an instant sensation on the US election campaign trail, will break her carefully managed media silence today with a series of television interviews designed to counter critics of her record as governor of Alaska and scrutiny of her personal life.

In a stage-managed media operation, which began with the broadcast of excerpts of her first television interview last night, Palin will appear on a series of daytime ABC news programs as well as be the subject of a prime time special tonight.

The Republicans hope the blanket exposure will deflect criticism that Palin, a virtual unknown until a fortnight ago and a governor for less than two years, lacks the experience to step in as president in place of McCain. The Republican team have spent hours coaching Palin in order to prepare her for tough questioning.

The broadcasts will include footage of Palin's soldier son, Track, who was scheduled to deploy to Iraq yesterday.

The interviews took place in Alaska, at her home in Wasilla and in Fairbanks, where she returned on Wednesday night for the first time since embarking on the campaign trail. She was greeted as a conquering hero by a crowd of 3,000 people.

Palin spoke briefly, focusing on McCain. "He's a friend to Alaska, and he will be our next president," she told the crowd.

The Alaska governor, who touts herself as a moose-hunting, salmon-fishing, hockey mom turned political reformer, has faced a steady drip feed of negative stories about her political record and her family, including her daughter, Bristol, who is pregnant at 17.

Up until the interviews, she had not taken questions from reporters, and at campaign rallies has stuck closely to a scripted speech that is largely a distillation of her address to the party convention.

McCain's strategists are working hard to capitalize on Palin's appeal to Republican women, especially social conservatives, as well as a section of former supporters of Hillary Clinton.

Palin's instant popularity, and the success of Republican efforts to present her as a feminist icon, have put the Democrats off-balance.