Sarah Palin blames Bush for Republican's election defeat

ALASKA governor Sarah Palin blamed Bush administration policies for the Republican presidential defeat and prayed she would not miss "an open door" for her next political opportunity.

"I'm like, OK, God, if there is an open door for me somewhere, this is what I always pray, I'm like, don't let me miss the open door,"

Republican vice presidential candidate Mrs Palin said in an interview with Fox News, amid speculation that she will run for US president in four years.

"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 plough through that door."

In the wide-ranging interview, Mrs Palin said she neither wanted nor asked for the £94,000-plus wardrobe the Republican Party bankrolled, and thought the issue was an odd one at the end of the campaign, considering "what is going on in the world today".

"I did not order the clothes. Did not ask for the clothes. I would have been happy to have worn my own clothes from day one. But that is kind of an odd issue, an odd campaign issue as things were wrapping up there as to who ordered what and who demanded what."

"It's amazing that we did as well as we did," Mrs Palin, who was Senator John McCain's running mate, said of last week's election in a separate interview with the Anchorage Daily News.

"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-dollar debt in a Republican administration? 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."

Mrs Palin has scheduled a series of national interviews this week with Fox, NBC television's Today show and CNN. She also plans to attend the Republican Governors Association conference in Florida this week.

She has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2012 and could also could seek re-election in 2010 or challenge Senator Lisa Murkowski. Still uncertain is the fate of Senator Ted Stevens, who is leading the vote count in his bid for another term but could be ousted by the Senate for his conviction on seven charges of failing to report more than £156,000 in gifts, mostly renovations on his home.

If Mr Stevens loses his seat, Mrs Palin could run for it in a special election.

Mrs Palin and Mr McCain's campaign faced a storm of criticism over the tens of thousands of dollars spent at such high-end stores as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus to dress the nominee. Republican National Committee lawyers are still trying to determine exactly what clothing was bought for Mrs Palin, what was returned and what has become of the rest.

Her father, Chuck Heath, said Mrs Palin spent part of the weekend going through her clothing to determine what belonged to the Republican Party.

Mr Heath said his daughter told him the only clothing or accessories she personally had purchased in the past four months was a pair of shoes.

RNC lawyers have been discussing with Mrs Palin whether what's left of the clothing and accessories bought for her on the campaign trail will go to charity, back to stores or be paid for by Mrs Palin, a McCain-Palin campaign official said.