Palin People Interview: "I'm A Voracious Reader," "Zamboni" A Good Baby Name

Now that Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter has celebrated her 18th birthday, the GOP vice-presidential candidate says she's hoping Bristol and fiancé Levi Johnston - who are expecting a baby in December - will tie the knot well before the date next summer the young couple had been eyeing.

"Hopefully before that," Sarah Palin tells PEOPLE in an Oct. 15 interview for the issue on newsstands this Friday. "Bristol turns 18 in a few days [Oct. 18]. That's what we wanted her to wait for: 18, and a decision on her own about how she's going to go forward, her and Levi, at this point."

Taking a break between campaign speeches in New Hampshire, Palin and her husband, Todd, both 44, spoke about Bristol, Tina Fey and sex ed. They also responded to PEOPLE readers' questions about politics, life with five kids - ages 6 months to 19 years - and what's next for the Alaska governor, win or lose:

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Mag44]

That's want we wanted for her to wait for 18 and a decision on her own how she is going to go forward. So to me this almost sounds like the baby decision wasn't all Bristol's idea after all. Are the P's now saying if Bristol doesn't want to get married she doesn't have to? I think it's more like hey I'm 18 now and I can make my own decisions. I truly hope Bristol does what she thinks is in the best interest for her and her child and not rush into anything because she's pregnant.

[gemini08]

Sarah Palin: a noun, a verb and Alaska.....

[wcfar]

Welcome to name that book! Ok Sarah name a newspaper you read then....Ok Sarah, tell us which newspapers they "put in front of you?" Ok Sarah. Sarah, where did you find out that the VP is the boss of the Senate? $$150k for clothes?? Nothing like being out in those burbs with the common folk with your Saks duds huh Sarah. Somehow I don't think you know what you're doing and you don't know anything and being the Gov of Alaska must be like running Mayberry rfd.

[kymlosang]

somehow i dont really trust that she reads all that much....but she did manage to throw in a big word describing how much she reads. lol.

[4wehttam]

Hey Palin, if your a voracious reader then read the frikkin' constitution so you can get a *&%@$&!&% clue!!!!!!!

[wendynyc]

Ya Ya It took her five years and four colleges to get through her undergraduate degree!

These value loving Republicans are such hoaxes - hopefully nobody is buying it anymore!

Not even the folks in the countryside!

[LITU]

Palin: graduate of the U of Idaho

McCain: 5th from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy

It's a race to the bottom folks.

[Wombat]

She must have read the pop-up version of the Federalist Papers and the color-by-numbers Constitution

[JonRaymond]

Palin reads a lot, except the Constitution, of course.

But let's not put any pressure on Bristol to make her decision. That way Sarah doesn't have to be le3gally responsible.

[PeepingTom]

Zambone? Ok, Then it's ok for me to name my kid Schwinn, or Caterpillar. Or John Deere!

Wait, I think I'll settle for Dyson .

[DorkimusMaximus]

She's joking about the name "Zamboni".

...she just has to be.

[JonRaymond]

Yeah, considering the regular Joe six pack names she gives her kids.

[HonorJusticeTruth]

Why doesn't everyone start a mail-in of copies of the Constitution to Sarah Palin for her voracious reading. She can give the copies to charity after the election for a tax write-off.

[Formeralaskangal]

She said she's the best cooker. Yes, people, cooker! She is so very sad.

I also thought it was sad when she says her kids read childrens' books about "Eskimos" to learn about their own Native culture. Ummm, anyone in Alaska knows that people don't say Eskimo anymore, it's offensive. Her kids are 1/16 Yupik, and if she wanted them to learn about their culture she could have them immersed in it for real rather than just having them read about it in childrens' books.

[BuckeyeGal]

My son used to tell me I was the best cooker . . . . when he was 3.

[LITU]

"she's the best cooker"

That would be "meth" cooker.

[Pippa70]

>I'm a voracious reader, always have been.

And I am Marie of Romania.

[ElizabethNC]

She's so ignorant of the lower 48 that she can't tell the difference between Michigan and Minnesota. For the record, she shuffled her son off to MICHIGAN, supposedly so he'd be seen by hockey scouts. His hosts handed back his Alaska passport within a few months.

[Oxonian2001]

I think Sarah's response here was very telling:

but you don't get to be governor without being smart, so how would you describe your smarts?
SP: How would I describe my smarts?

Notice she couldn't answer it!

Btw, I agree with others here. Why is she NEVER able to answer what she's reading if she's such a "voracious reader"? Can't she at least make up a title--like David Copperfield, Pride and Prejudice, or Crime and Punishment? Or Macbeth (OK, maybe that hits a little too close to home, heh heh)? What about Time or Newsweek? She was a journalism major, for crying out loud!

[shengirl]

Harlequin Romances? Maybe she's read three Shakespeares, like Bush.

[JonRaymond]

Maybe if they'd get her off to Colorado to do some remedial book title memorization.

[DixieMelody]

AND she has been on the covers of Time and Newsweek.

I'll bet her family members bought multiple copies.

So the fact she couldn't even mention those when asked is strange.

[bobbysgurl]

She's a l i a r.

[LITU]

My Pet Goat was banned from the Wasilla library.