Last night Alaska governor Sarah Palin sat down with home-team pitcher Sean Hannity to exchange lobs over energy and economic policy. The buttoned-up church lady from her interview with ABC's Charles Gibson was nowhere to be found. The GOP vice-presidential candidate looked, and sounded, more comfortable, literally letting her hair down and speaking in a more calm and controlled tone. Hannity asked smart questions about the economy and about drilling in Alaska, but framed many of them in negative terms about Obama, setting her up well to deliver her talking points. She told of how she asked her daughters to vote on whether she should run for V.P., and "they voted unanimously," and she backed up McCain's statement that the "fundamentals" of the American economy are strong. Obama's criticism of this was "an unfair attack on the verbage [sic] Senator McCain used," she said, adding: "Certainly it is a mess, though. The economy is a mess."

Most interesting to us was when Hannity asked Palin who was to blame for this week's serious world financial troubles. "I think the corruption on Wall Street, that's to blame," she said.

Palin went on to be open about her disagreement with McCain over ANWR drilling, and was critical of Republicans in Washington as well.

Sean Hannity Interviews Sarah Palin [Fox News]
Earlier: Sarah Palin Plays the Church Lady with Charlie Gibson