Tacitly acknowledging criticism that she's been diminished in part by an overly protective media shield, Sarah Palin will take a more forward-leaning approach and do additional interviews in the weeks ahead, a top aide said today.



"She's seen the reviews and heard the criticism, but she's a fighter," said this aide. "And now she's in a fighting mood."



Palin heads to McCain's cabin in Arizona today to prepare for her Thursday debate, and while she's there she'll do a round of conservative talk radio interviews.



"Talk radio is a convenient, powerful and effective outlet," said the aide.



Rush Limbaugh, who hosts the most popular radio show in the country, noted in an e-mail that he doesn't invite guests on and alluded to his rocky relationship with the top of the GOP ticket.



"The McCain camp doesn't trust me," Limbaugh said.



But asked if he'd welcome a call from Palin, the conservative talker said: "Of course."



The move to reintroduce Palin comes after much criticism for a stumbling interview she gave to CBS’ Katie Couric last week; increased conservative grousing about the campaign's decision to roll out the GOP vice presidential nominee through high-stakes and high-profile mainstream media interviews; and the suggestion by some observers that she even drop off the ticket.



Quite the contrary, Palin, her family and aides are determined to remind voters what they so liked about the governor in the first place.



After the debate and talk radio hits, the plan is to find a way to let Palin be Palin, moving her away from the pre-fab talking points and letting the down-home daughter of Wasilla be herself.



"She wants to tell her story more, and people around her do, too," added the source. "This is a governor very much on her toes, very much fed up with inaccuracies and fictions about her own life and career."



To this end, Palin was far more aggressive in another interview with Couric today, this aide said



Sitting with McCain for their first joint interview a week after the widely panned sit-down with Couric, Palin interjected when the CBS anchor brought up a report about the Wasilla Assembly of God, the governor's childhood church and one she still attends at times, seeking to pray gays away from homosexuality.



"Sarah Barracuda showed up today," the aide said, reprising the feisty former point guard's high school basketball nickname and one that has been largely forgotten since her post-convention cosseting.



"We're encouraging CBS to run entire thing," the aide said of today's session. "Run it end to end online."



Of concern to McCain's campaign, however, is a remaining and still-undisclosed clip from Palin's interview with Couric last week that has the political world buzzing.



The Palin aide, after first noting how "infuriating" it was for CBS to purportedly leak word about the gaffe, revealed that it came in response to a question about Supreme Court decisions.



After noting Roe vs. Wade, Palin was apparently unable to discuss any major court cases.



There was no verbal fumbling with this particular question as there was with some others, the aide said, but rather silence.

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