Palin looks to God over 2012 bid

Sarah Palin admitted having gone off script

Defeated Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has said she hopes God will "show her the way" on any future bid for the White House.

The Alaska governor said 2012 was too far off for her to decide whether she would run for the US presidency.

Mrs Palin, who was accused of going rogue during the election campaign, also admitted veering "off script", but denied harming the Republican ticket.

She has been touted as a possible White House candidate in four years' time.

In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, the 44-year-old said: "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. Show me where the open door is."

'Open door'

The mother-of-five added: "And if there is an open door in [20]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."

Mrs Palin admitted occasionally not having toed the line during the campaign, but added: "If I went off script once in a while, I can't for the life of me remember any one time where it would have harmed [Republican presidential nominee Sen John McCain], or the ticket."

She also said she neither wanted nor asked for the wardrobe costing at least $150,000 (£96,000) that the Republican Party controversially bankrolled for her during the campaign.

"I did not order the clothes. Did not ask for the clothes," she told Fox News. "I would have been happy to have worn my own clothes from day one."

Dismissing reports that she had been unaware Africa was a continent, Mrs Palin said: "Never, ever did I talk about, well, gee, is it a country or is it a continent."

This week, Mrs Palin has also scheduled national interviews with other TV networks and she plans to attend the Republican Governors Association conference in Florida.

Correspondents say she has a range of political options, including seeking re-election as governor of Alaska in 2010 or challenging the state's Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski.

There is also a possibility she could run in a special election for the seat of Ted Stevens, Alaska's other senator.

His bid for re-election last week remains undecided, although he may be forced to step aside whatever the outcome after being convicted of corruption.