I felt comfortable from the very beginning with my role, says Palin

Back in her day job, and still wearing those trouser suits, Sarah Palin denied yesterday that she had been under-prepared for the vice-presidency, saying she felt "comfortable from the very beginning" with the role of John McCain's deputy.

The Alaskan Governor used her first major interview since Tuesday's election to emphasise her pride at having become the first female candidate on a Republican Party electoral ticket.

"It felt like there had been doors open through the years, and I ploughed through some doors on my own that hadn't been opened but went through them anyway," she told On the Record, a current affairs show on Fox News. "But there was a lot of preparation and opportunity that met at the same time."

Mrs Palin's interview, with Greta Van Susteren, was recorded on Saturday in the pine-panelled kitchen of her family home. Though its contents were kept under wraps until late last night, she was expected to discuss her tense relationship with aides to John McCain. The interview contained several lighter moments. In a preview clip, she said the last media guests to visit her house, a crew from People magazine, had enjoyed close encounters with the Alaskan wildlife.

"This momma duck and all her babies waddled across the yard, and immediately after, a momma moose and three male calves that had just been dropped down the driveway a couple of days earlier came prancing across the lawn," she said. The Fox interview was the first of a series which many observers believe will be the start of an effort by Mrs Palin to position herself for a presidential bid in 2012. Today, she will appear on NBC's Today programme; on Wednesday she's due to be grilled by CNN.

Later today, John McCain is expected to be the studio guest on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.