Oprah Sarah Palin Interview! Ex-Gov. Sarah Palin appeared on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ today to talk about daughter Bristol’s pregnancy, Levi Johnston aka Ricky Hollywood, the infamous Katie Couric interview, and her political plans in 2012. Sarah Palin wears an aqua jacket and dark skirt during her Oprah interview, while her daughters Bristol and Piper were sitting in the audience.

Oprah did not waste any time and jumped right into the interview, asking Palin if she felt snubbed that she wasn’t invited onto the ‘Oprah’ show during the election.

“No offense to you, but it wasn’t the center of my universe,” said Palin, adding, “I’ve heard more about that during the last few weeks than during the campaign.”

Sarah Palin’s already bestselling book, ‘Going Rogue: An American Life,’ hits bookstores tomorrow. In it, she talks about her faith and how she gets through life’s challenges, “thanks to God and Todd.”

Palin’s campaign with John McCain is covered in the book, as well. Palin said she wasn’t shocked about getting that phone call to share the ticket as vice president, but she was surprised at how much his team already knew about her, including her tax returns, transcripts of sermons from visiting pastors, and other long-forgotten info.

“After this vetting and hours of discussion, I thought I’d better confess the one skeleton — that I did get a “D” 22 years ago in a college course. I thought that would be the extent of the controversy in Sarah Palin’s life.”

The issue of her daughter Bristol’s pregnancy gave her the opportunity to send a message that it’s not to be glamorized, “it’s a tough challenge,” she said. “Here’s our opportunity to try and tackle the problem of teen pregnancy.”

But the story suddenly became the top news item, scrolling across the bottom of 24/7 news networks. Palin said she was naive to think that the media would leave her kids alone, and applauded Barack Obama when he told the press his kids were off limits.

“I said, right on, I agree with you,” she told Oprah. “I hope my kids are off limits, too, but that’s not how it turned out.”

As for being instructed by the McCain team on how to dress, what to say, who to talk to, and what to eat, Palin said one of the most surprising things was when the team coached her on the Atkins Diet.

“Of all the things to worry about when the McCain numbers were tanking … I don’t think we should have spent a lot of time on what I eat, and that was a focus of some of the campaign operatives, which was odd.”

She said the whole issue and controversy surrounding her wardrobe gave her a new appreciation for what Hillary Clinton went through with her campaign.

“The male male candidates have it a little bit easier in that arena.”

At the end of the day, Palin noted,

“the reason we lost is because the economy tanked under a Republication administration. They did not want more of the same. They did not want status quo, and unfortunately, our ticket represented the status quo.”

Oprah asked Palin about the infamous Katie Couric interview. Palin said:

“It was supposed to be lighthearted and fun. We were going to have just one segment of the interview and if that went well, we’d schedule another. Well, it didn’t go well. I was annoyed with her badgering of questions … her agenda was not necessarily to show me in the best light. She had just interviewed Joe Biden, and he had made mistakes but those were dismissed, ignored, and she moved on to cover more substantive issues.”

Palin felt Couric’s questions about which magazines and books she read was “in the context of DO you read? It was, how do you stay in touch with the real world? That’s how I took the question. I rolled my eyes and was annoyed with the question.” She added that is she had just named some magazines and books during the interview, “we probably wouldn’t be talking about it today.”

Palin said that Couric kept asking her about her stance on abortion. “She didn’t want to hear my first candid response about being pro-life,” she said, adding that when she was pregnant with Trig, she understood why the thought might enter a woman’s mind and recalled when she told Todd that their baby would be a Down’s Syndrome baby.

“It took about three weeks of me knowing before we finally connected. I told him that the baby was a boy, and he was over the top, and then I said, ‘The baby has an extra chromosome. The baby will be born with Downs Syndrome.’ Todd had a better reaction than me. He said ‘It’s going to be ok.’ While I was asking, ‘Why us, God?’ he was saying, ‘Why NOT us, God?’”

As for the controversy surrounding Levi Johnston and his unflattering comments about Palin in Vanity Fair and other publications, Palin felt that a national TV show isn’t the place to talk about it, but said,

“He’s on a road that isn’t a healthy place to be,” noting his new moniker of “Ricky Hollywood” and projects like doing a Playgirl centerfold. “I call that porn,” said Palin. “But that’s Levi’s gig right now … I continue to hope for the best and pray for Levi.”

“Will Johnston be invited to Thanksgiving dinner?” Oprah asked.

“That’s a great question,” said Palin. “It’s lovely to think he would ever consider such a thing. This can all work out for good. We don’t have to keep going down this road of controversy and drama. We’re not really into drama.”

In a short video segment, the cameras caught Palin at home making caramel apples for Halloween and getting Piper and Trig ready for trick-or-treating. “It’s nice not to be handled as much, if you will,” said Palin.

As for her husband Todd and their marriage, Palin said they’ve always had unconventional schedules. “We’ve been physically apart for many many months throughout the year, and for us, that’s always worked … we both just pick up and get the work done. It’s a very strong marriage, and I’m very thankful for him.”

Palin felt the McCain concession speech was very gracious, although she was disappointed that she wasn’t given the opportunity to talk, as well. “We didn’t take one last opportunity to remind Americans that all of us together need to be able to move forward. United we stand as a country, and that’s what I wanted to talk about.”

Palin sideswiped Oprah’s direct question on whether she’d run for President in 2012. “It’s not on my radar screen right now,” said Palin. “You don’t need a title to make a difference. Any ordinary American can seize opportunities to make a difference.”

And what about those rumors of a Sarah Palin talk show? Oprah asked if she should be worried. “Oprah, you’re the queen of talk shows,” laughed Palin, thanking Oprah for the inspiration she’s provided over the years. “There’s nothing to be worried about.”