ABC News? David Chalian Reports: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele doesn?t want the controversies and scandals surrounding a couple of high profile Republicans to be used as part of a ?broad brush sweep? depiction of the GOP at large.

?I don?t buy this broad brush sweep that a lot of folks want to do to take situations involving Sanford or Palin and make it writ large for every Republican in the country,? Steele said on ABC News? ?Top Line.?

Chairman Steele responded to a question about the four Republicans, including former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) and Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC), he cited as rising stars in the party during a Fox News interview last February.

?If I knew what I know now, then, my answer probably would have been a little bit different. I certainly wouldn?t have put Sanford up as one of those stars of the party that were going to be looked to leadership because he?s got other issues he?s got to deal with,? said Steele.

Mr. Steele called former Gov. Sarah Palin?s (R-AK) decision to resign her office in the middle of her first term a personal and political decision he respects.

?She made a very personal, a very political decision for her to get out of the way of her state moving forward because her leadership had become a distraction with all the media attention and the attacks,? Steele said. ?She made, I think, a very personal decision. I respect that,? he added.

The GOP chairman argued his point by questioning if Democratic politicians should have had their reputations besmirched in the 1990s by Bill Clinton?s behavior.

?When the president, the former president of the united states is caught with an intern in his, underneath his desk, does that impugn every Democrat in the country?,? Steele asked.

Praising Republican candidates running for office across the country, including his party?s gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia, Chairman Steele said he feels good about the current state of the GOP. ?We have a lot of work to do. We have a long way to go. But I feel good about where we are.?

To read the transcript of our interview with Michael Steele, click HERE.

ABC News’ Teddy Davis contributed to this report.

Palin Renews False ‘Death Panel’ Charge

ABC News' Teddy Davis reports:

Sarah Palin is standing by her discredited charge that House Democrats are proposing to create “death panels”. The former Alaska governor's statement, which she posted to Facebook on Wednesday evening, came one day after President Obama implicitly took issue with her stance during a Tuesday town-hall meeting in New Hampshire.

Referring to Section 1233 of the House Democratic health care bill, Palin writes: “With all due respect, it’s misleading for the president to describe this section as an entirely voluntary provision that simply increases the information offered to Medicare recipients.”

The truth, however, is that the end of life counseling contained in the House Democratic bill would be voluntary.

As the Associated Press has reported, the House bill would permit Medicare to pay doctors for voluntary counseling sessions that address end-of-life issues. The doctor-patient discussions would cover living wills, making a close relative or a trusted friend your health care proxy, learning about hospice as an option for the terminally ill, and information about pain medications for people suffering chronic discomfort.

Palin first leveled her “death panel” charge in a Friday message on Facebook.

“The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society,’ whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil,” Palin wrote last week.

Palin's “death panel” claim has been debunked not only by ABC's Jake Tapper but also by FactCheck.org and Politifact.com.

A Palin spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

–Teddy Davis

Palin Hasn’t Spoken to McCain in ‘Weeks’; Says ‘Department of Law’ Would Protect Her in White House

ABC News’ Kate Snow and Rick Klein report:

A few more tidbits from ABC News’ interview with Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, shed light on her thinking surrounding her decision to announce her resignation — and on her relationship with her former running mate.

Palin told Kate Snow that she didn’t give Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a head’s up about her bombshell announcement to leave her seat early.

Asked about the last time she spoke with him, she responded only that she “left him a message a couple of weeks ago” when Exxon announced June 11 that it would work to build a natural gas pipeline in Alaska.

Asked about whether she touched base with him in advance of Friday’s resignation announcement, Palin responded:

“Didn’t tell him I was going to do this, but he is very astute, he is very sharp, he knew too that the distractions in the state — he knows me well enough to know that I am wired to not want to waste any time or any kind of resource. I want to get the job done.”

Asked if McCain would have had an inkling about her intentions, she responded, “don’t know if he could sense [that she was going to resign], but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he knows why I did it, and he knows how much I love Alaska. He and probably everybody else gets sick and tired of hearing how much I love Alaska.”

McCain didn’t put out a statement until the day after her Friday announcement. The statement read: “I have the greatest respect and affection for Sarah, Todd, and their family. I was deeply honored to have her as my running mate and believe she will continue to play an important leadership role in the Republican Party and our nation.”

Palin thanked McCain for his support in a Facebook posting over the weekend, and again in yesterday’s interview.

Snow also asked Palin whether, if she runs for president, she could avoid the “political blood sport” she cited as among the reasons she wanted to leave office.

“I don’t think it will be the day after day after day of ethics violation charges that are frivolous, that are ridiculous. I think on a national level your department of law there in the White House would look at this, the things we have been charged with, and automatically throw them out, not make somebody hire their own personal attorney to get out there and fight.”

There is no “department of law” at the White House, though Palin appears to have been referring to the White House counsel’s office.

–Kate Snow and Rick Klein

Steele: Palin ‘Will Be Helpful’ in ’09 Gov’s Races

ABC News' Rick Klein reports: RepublicanNational CommitteeChairman Michael Steele tonight said he plans to get in touch with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin soon — and indicated that he wants her help in the off-year gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia.

“I plan on talking to Gov. Palin very soon,” Steele said in a written statement. “She is an important and galvanizing voice in the Republican Party. I believe she will be very helpful to the party this year as we wage critical campaigns in Virginia and New Jersey. I am certain this has been a difficult decision for her to step down as Alaska's governor. She has been a good governor for her state and I wish her and the Palin family the best during this transition.”

Gov. Palin To Resign at End of Month

ABC News' Kate Barrett Reports: Sarah Palin announced Friday that she will step down from her post as Alaska governor at the end of the month, and will not run for reelection.

In a press conference from her Wasilla home, the Alaska governor said “this decision has been in the works for awhile,” and said, “I’m not wired to operate under the same old politics as usual.”

There’s been speculation that Palin has had her eye on the 2012 presidential race, but it’s unclear why she’s leaving before the end of her term. Her current run as governor ends in 2010.

Palin did not take questions after her announcement, but compared herself to a good point guard facing “a full court press from the national level.”

“She knows exactly when to pass the ball so that a team can win,” Palin said.

Earlier this week, Palin and her political operation was portrayed in an unflattering light in the new Vanity Fair.

Lieutenant Gov. Sean Parnell is next in line to become governor when Palin leaves the job.

Adviser: Palin Will Be ‘Friend and Force’ for Other Republicans

ABC News’ Rick Klein Reports: Fred Malek, a veteran Republican operative and a key political adviser to Gov. Sarah Palin, tells ABC News that Palin intends to continue to be helpful to other Republicans – and is leaving her political options open even with today’s announcement.

“She’s not going to go hide in a cave,” Malek said in a telephone interview. “She’ll continue to be a major friend and force for Republican figures in this country.”

Malek said Palin is not ruling out a return to politics, though she has no plans on the horizon to seek another office. He said he expects that she’ll raise money for other Republican candidates in the months and years to come.

Sarah Palin Calls for Uprising Against Letterman for Joke About Her Daughter

ABC News' David Chalian reports: Gov. Sarah Palin called on the public to rise up in opposition to David Letterman's distasteful jokes about her daughter this week. In a morning television interview on NBC's “Today” show, Gov. Palin described her controversy with the late night comedian as a “sad commentary on where we are as a culture, as a society, to chuckle and laugh through comments such as he had made the other night, I think is quite unfortunate.”

READ MORE: Palin Slams Letterman Joke as 'Sexually Perverted'
WATCH:Palin Vs. Letterman

Mr. Letterman's explanation that he was referring to her 18 year old daughter, Bristol, instead of her 14 year old daughter, Willow, who accompanied her recently to New York was met with derision by Gov. Palin. She called it a “very convenient excuse” that took him a couple of days to present.

“It was a degrading comment about a young woman. I would hope that people really start rising up and deciding it's not acceptable. No wonder young girls especially have such low self esteem in America when we think it's funny for a so-called comedian to get away with being able to make such a remark as he did and to think that that's acceptable,” Palin said.

Gov. Palin was apparently pleased to see women organizations speaking out against the comments and then proceeded to read from her BlackBerry an email she received from someone she described as not a typical feminist. “Every male organization. . . should rise up and shout in defense of their daughters, their sisters, their mothers,” Palin read to NBC's Matt Lauer.

When Lauer pressed Palin on her spokeswoman's response stating “it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman,” Palin said that was not in bad taste.

“I connect the dots to a degrading statement made about young women and that does contribute to some acceptance of abuse of young women,” Palin said in defense of that statement before going on to explain that it can be interpreted in many ways.

“Take it however you want to take it. It is a comment that came from the heart that Willow, no doubt, would want to stay away after he made such a comment,” she said.

Gov. Palin also decried what she sees as a double standard being applied to her and her family both politically and in a broader social sense.

“First, remember in the campaign, Barack Obama said, 'Family's off limits. You don't talk about my family.'”

“And the candidate who must be obeyed, everybody adhered to that and they did leave his family alone. They haven't done that on the other side of the ticket and it has continued to this day so that's a political double standard.”

Gov. Palin went on to describe a second double standard as the “acceptance of a celebrity being able to get away with a disparaging comment that does erode a young girl's self esteem and does contribute to some of the problems we have in society.”

Asked if Letterman owes her an apology, Gov. Palin said no.

“He doesn't have to apologize to me. I would like to see him apologize to young women across the country for contributing to that thread that is throughout our culture that makes it sound like it's ok to talk about young girls that way.”

Palin Sees “A Lot” of Disagreement in GOP

ABC News' David Chalian Reports:

Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin does not believe her popularity and fundraising prowess somehow anoints her as the leading figure representing the future of the GOP.

“Absolutely not necessarily,” Palin told NBC's Matt Lauer on “Today.”

Palin still sees a Republican Party that is not yet singing from the same song sheet.

“So, no, not necessarily me. I don't think I need any kind of title in order to effect change. I think there's a lot of disagreement within the party right now, though,” she said.

Lauer asked Palin if she should get the right of first refusal at leading the party forward.

“Oh, heck no. No. Nobody's entitled to that right of approval. There's no entitlement that's accepted, I believe, in our party and that's another nice thing about the principles of the GOP,” Palin said.

“You have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Your actions have to speak louder than words. Your accomplishments have to speak for what it is that you stand for and no, nobody's entitled to any kind of front-running position in the GOP.”

‘Sarah Palin with an Economics Degree’?

ABC News’ Teddy Davis reports:

 

Fmr. Missouri treasurer Sarah Steeleman is weighing a 2010 GOP Senate primary against Rep. Roy Blunt, the former House Whip.
Ferdous Al-Faruque/ ABC News 

Former Missouri state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, 50, and her husband stopped by ABC’s Washington Bureau on Friday.

Steelman is weighing a Senate primary bid against Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., for the seat being vacated in 2010 by retiring Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo.

Steelman was recently described by a GOP operative in Missouri as “Sarah Palin with an economics degree.”

What does Steelman think of the comparison?

“You might want to ask my husband that. I don’t know. I am who I am,” said Steelman, who earned her master’s in economics from the University of Missouri.

When husband David Steelman, the former Republican leader of the Missouri House, was brought into the Palin discussion, he quipped, “We have no helicopter wolf hunting in Missouri.”

Reflecting on Palin’s vice presidential run, Steelman suggested that the Alaska governor received scrutiny not faced by men.

“I’m not sure she was treated fairly,” said Steelman. “But politics is a tough game and when you get into the game you have to have pretty thick skin.”

“I think there’s a lot more scrutiny of women,” she continued. “You get asked questions about how you handle your family, and your responsibilities as a mother, that most men don’t get asked.”

“I’m not sure that a man ever gets asked that question,” she added.

So how would she run against Blunt who until last year served in the GOP’s House leadership?

By trying to tie him to the status quo.

“His Washington experience has gotten us into this mess,” she said.

Steelman’s two main gripes with Blunt are his vote for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill in September and his support for earmarks. Earlier this week, she sent Blunt a letter challenging him to take an anti-earmark pledge.

Blunt’s campaign responds to the bailout criticism by noting that he voted against releasing the second half of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds earlier this year when it became clear to him that it lacked appropriate safeguards on how the money was being spent. Blunt’s office is also quick to point out that the September bailout was supported by Bond and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D).

While Blunt sponsored 25 earmarks in 2008 which totaled more than $46 million, according to Legistorm.com, a website devoted to government transparency, his team charges that it is “hypocritical” for Steelman to criticize him on this issue since she supported directing government funds to local projects when she served in the state legislature.

Although Steelman is styling herself as an outsider in her potential Senate run, she has not thought through whether she would accept money from registered lobbyists.

She also struggled to articulate her views on health care and President Obama’s plan to drawdown U.S. trooops in Iraq.

The winner of the GOP Senate primary in Missouri will likely face off against Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, the daughter of Mel Carnahan, the former Missouri governor who died in a plane crash while running for the U.S. Senate in 2000.

Mel Carnahan was elected posthumously to the U.S. Senate before being replaced temporarily by wife Jean Carnahan who lost the seat two years later.

Asked what she tells Republicans in Washington who worry that her potential challenge to Blunt might jeopardize the GOP’s chances of holding onto Bond’s Senate seat, Steelman said, “Primaries aren’t necessarily bad. What they should worry about is who can beat Robin Carnahan.”

ABC News’ Sara Just, Ian Cameron, and Ferdous Al-Faruque contributed to this report.