[Anderson:] Well, she is worshipped by some, she is ridiculed by others. Sarah Palin burst onto the political scene three years ago after former presidential candidate John McCain chose her, you'll remember, as his running mate. Until then, the self-described hockey mum had only served as governor of Alaska for two years. Her previous job was mayor of a small Alaskan town called Wasilla. Sarah Palin has ruled herself out of the 2012 US presidential race, but that doesn't make her any less of a powerful and intriguing political figure. In fact, she's now the focus for filmmaker Nick Broomfield. Earlier this week I spoke to him about his latest documentary out tonight aptly called "Sarah Palin: You Betcha!" I asked him why he decided to make a film about her. This is what he said.
[Nick Broomfield, Director, "sarah Palin: You Betcha!":] She represents an enormous change in the Republican Party, and I think she was also this phenomenon that just swept onto the stage surrounded by lots of kids. And I kind of wondered, along with everybody else, where did she come from and who is she and what was her background and what kind of made Sarah Palin Sarah Palin?
[Anderson:] You began this film by getting Sarah Palin to promise to be interviewed by you.
[Broomfield:] Right.
[Anderson:] You betcha.
[Broomfield:] You betcha.
[Anderson:] What happened?
[Broomfield:] Well, we went along, talked to her at a book signing. She couldn't have been more happy to see us and cooperative and I said, "We're doing a documentary film, would you be in it?" And she batted those wonderful eyelids and said, "You betcha, I could." [Begin Video Clip, "sarah Palin: You Betcha!"]
[Sarah Palin, Former Governor Of Alaska:] Well, I'll betcha I could do that.
[Broomfield:] Could you do that?
[Palin:] Yes.
[Broomfield:] That'd be fantastic!
[Palin:] Yes.
[Broomfield:] But I believed her. I believed her, and we carried on contacting her lawyer and negotiating and stuff. And then, I think after about two months, I started believing that this was going to be very difficult, and it was very frustrating. But then I think, Sarah Palin only really talks on Fox News and only to people who sort of throw her softball questions. She doesn't really want to deal with anything very substantial.
[Anderson:] So, you went off to Wasilla.
[Broomfield:] Went to Wasilla. It was unfortunately in the middle of the winter, so it was already sort of minus 25 by the time we got there. And it's a teeny little community, 5,000 people, 76 churches, extremely evangelical. And at first, very welcoming. And then, as the nights grew darker and they got colder still, there was a kind of you get a sense that the town is split between those who are pro-Sarah Palin and those who are very much against her.
[Anderson:] Did you come up against a lot of resistance from those were pro-Sarah Palin?
[Broomfield:] I think what's happened is that she was enormously powerful, particularly mayor, governor. And I think there's a lot of fear in the town. So, it wasn't just that people were sort of against us making the film, it was more that people who were actually against her and were tempted to speak up were frightened to do so, because it was a small town, and I think people were just genuinely frightened of losing their jobs.
[Anderson:] Do you think she was an easy target for you?
[Broomfield:] Well, she was a really difficult target, because I rarely, rarely managed to even get her into my sights. I think that it's she's complicated, because part of I think to really understand Sarah Palin, I think you need to understand evangelicals really well. And you also need to understand the incredible change that has happened in the Republican Party. And also, I think Sarah Palin is a populist, and she's changed so much. So, she kind of blows with the wind, wherever she thinks the most support is going to be, she'll go there. And of course, she has God on her side. She believes she's God's anointed one, so she just carries on. So, she's actually much more complicated than you would expect. I think there is I think her friends, obviously, like her for her fun side. There is that side. But I think the one that has been the dominant one is her evangelical, black and white view of the world, very much like God and the devil. And if you're an enemy of Sarah Palin's, she will finish you off. She won't just sort of fire you from your job and have a nice going away party, she'll actually make sure you don't get employed again. I think she has just collected so many enemies, particularly I mean, normally, I think, politicians have the most support in their own hometowns and where people know them. Sarah Palin has the least support in Alaska, and probably even less support in Wasilla, where people know here. And she's ended up pretty much in this very isolated house with these enormous iron gates around it, very rarely goes out into the community. There's some wonderful people, and very brave people in Wasilla, who've been standing up to her despite all the death threats and stuff. I think Wasilla had started off as a very beautiful town. A pioneering town, which was, incidentally, Democrat. A small a few small, little, wooden buildings next to the Alaska railroad, surrounded by the most beautiful mountains. And it changed into this community with a super highway going right through it, which Sarah Palin engineered, and all these enormous super stores. You feel it's a lost opportunity of something that could have been fantastic. Wasilla was originally kind of its origins went back to FDR with the New Deal, when he sent pioneers to Alaska to sort of set a new world up. And it's very sad, I think, what's happened there.
[Anderson:] Amazing stuff. Nick Broomfield, talking about his new documentary, which is out tonight, "Sarah Palin: You Betcha!" You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN, and it's a Friday evening in London, 47 minutes past 9:00. When we come back, a European treaty with a global impact. Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers gives us his take on Europe's financial reforms. Do stay with us.