Sarah Palin: Mitt Romney Hurt By Media 'Manipulation'

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin discussed the state of the 2012 race on Tuesday, telling Fox News' Sean Hannity that the media's "manipulation" has prevented Mitt Romney from surging ahead of President Obama in what she deemed "the election of our lifetime."

"The more time that Mitt Romney has to get his message out, the better it is for him," Palin said during an appearance on "Hannity" Tuesday evening.

However, according to Palin, the media's "manipulation" of that message has given Obama a distinct advantage over the former Massachusetts governor and presumptive Republican nominee.

"Like [the media] did four years ago, Sean, they chose their one and they did all that they could to usher him into the White House," she said. "We are going to see the same tactics this go around. I think voters, though, are wiser, perhaps, this go-around in understanding that the media does manipulate information."

When asked about Democrats' recent attacks on Romney's offshore bank accounts, the former Alaska governor said that the topic was an "insanely hypocritical" distraction from other issues -- but that Romney should be more adamant in defending himself and his personal finances.

"Governor Romney should vigorously defend his record and the fiscal! decisio ns that he's made as a private citizen," Palin said. "Romney needs to remind the public and the media that his private bank accounts are not the problem. That is not what is causing the economic demise of this country. It is the, what Barack Obama believes and then makes manifest in our economy with the monumental failures that kind of replicate the socialist nations that he seems to want to emulate."

In the past, Palin has stressed the importance of disclosing private records in a presidential campaign. In an interview with Hannity earlier this year, Palin urged Romney to release his tax returns as well as records from his time at Bain Capital, stating that the lack of transparency left the candidate vulnerable to attacks by the Obama campaign.

"Let's get it out there, let's hear the defense of the candidates who are being charged with some of this," she said during the January interview. "It's kind of like some come-to-Jesus moments for these candidates, and that's good, that's healthy."

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