The Iowa Caucus campaign begins in Hong Kong

WSJ excerpts Our Lady of Wasilla's Nixon-at-the-Oxford-Union moment, a private, if highly paid, in Hong Kong. In it she offered business execs an hour and a quarter's worth of tour d'horizon (short version here via Twitter):

...She called for tax cuts as well as the elimination of the capital gains and estate tax. Then, she said, the world will "watch the U.S. economy roar back to life."

On health care, Mrs. Palin defended her previous criticisms that the health-care overhaul proposed by Democrats would lead to health-care rationing and what she called "death panels." "It's just common sense that government attempts to solve problems like health care problem will just create new problems." She called for "market friendly" health care reform that gives tax breaks to individuals to buy health insurance.

...She acknowledged the economic rise of both China and India but called for a vision of Asia in which no one country would dominate.

"I see a China that is stable and peaceful and prosperous. We have optimism that, yes, it is," she said. But she added that the U.S. must work with Asian allies in case "China goes in a different direction."

...Mrs. Palin warmed up the crowd with her impressions of Hong Kong, one of the densest urban areas in the world. "The wildlife to human ratio is different from Alaska, but I could get use to it," she said.

She also spoke about how Alaska once shared a land bridge with Asia. And she noted that her husband's Eskimo ancestors crossed that bridge. "To consider that connection that allowed sharing of peoples and bloodlines and wildlife and flora and fauna, that connection to me is quite fascinating," she said.

Reaction varied:

..."She was brilliant," said a European delegate, on condition of anonymity.

"She said America was spending a lot of money and it was a temporary solution. Normal people are having to pay more and more but things don't get better. The rich will leave the country and the poor will get poorer."

Two US delegates left early, with one saying "it was awful, we couldn't stand it any longer". He declined to be identified.

...Although she touched on the threat posed to the United States by terrorism and talked about links with traditional US allies in Asia such as Japan, Australia and South Korea, one Asian delegate complained she devoted too much time to her home state of Alaska.

"It was almost more of a speech promoting investment in Alaska," he said, declining to be named.

"As fund managers we want to hear about the United States as a whole, not just about Alaska. And she criticised Obama a lot but offered no solutions."

Another said he was disappointed that she took only pre-arranged questions.