WASHINGTON - WHETHER or not Republican presidential candidate John McCain is elected next week, his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, plans to remain on the US national political scene, ABC News reported on Wednesday.

Asked about 2012, whether she was discouraged by daily attacks on the campaign trail and whether she would return home to Alaska, the Republican vice-presidential nominee signalled that she expects to be a player in the next presidential election cycle.

'I think that, if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we've taken... I'm not doing this for naught,' Mrs Palin told ABC News in a taped interview airing on Thursday.

With less than a week before Election Day, Mrs Palin said she believes in the current Republican presidential ticket and that she thinks 'it's going to go our way on Tuesday, Nov 4.'

'I truly believe that the wisdom of the people will be revealed on that day,' she said.

Mrs Palin has energised the Republican base of supporters. But the Alaska governor has come under withering criticism on a variety of issues, including whether she is qualified to become vice president. -- REUTERS