Palin fever goes viral


Published on Monday, September 29, 2008 1:22 PM AKDT

Saw a bumper sticker driving through Wasilla this morning that simply read,”Palin Fever.”

It made me pause a moment to digest that those two simple words accurately sums up the political frenzy that’s been caused by our governor being named to the Republican presidential ticket. Whether ecstatic or physically ill with the development, America truly has caught “Palin Fever.” I cannot remember a time when a candidate for vice president garnered such a following so quickly as to overwhelm the two main headliners.

Sure, Geraldine Ferraro’s naming as Walter Mondale’s running mate on the Democratic ticket in 1984 was history-making stuff. Ferraro also generated media attention and scrutiny that was massive for her time.

But nothing that has come before can compete with what nearly 25 years of technology has done to increase the illumination and intensity of the national — and now global — spotlight.

Media outlets are clamoring for interviews with Palin, YouTube is flush with clips of our governor and former Wasilla mayor and the major cable news networks spend more time analyzing Palin, her past and her candidacy than they do Barack Obama or John McCain.

It’s been four weeks and a day since McCain announced Palin as his running mate, and a quick search for “Palin” on YouTube turns up a whopping 57,400 postings. Many of these are “viral,” a term used to describe widely distributed and viewed Internet video clips.

Whether “Palin Fever” will translate to success for the self-described hockey mom and the Republican Party won’t be known until Nov. 4. Whatever the outcome, this fever promises to be just the beginning of the viral age of politics.

—Greg Johnson, managing editor

Comments

23 comment(s)

    LILMAMAINGA wrote on Oct 5, 2008 3:56 PM:

    " It is too bad that the citizens of Alaska are having to bear the brunt of Palin's flubs and dubs as she tries to flounder through unknown territory. Thankfully you will all be there to comfort her when she comes home in November dragging her dusty crown of defeat. Why couldn't someone of you make her realize she was being used as a pawn by MCCAIN to win the women voters backing Hilary Clinton? Despite her natural charm, there was only one woman that was wanted in the White House and it isn't her. "

    We love you Sarah wrote on Oct 2, 2008 9:06 PM:

    " Palin Fever reigns with everybody I know. Long time Alaskan who ignores the clap trap on KTUU. "

    MaxKatt from NY wrote on Sep 30, 2008 6:51 PM:

    " PALIN FEVER: Common symptom; Frequent derailment or incoherence. Example: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.” -Sarah Palin. "

    Thrilled wrote on Sep 30, 2008 2:51 PM:

    " I am thrilled with the Palin pick! She will make a wonderful VP and I have no problem having her jump in to the Presidency if need be. What I am appauled at is the amount of people who are now all for a socialist government. With the election of Obama this country will now have a new Party called the Socialist Party, there will no longer be a Democratic Party. I am shocked at the amount of Obama supporters who want the government to 'take care' of them. What happened to supporting yourself? "

    Terri Holland wrote on Sep 29, 2008 4:50 PM:

    " I just want to put it out there first, if Palin loses, I hope the good people of Alaska can spare her - I want to see if she can head up our neurosurgical wing at the Mayo Clinic. I know she's not a surgeon, but we all hear she's a quick study and with a couple days of intense memorization, I think she could operate effectively on Tina Fey. "

    Oops wrote on Sep 29, 2008 9:28 AM:

    " Once her unsuccessful bid for VP is over, she'll probably apply at NASA.

    After the VP debate Palin will need to duck and run. Not sure if Alaska trust or wants her back. Make her accountable. The big boys won't be there to advise her, she'll be on her own and I for one am waiting. "

    mpd wrote on Sep 29, 2008 9:09 AM:

    " Dan Quail made similar headlines... but he was more qualified.
    I can only imagine the comotion in the valley over sarah, however out here (lower 48) she is not viewed very well, all the headlines are negative. focusing on her lack of ability, which most alaskans knew from her failure of AGIA and her lies on Monogam...bridge to nowhere....and I'm not an "outsider" just happen to be out for awhile. "

    Luke wrote on Sep 29, 2008 8:47 AM:

    " Wasilla's sweetheart.Alaska's girl. McCain's Hillary. Palin Fever, exploding upon the national scene like a native fleeing an eruption of Vesuvius, has, in it's unintended consequence, illuminated the wheelings and dealings this small time mayor, big time GOP hopeful, frequently conducted in the open air markets of bureaucracy and corruption where the lobbyists and their elected friends sell and trade without care the souls of the unaware populace. With the lava flows cooled and the steam of blinded euphoria dissipating into the day and night,the people awake and ask, "what has plundered our fields and countryside while we slept?" "

    Dynahog wrote on Sep 29, 2008 8:07 AM:

    " kday wrote, and I say


    BOO !!! "

    old timer wrote on Sep 29, 2008 7:10 AM:

    " Amazing, Cathy from Texas, that you think there are so many Alaskans who feel Sarah Palin doesn't have what it takes. I associate with a lot of Alaskans every day and of those of us who actually live here and vote we will be looking forward to her election. The media that calls a group of 60, including their kids, a "crowd for Obama" is trying to take control of the elction, as well as your mind. "

    Dan wrote on Sep 29, 2008 4:32 AM:

    " Why is it not obvious to more people with each and every day Obama shows and tells us his real agenda?

    Are you so brain dead you cannot see what future America will be under his control?

    Obama is bad mojo, Sarah Palin is not.


    Obama is just one of those deep water fish in total darkness with a built in lure. "

    CW wrote on Sep 28, 2008 7:55 PM:

    " DC- Are you out of your mind? While I agree that old-school politics need some fundamental revisions, the rest of your post is complete nonesence. How does one gain worldly knowledge? By being involved in worldly affairs, not staring at Russia from your back door. Her interviews make me wonder if she has so much as picked up a newspaper in the past 10 years. When you talk about silver spoons and old-school politicians being a mistake, you are describing your man McCain to the tee. "

    jp wrote on Sep 28, 2008 4:54 PM:

    " how does one get all this worldly knowledge? you can't study the present in school, they are generally about 20 years behind. the politicians who"have the experience" are generally corrupted by the corrupt system that we have.
    it's time we let someone who is not brought up with a silver spoon in their mouth, without being corrupted by D.C. politics.
    we definately do not need an Obama.
    what this country needs is to be srtipped of all the D.C. folks, and start new.
    Ron Paul 2012!
    but until then, Mccain Palin will do just fine! "

    Bob Bowen wrote on Sep 28, 2008 3:22 PM:

    " Sarah is still Joan of Arc from Alaska. She's up against world-class degenerates and is beating them while smiling. It's not so much what she says, but what her origins are. She terrifies the greasy news media because she represents TRUTH, despite her minor human flaws. The American nomenklatura can't handle TRUTH; it's a game-changer. "

    Cathy wrote on Sep 28, 2008 3:06 PM:

    " I hail from Texas, and was surprised to see that there are so many people in Wasilla who feel Sarah Palin is an unsuitable candidate---a position I agree with. I feel bad that she put your town through so much grief while she was mayor, firing people left and right. Although it surely has to make Wasilla citizens proud to have "one of their own" on the Republican ticket, this is not someone you want in the White House. "

    kday wrote on Sep 28, 2008 12:57 PM:

    " Dynahog,
    I'll tell you who scares me...YOU!! Sarah Palin will take women back into the dark ages. She won't fight for equal pay for women, a living minimum wage, women's right to choose,etc. She will say/do exactly what McCain tells her to. She was better able to lead in her Governors job where she did ok according to some Alaskans.
    Sarah Palin scares me too because she is not ready/educated enough to lead if McCain is disabled or dies. She just isnt'.simple fact. Watch those interviews.... I was embarrassed for her. "

    Contessa wrote on Sep 28, 2008 12:02 PM:

    " With McCain choosing, he helped Obama pull ahead- and I was already voting for him anyway. Choosing Palin was a really stupid move and shows how out of touch McCain is and that he only picked Palin to make the conservative right satisfied. I am embarassed that an Alaskan thrown on the National level has been this embarassing- but that's what you get when you think you are ready and really aren't. "

    Dynahog wrote on Sep 28, 2008 10:05 AM:

    " Sarah scares some people because she is fresh, new, exciting and they are afraid she can get more accomplished than a man in the VP position lifting Women of America out of the dark ages.

    Democrats are scared to death. Now you will know what the female special interests had in mind all along - nothing to do with Democratic ideas. The liberals are fearful their plans of Socialism are finished forever.

    Paris Hilton's biggest fear at any price is they tell her she can't get Palin's Japanese rim-less glasses for 6 months. "

    an observer wrote on Sep 28, 2008 9:43 AM:

    " She has thrown her family under the bus of her ruthless ambition. She is no more qualified than I am, and her views are so scary. "

    Polly E. wrote on Sep 28, 2008 7:59 AM:

    " I have a question. Sarah Palin cited "trade missions" with Russia as her one tangible piece of foreign policy experience in her Couric interview Thursday.

    What trade missions?

    Research doesn't show a single Alaska-Russia trade mission since former Democratic governor Tony Knowles visited Siberia in 1997, when Palin was running Wasilla.

    Does anyone know what trade mission she went on? "

    Alaskan Lady wrote on Sep 28, 2008 7:25 AM:

    " I've been an Alaskan since 1975. Palin may be a nice person, and liked by her Wasilla neighbors. I can see why they are excited about the prospect of her being VP. But, in all honesty, she is not qualified to be a world leader. By the way I am from a military, patriotic family as well. "

    cmh wrote on Sep 27, 2008 8:15 PM:

    " Palin Fever is easily cured with some antibiotic known as ethics, and a fair election. After that, Palin Fever can be cured at the site of original infection with more public coverage of scandals that would make Nixon's handlers smile. All they did was bug a hotel, after all; she's fired people and told the legislature to stay out of "her" state business. It's not their state, after all, right? "

    Save America wrote on Sep 27, 2008 3:20 PM:

    " Palin is scary and out of her league. At least she can see Russia, that qualifies her...LOL "

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