I was doing some more reviews of Shelly Whitstine’s (Syrin’s Blog) reviews of Sarah Palin’s career this morning because I wanted to make sure she was not just someone who the Alaskan governor had screwed in the past and was now trying to even the score. I don’t think she falls into that category. She ties in with groups of bloggers and writers, both Republican and Democrat, conservative and liberal, who are amazed that someone with Palin’s inexperience and certain underhanded actions in their state would be nominated for VP.
One that she refers to is AKMuckraker, whose Mudflats blog I have referred to before. In his piece this morning he talks about a rally in Anchorage of “women against Palin” whose rally outnumbered Palin’s homecoming rally. One good thing about AKMuckraker is that he is also a photographer and backs things up with visuals (I’ve included 3 at my site). Here’s part of his comment on the event:
Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn’t honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn’t happen here.
Then, the infamous Eddie Burke (note: long-time uber-conservative Anchorage talk show host) showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn’t be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.
Whitstine (Syrin) also lists 30 or so other legitimate commentators, both local and national, giving an amazing overall profile on Palin which we are not getting from the McCain campaign. This is worth reading if you have not made up your mind, or even if you have. It is best to know more than less about a candidate, and Palin is someone most of us know so little about now.
