Welcome to Alaska 2008—big, bold, and the nucleus of a political showdown. When John McCain stood on stage and announced that our former beauty queen, rifle-toting, snow machine-riding governor was his pick for a running mate, the world heard a collective gasp from the state’s 670,000 residents. Cell phones chirped and twittered among local journalists; we were queried by media who googled “Alaska” and called the first name that popped up. Anyone with an Alaskan address became a source to out-of-state family and friends, and local bartenders have served out pints and stories to reporters hoping for a juicy tidbit.

As expected, the flurry of facts and fiction about the Last Frontier, its residents, and the Palins have made their murky way around the web and back again. Can we see Russia? Not yet. Is it true we get free money? Yes. What about the hunting thing? PETA: People for the Eating of Tasty Animals.

Ever since wannabe gold miners made their way over Chilkoot Pass in the 1800’s, an innate sense of adventure and independence has prevailed among those calling the 49th state home. Oilfield workers, fishermen, educators, or pilots, Alaska has managed to woo and win a sizeable collection of interesting characters to its rugged landscape. Bound by an abstract geographic locale separating us from the rest of the nation, we call everywhere not in Alaska “Outside” and until recently, remained content with this disconnect.

Sarah Palin is raising her family in Wasilla, a town of roughly 7,000 people and probably twice as many sled dogs. Not exactly a white picket-fence kind of place, Wasilla was roughly hewn out of the Matanuska-Susitna Valley some 45 miles from Anchorage. Wasilla is considered by many to be the dumpy country cousin that can’t quite figure out what it wants to be when it grows up, a challenge for elected officials such as Palin. Town planning, as is the case anywhere in Alaska, is limited in some respects by remoteness and a short building season that centers around function, not fluff.

The selection of Governor Sarah Palin is history because, at a mere 50 years old, Alaska is a state flush with self-reliant, gutsy people. We are presenting this rugged, individualist image to the world at a time when we all may be ripe for that popular theme of “change.” While Alaskans remain sharply divided on Sarah Palin’s merits to be Vice President, despite an admirable 80 percent approval rating as Governor, it is clear diversity has made the 2008 election more interesting than usual. Statewide, people are talking about candidates and issues, garnering as much, or more, attention than the vote for Alaska’s admission to the Union in 1959. Perhaps the selection of the state’s female governor to the VP ticket will lead Alaska to its own crossroads of awareness, no matter the outcome. One thing for certain, the ride is sure to be wild.

Erin K. Kirkland, a freelance writer and one of our MomBloggers, lives in Anchorage, Alaska. Check back for more on this series on her insider take on this historic election year.