Deftly maneuvering the crowd better than Ted Stevens at a party, our governor straight-talked the folks of Alaska through her own rose colored glasses as soon as she hit the tarmac November 5th. While staff unloaded Sarah Palin, her family, a bunch of friends, and a full cargo hold of luggage, it all became clear; she has outgrown us. 

We had thought returning home would be enough for Governor Palin, runnin’ the state from her house, chit-chatting with the occasional legislator, raising kids, putting in a natural gas pipeline. But painfully obvious to the masses who met the plane that frosty morning was that former VP Candidate Palin, resplendent in peep-toe pumps and trailing a press entourage, had far surpassed her local fame. This lady has a devoted following nationwide, and she‘s working it. Oh baby, is she working it.

While the Anchorage Daily News has, for the most part, muted daily headlines regarding Her Alaskaness, the national media has found a new darling. Every mogul from CNN to ABC has traveled up the Glenn Highway to Palin’s lakefront home, begging snow machine rides and bowls of moose chili while interviewing Sarah in her natural habitat. Palin loves it. Modestly preening in front of the camera, she continues to lightly brush aside questions concerning her political future as if they were pesky mosquitoes, zeroing instead on the fact that she is back in her home state, ready to lead and looking to gather all of us in her arms for a big group hug. Or is she?

Although not on the front page anymore, Sarah Palin continues to make local news interesting. Despite book deals, rumors of a talk show, and an A-List invite to Republican fundraisers nationwide, Wonder Woman must still pay attention to a few teensy little details. Wait, you say. Weren’t all those things just campaign smut slung around by the Democrats? Didn’t Palin clearly vindicate herself from all things Troopergate and Neiman Marcus? We should be so lucky.

It seems that since Governor Palin returned to governing, all is not so settled here in the Last Frontier. A group calling themselves Alaskans for Truth is plunging forward with a plan to dig up the rest of the story behind various scandals, searching out censure against Palin for violating the state Ethics Act, among other things. What their rabblerousing will bring to the future of politics in Alaska is anyone’s guess, but one thing is certain, people are polarized up here with vengeance not seen since the Alaska Independence Party wanted to secede in the 60’s. This has led to further discussion among Alaskans who believe the state is ready to split at the seams, shoving left-wing liberals down south and leaving everyone else free to head to Palin Headquarters, er, Wasilla.

What do I think? Personally, as long as Sarah Palin doesn’t start pardoning turkeys on a regular basis, she can do whatever she wants.  Praise the Lord and pass the stuffing. 

Erin Kirkland maintains a blog at www.elituqakbrady.blogspot.com in addition to her momblog for Working Mother. She is a freelance writer in Anchorage, Alaska.