Boldface type on the front page of Anchorage Daily News is becoming rule rather than exception these days. With the fallout and fodder stemming from John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, the media in Alaska are about ready to have a coronary. Before last week, few voters in the Lower 48 knew about Sarah but for her sexy image and perhaps moxy in standing up to Big Oil. Now, she, and her family, have been thrust into a world as distant to them as Alaska is for the rest of the nation. And, I fear, no one is going to come out smelling particularly pleasant.

 Opinons about Palin's selection seem to lie in two camps among Alaskans. The first camp maintains the "You Go, Girl" mantra, selling Palin's seemingly superhuman ability to juggle five children, one with a genetic disorder that will require a lifetime of support, a husband who works weeks-long shifts up on the North Slope, and, oh, a job as a professional politician; for that is what she has become. Sarah supporters have remained by her side, even after the stunning announcement that her daughter Bristol, at 17, is almost five months pregnant and plans to marry the young father. "These things happen to families all over the country", one Palinista told the Anchorage Daily News. Oy.

 The rest of Alaska is still in a state of shock over McCain's selection, party affiliation aside. Many feel slighted by the Republican Party for a decision seen by some to appease the Hillary Clinton supporters and sway their vote to the "other side". Understandably miffed, many Clinton supporters in Alaska, unsure of how the McCain campaign deduced this possibility, are staunchly remaining on the Blue team. Still other Republican voters, initially speechless at the selection of a governor who has held office for a brief two years and has little experience in the Big Time of Washington politics, are now speaking out in droves, wondering what John McCain was smoking when he made the decision to choose a self-proclaimed "hockey mom" from Wasilla; a town that, I might add, has a plethora of its own issues in the Matanuska Valley.

 I myself am sad for this family; Sarah Palin has been caught up in a whirlwind of opportunity at the wrong time. While her press office offers stellar credentials, including her hardiness in returning to work three days after giving birth to a child with Down Syndrome and hiring a nanny to handle things while working, I instead see a mother who is missing the point. Yes, I agree with her decision to embrace Trig's life and potential as a human on this planet. Yes, I applaud her as a working mother; it's her over-the-top method I can't quite wrap my head around.  Like many Alaskans, I worry that her desire to succeed and achieve was captured by John McCain and has now led her into an abyss of unfamiliarity that, unfortunately, will ultimately affect us all.

 Perhaps the best choice would have been to politely admit that neither she, or her family, were quite ready for this. I would have admired her a lot more for her ability to say 'no thanks'.

 Visit the Anchorage Daily News at www.adn.com for more stories and comments regarding Sarah Palin's selection as Vice Presidential nominee.