Palin’s swift rise is the talk of her Alaskan town
WASILLA, Alaska (CNN) — It was the night before Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was to accept the Republican vice presidential nomination in a nationally televised speech, and Becky Moore couldn’t sleep a wink.
Dr. Curt Menard, Gov. Sarah Palin’s family friend and childhood dentist, looks over her high school yearbook.
more photos »
She paced around her room and prayed before sending Palin an e-mail wishing her good luck.
"I was so nervous for her," said Moore, a dietitian who lives in Palin’s hometown of Wasilla. "I felt like she was my relative, like she was about to prove herself to the country."
As much as Moore was hoping for the best, there was a part of her that didn’t want to share her governor and former mayor with the lower 48, a term Alaskans use to refer to their distant countrymen with a mix of playfulness and disdain.
"No matter what happens, we win. If she becomes vice president, the rest of the country will see what a great leader she is. If she loses, we get her back," Moore said.
The night after Palin’s speech, Moore and friends from her book club gathered at Wasilla’s Pandemonium bookstore to discuss the Jeffrey Eugenides novel "Middlesex."
But instead, the conversation centered on the poise and bravura with which Palin explained her views on resource development — another Alaska term for oil and gas drilling — family values, fighting corruption and reducing the role of government in private lives.
Watch why some say Palin may overshadow Sen. John McCain »
Don’t Miss
"As a longtime Alaskan, she makes me proud. She’s sophisticated and intelligent. She can wear bunny boots and high heels and be comfortable in both," said Paula Esche, a retired teacher who moved to Alaska from Wisconsin in 1963.
Indeed, with each proverbial crack Palin has made in Alaska’s political landscape, the story of her rise from hometown girl to political upshot has been retold over and over again in the Alaskan press and some national publications, including Vogue.
To many, Palin’s iconic status is well-deserved, considering that the high school basketball star, former beauty queen and television journalist rose from Wasilla
Related posts: Depression, No mutants allowed, Tmonews, Bob bell bozo, Larry mendte