When I "Googled" Sarah Palin on Friday morning, July 3, over six million results popped up. Within a week of her surprise resignation, the number had hit 24 million.
As a politician, Palin has never been predictable or remotely conventional. That's been a big part of her appeal, especially to independent-minded voters. While a registered Republican, she's had little use for party process, people or tax policy. She earned her notoriety and won her elections in unconventional ways.
By defying not only convention, but people and establishments that many of us consider near-sacred, Palin became a lightning rod for all levels of positive and negative attention.
Alaska became divided -- not on party lines but on whether one was a "hater" or a "Palinista." Talk radio took off and obscure bloggers became household names as they kept us thinking and arguing about our governor.
It's ironic that many of the very same people who condemn Palin for leaving office are those who loathe her most fervently. It's also pretty funny that Juneau could criticize her for departing mid-term. No one here seemed to mind much when our state senator took a hike halfway through the legislative session just to go be an Obama minion. At least Palin had a successor in place.
That most in Juneau never embraced Palin is hardly surprising. When she was elected governor, she captured only 22 percent of the vote here. While the Chamber of Commerce and local Republicans welcomed her to town in December 2006, most people were never predisposed to make it easy for her, and that reflected poorly on all of us.
Palin moved her family into the Governor's House and enrolled her three daughters in Juneau public schools. For a variety of personal reasons, by the spring of 2009, only her youngest daughter was still being schooled in the Capital City, and only during the legislative session. The governor's support system has always been in Wasilla, but, as many Juneau bumper stickers reminded her and the rest of us, the job she took was in Juneau.
As a Juneau resident, I still thank Palin for her critical support of our Kensington mine and Juneau road. And like most Capital City residents, I am grateful to her for selecting Dennis Egan to fill our Juneau senate seat. (Yes, I know Hollis claims credit but Palin was still governor in May.)
It's hard not to argue that Alaska is at a crossroads. We've been on television non-stop since Aug. 29 but that show is finally over. Having experienced Palin's defiance at least once myself, I can understand the urge to take a final shot. Yet I'm uneasy about a house divided. What's done is done and now it's time to stop obsessing about Palin.
Just a couple weeks away from swearing in a new governor, perhaps an inventory of consensus issues is in order. With or without Palin, Alaska holds the key solutions to America's energy and economic challenges. We can advance our state on those issues by supporting our remaining leaders as they protect our interests both here and in Washington, D.C.
If we change the channel from petty ethics complaints to the boring business of actually doing something about serious state issues -- gangs, substance abuse and rural energy -- we'll send the message that Alaska is still a place America can look to for leadership.
Certainly should Palin choose to use her fame and new-found freedom to promote Alaska as America's energy breadbasket, that really can help.
Sarah Palin has moved on. We should move onward as well. And upward.
Paulette Simpson is past president of the Alaska Federation of Republican Women. She lives in Douglas.
By PAULETTE SIMPSON