HTF Attempts to Speak For All Alaskans, Whether You Live in the Cold Part or the Really Cold Part

I've found myself having the same conversations over and over again lately, which is totally fine. People want to know why we're moving to Seattle and as the conversation goes on it comes up that my wife is from Alaska. Then comes the next obvious question, which was also sent into henrythefrog@gmail.com by an alert reader, who I will call "DW":

What do Alaskans think of Sarah Palin being McCain's VP?

I, of course, should probably steer clear of speaking for all Alaskans, particularly since I can't even speak intelligently for the one I'm married to (and also since the majority of Alaska's population are caribou who can't speak at all). However, that's not gonna stop the HTF from taking some wild guesses based on solid facts that I may or may not have made up. So I did actually do a little research and stumbled across this blog post by a prolific blogger in Alaska who the Mrs. HTF actually knows. If you want a better answer to the question, that post is probably a decent place to start. It's well written and sincere.

My take is that Alaskans are probably awfully wary of all the attention and are probably getting tired of the jokes (several of which I'll be sure to make on my blog, including the one about needing to have a passport to get in). However, the suddenly most-famous-governor-on-the-planet enjoys the highest approval ratings in the country (something like 84%). So it would be interesting to see someone in the White House with approval ratings above the single digits. A friend of mine has a friend who lives in Wasilla, the suddenly-most-famous-town-you'd-never-heard-of where I've actually visited. The Wasillian (a word that I just made up) told him that Sarah is "the real deal" and that she's every bit the positive leader that the campaign is making her out to be. This guy actually knows her and her family, which I'm assuming means that they shoot moose from their snowmobiles together on weekends. So I guess I'm saying that I suppose Alaskans are pretty proud to have one of their own in that spotlight. However, I also get the sense that there are plenty of 'em who would just assume have their governor back. Can you name your current governor? What about the one before him/her? (pop quiz)

So I'm not sure that's a great answer, but the Mrs. HTF has become a fan, as have I. And I was thoroughly convinced when she was first announced that JohnnyMac had decided to throw the election. I'm now convinced (as I've said in previous posts) that it was a flat-out brilliant political move. Pragmatism makes you do some interesting things sometimes, perhaps that explains the whole idea of putting Halibut in your Moose Stew.

Thanks for the question, DW (and everyone else).