'Hockey mom' banks on hometown appeal

It is a series of iconic images that have defined Alaska governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. There is the photograph of her propping up a dead, bloody caribou. Another has the National Rifle Association member squinting down a gun sight. Other pictures capture her embracing her husband at the end of a gruelling snowmachine race and as a toddler armed with two giant shrimps.

The UK's Guardian called her 'the gun-toting governor of Alaska'. She has styled herself as a proto-typical hockey mom, and the Republican party is banking that her intimate personal style will draw in undecided voters come November.

In her home state, many Alaskans are rooting for the small-town girl who is now gunning for the number two spot in the White House.

Even those who dislike Palin's politics say they are happy to see Alaska getting a hefty dose of national attention. But there are certainly two camps - those who are backing the first-term governor to the hilt and those who claim she is unqualified to serve as vice-president, much less lead the nation.

Almost no one is sitting on the fence.

Quintessential Alaskan

For many Alaskans across the political spectrum, Palin's early life in the town of Wasilla is not so different from their own. The largest state in the US has the smallest population with less than one person per square kilometre. Overall, there are fewer Alaskans than residents in Sharjah.

According to Kaylene Johnson, a Wasilla resident who penned a biography called Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down, Palin has a quintessential small-town Alaskan upbringing.

Although she was born in Idaho, Palin moved to the northernmost state with her family in 1964 when she was two months old, according to Johnson. The family finally settled in Wasilla, which didn't even incorporate until 1973, with a population of barely 400.

It is a far cry from the Wasilla of today. The population numbers more than 7,000, and the town is littered with big-box stores including Target, Wal-Mart and Home Depot.

When she was young, however, the Heath's Wasilla house was in the middle of the woods. Palin hunted with her father Chuck, and according to Johnson, shot her first rabbit at age 10.

Palin's brother Chuck Heath Jr. said it bothers him to hear his sister described as a sport hunter today.

"We came to Alaska in the early 1960s. Dad was working three jobs and hardly making any money. It was a matter of survival for us, the hunting and the fishing," he said. "It is a way of life here."

Pictures of her toting a gun or propping up a dead caribou may appear odd, but many Alaskans still hunt for food rather than sport. Even today, it isn't unusual to see a moose on the roadside in Anchorage or to have bears foraging though your garbage.

Outside rural Alaska, however, hunting is usually not a matter of survival anymore. Alaskan Steve Soroka, who works in the state's North Slope oil field and hunts for everything from bear to moose, said successful hunts can run into the thousands of dollars, once equipment and fuel is figured in, far more than the meat is worth.

"A lot of people do hunt for food, but it is for sport too. Not so many people do it just for subsistence anymore," said Soroka. "But it is part of our lifestyle."

While most people in the the US's 49th state see Palin as a typical Alaskan, opinions are more mixed as to what kind of job she is doing on the national stage. Some feel her liberal use of the 'hockey mom' moniker and repeated references to 'Joe Sixpack' - a nod to an everyday Joe with a six-pack of beer - are a little too rough edged, even for Alaska. "I felt she was trying too much to be a country girl and trying to be a bit too down-to-earth," University of Alaska Anchorage student Chase Ajay said about her performance in the vice-presidential debate.

Although she came off looking awkward and out of her element in televised interviews with journalists Kate Couric and Charles Gibson, even some Biden fans are saying that she is performing better than expected in front of the nation as a whole.

Chase Tichell, a 27-year-old auto accessories installer in Anchorage unabashedly calls himself a Palin fan. "I think she is doing really well for jumping from mayor to governor to vice-presidential candidate," he said, calling Palin the closest thing to a third party in Alaska. "She makes me excited to be Alaskan."

Others say they have a hard time taking the upbeat and attractive governor seriously. "I kind of see her as a cheerleader," Anchorage resident Joe Francisco said.

Opponents have also zeroed in on Palin's limited time as an elected official and her extremely limited foreign experience. Her first trip out of North America was to the Iraq-Kuwait border in 2007 with a stop in Germany on the way home.

Larry Persily, a long-time Alaskan journalist and former staffer at the Alaska governor's office in Washington D.C. under Palin, said she is personable, engaging and animated but added he was concerned that she lacks the substance to serve as vice-president.

"I think it is an honest warmth and friendship," said Persily, who added that he remains concerned that Palin has only taken action as governor when it was a shoe-in for popular support, such as raising taxes for oil companies. "I find that she goes out for the political victories ... What is your agenda? What is your work list for dealing with educational problems and homelessness and drug abuse and health care? Tackle some of the bigger issues that aren't so easy."

One of the few things Palin fans and foes agree on is the governor's skill at working a crowd.

'Can I call you Joe'

And although her "can I call you Joe" opener with Senator and Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Biden drew laughter at a debate-watching party at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, people who know her personally say it is in character for the one-time beauty queen.

Johnson said Palin was a popular student who played basketball, ran track and cross-country, and later married her high school sweetheart, Todd Palin.

Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla resident who garnered media attention when an e-mail she wrote criticising Palin went national, said the governor is skilled at reading people and reacting in a way that makes them feel comfortable. "From the way she presented herself, I thought this is a gal who has something on the ball and I was glad to vote for her for city council," said Kilkenny, who first met Palin during her first run at public office. "Sarah is charismatic and very likeable ... When you start watching closely how she functions as a public servant you recognise the pitbull in lipstick and you may have a different opinion."

Heath maintains that Palin has always had an innate ability to connect with people, one of the reasons she picked up the Miss Congeniality award in the Miss Alaska competition. She entered after being crowned Miss Wasilla earlier in 1984. "She was the one who got along with everybody when there was all the catfighting in the background," he said.

In both her personal and political lives, Palin is often described by family and friends as being very focused and valuing loyalty. Those she's tangled with call her vindictive and say she has a habit of stepping on those who've helped her in order to get ahead.

Blowing the whistle

Palin later blew the whistle on ethics violations by a fellow Republican, who ended up paying a $12,000 (Dh44,136) fine related to those charges.

Palin even defeated fellow party member and incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in 2006, even after he appointed her to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, where she served as chair.

Domonic Carney, a one-time Wasilla council member who prompted Palin to run for her first elected office, said not only is Palin ill-equipped to run the nation, she also has a habit of removing people who disagree with her. "You get on her bad side, and she'll do what she can to keep you down," said Carney.

Kilkenny also voiced concern about Palin's decision to clean house at both the city and state level and replacing them with people that some felt were under qualified. "Sarah values new ideas, new energy and new faces," she said. "But she does not surround herself with people who are smarter than her."

Johnson maintains Palin is no different from any other boss - she looks for team players.

"You tend to hire and surround yourself with people you trust," she said, adding she doesn't think Palin asks people to check their opinions at the door.

Soroka, however, said he expects if Palin becomes vice-president, she'll have a full compliment of advisers to fill her in on national and international issues.

"Maybe she isn't qualified. But how much worse can she do?" he said, adding she packs substantial hometown appeal. "I think for Alaskans she's popular because she's from Alaska. It is a local thing - oh wow, someone from Wasilla can be in the White House."

The author is a freelance journalist based in Alaska.

Alaska facts

• The population of Alaska is just 640,000.
• Juneau, located in the Southeastern panhandle, is the state's capital and can only be reached by boat or plane.
• Alaska masses 917,929 square kilometres or 2.3 times the size of Texas. That translates to less than one person per square kilometre.
• Anchorage, population 260,283, is often mistaken for the capital but is just the state's largest city.
• The name Alaska is derived from the Aleut word Alyeska, meaning "great land".

Source: The State of Alaska

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