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September 4, 2008 10:20 PM PDT

What you can--and can't--find about Palin on the Internet

Posted by Stephanie Condon
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John McCain's announcement last week that he has chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate left the public thirsting for information about the Alaska governor-- and inspired hundreds of commentators, entrepreneurs, and Palin imitators to try to fill in the gaps.

A would-be Palin shares her inner-most thoughts on "The PalinDrome: Sarah Palin's Blog". A faux Levi Johnston (that'd be Palin's soon-to-be son-in-law, for those of you out of the loop) can also be found online.

You can join one of the hundreds of new Facebook groups passing judgment about Palin-- ranging from "Sarah Palin has more Executive experience than Obama and Biden combined" to "I have more Foreign Policy Experience than Sarah Palin." There is even a Governor Palin Facebook application... that doesn't seem to have any sort of application.

There are plenty of crude references to Palin online--on the less offensive side, one can buy merchandise calling Palin a "Babe-raham Lincoln."

If Palin doesn't suffice as your VP pick, one site recommends you try her out as your new Segway.

It's also interesting to note what you can't find on Palin on the Internet. As pointed out on Versionista, the Palin for Governor site disappeared the morning she was announced as McCain's running mate.

There could be a lot to glean about Palin's views and policy positions from her churchgoing history, the Huffington Post pointed out Tuesday. However, the archived sermons cited in the article are now inaccessible.

And, of course, the most authoritative site on the Internet--Wikipedia--has changed the story of Palin numerous times.

Of course, one could always turn to Palin's official biography for more information--but what fun would that be?

Stephanie Condon is a staff writer for CNET News focused on the intersection of technology and politics. She is based in Washington, D.C. E-mail Stephanie.
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Add a Comment (Log in or register) 20 comments
by kcwebgirl September 4, 2008 11:20 PM PDT
Thank goodness for the way back machine where you can indeed find the palinforgovernor site. Read until your little heart is content!
Reply to this comment
by MissMic September 4, 2008 11:23 PM PDT
http://www.archive.org/index.php
This is a way for you to find some of the 'missing' info.
Reply to this comment
by wmdbush September 5, 2008 12:52 AM PDT
Some pitbulls may wear lipstick. They also have halitosis, small brains and leave a stinking mess for someone else to clear up. Let's move on for God's sake.
Reply to this comment
by willywonker2 September 5, 2008 3:07 AM PDT
Now that the introductions are over we can begin getting into the meat of these campaigns.

Palin criticized Obama's community organizer title. Obama did this job in the time between his graduation from Princeton and his acceptance to Harvard Law School. His wife says he turned down corporate America to help others. He later graduated from Harvard Law with honors having edited the Harvard Law Review as a student.

By contrast, Palin went to three different colleges before finally ending up with a bachchelor's degree in communications from an unaccredicited program in Idaho. And that's the highest lever of education she has obtained. Add that to the fact that McCain graduated at the bottom one percent of his class from the Naval Academy and, in this time of challenge in America, I feel the Republicans have picked dumb and dumber to lead the nation following eight years Mr. Dumbest of them all.

Biden holds a law degree from Syracuse University.

My family is big on education and so am I. The Republicans can't ask the country to turn control over to thse two---frankly, intellectual morons.
Reply to this comment
by Zaunto September 5, 2008 5:10 AM PDT
Thank you for saying that. Someone needed to.

Change is in fact coming. It won't be coming from McCain and his "cheerleader hype-woman". Since the Republicans have no real solutions for the mess they've made of our economy and our lives after 8 years of failed Bush presidency, the best they can do is lie and use rhetoric to inspire the mindless morons who follow their mindless campaign. It's time for us to get rid of these clowns and get America back on it's feet again.
by jp33nm September 5, 2008 6:40 AM PDT
this coming from 'willywonker', haha
by Nebalizer September 5, 2008 10:07 AM PDT
As a soccer mom and Repulican. I have to say, I will not be voting for McCain. I think he completely picked the wrong candidate. I gave her my time and listened to her speech, but please we are not in high school anymore. Instead of trying to demean others to make yourself look better, try just telling us what you will do to help our Country. Very disappointed, as are all my Repulican friends. We will be sliding to the other side this time.
by golfhokie62 September 5, 2008 4:29 AM PDT
Now I know how McCain found her. Google: NRA + WOMAN + EXECUTIVE + NO FOREIGN EXPERIENCE
Reply to this comment
by t26l September 5, 2008 4:58 AM PDT
could we leave the politics off a TECH news website?
Reply to this comment
by virtdave September 5, 2008 8:08 AM PDT
well, no. the tech aspect is pretty important--the Republicans didn't scrub the net of possibly damaging rants by Palin's preachers using a toothbrush.
by NYorkie September 5, 2008 7:32 AM PDT
When researching Sarah Palin, I was most curious about how Alaskans see this woman as their Governor. After all, how many really knew who she was outside of that state?

We hear most often about the people who love her but there are plenty who do NOT. For another perspective, I highly recommend visiting www.mudflats.wordpress.com There's nothing I've seen there that does not check out with further research.
Reply to this comment
by cephalis September 5, 2008 8:47 AM PDT
One of her constituents from the burg she was mayor of, said she left them $22 million in debt.
Reply to this comment
by cnelson September 5, 2008 9:03 AM PDT
Ironic...we castegate China for "cleansing" the web during the Olympics. The Republicans appear to have "outsourced" their Web development (and stealth tactics) to China...
Reply to this comment
by marhzae September 5, 2008 9:24 AM PDT
The world will find out what kind of person sarah palin is when we find out how she has spoken of unwed mothers in the past. has she been like all the other members of her party and call them every thing but a child of GOD end with her daughter they want respect for the same sin. Keeping children stupid will continue to bring stupid mistakes
Reply to this comment
by polarfrz September 5, 2008 10:00 AM PDT
Just FYI, the State of Alaska web servers were not able to handle having the whole world (or what ever part of it) trying to access the info and went off line. I've been told they pulled the page until they can find a solution. We just don't usually get that much traffic. :)
Reply to this comment
by iSpud September 5, 2008 11:18 AM PDT
Same thing happened with the editing of Biden's wikipedia entry last week. Both sides do it. Phobic liberals...
Reply to this comment
by rajdeepj September 5, 2008 11:30 AM PDT
A cached copy of the landing page for www.palinforgovernor.com can be seen via Google. Unfortunately all the other links are dead.
Reply to this comment
by marhzae September 5, 2008 12:17 PM PDT
How much do americans owe John McCain for his service? Others serviced during the same period of time, other were captured and held as long and don't remind the public on a daily bases. It is starting sound as if he thinks his service was more important that that of anyone else. If he can't earn the support of people by things of today I don't feel he should be president. If he can only win vote by promising war he can not get my vote
Reply to this comment
by sarahdee September 9, 2008 5:01 AM PDT
No, no rajdeepj - not all the links are dead. The Donate link still works!!
Reply to this comment
by tlucian September 11, 2008 8:59 PM PDT
Why isn't anyone pointing out that if McCain kicks the bucket Sarah Palin's vice president will be Nancy Pelosi due to presidential succession? Yes, this evolving drama can get even weirder!
Reply to this comment
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