Celebrity status drives Sarah Palin to lead in U.S. House race, but 70 percent didn't vote for her

Sarah Palin collected nearly one-third of the vote in the special primary election for U.S. House, repeating her tired catalog of talking points in right-wing forums, demonstrating the power of celebrity and the transitory nature of the voting public in Alaska.

It’s time for some real coverage of the celebrity. There has been none to date. Perhaps she would get one-third of the vote under any circumstances because people recognize her name, despite her lack of knowledge about Alaska issues today.

Here’s a good review by the Anchorage Daily News of where the contest to replace Rep. Don Young now stands and the schedule ahead.

Palin has done little public campaigning in Alaska and speaks through her campaign employees when she is not in front of right-wing audiences and media outlets that never raise difficult questions or get beyond the surface blather.

Much of what she says is borrowed from the material she began to rehearse as a VP candidate and she still uses many of the same phrases in her rambling monologues about freedom and natural resources—she’s in favor of both—and her opposition to nefarious attempts by mysterious anti-American forces to deprive people of their rights.

Palin’s history as governor is little known among many Alaska voters, who weren’t in Alaska when she ran for governor in 2006, when she ran for vice president in 2008 and when she quit the governor’s job in 2009.

She didn’t like being governor and refused to serve out her term, falsely claiming to be a lame duck with a year-and-a-half left in her term. She claimed she was quitting to save the state money.

About half of those registered to vote in Alaska today signed up after the 2008 election, according to an analysis performed for the Anchorage Daily News.

Of course it’s also imperative to examine the positions of Nick Begich, who finished second to Palin, as well as Al Gross, Mary Peltola or whoever else makes it into the top four.

Since a separate primary election—this one for the full two-year term—is also underway, the other candidates still in the running will have to break into the political debate immediately.

This analysis for the Anchorage Daily News shows that 282,203 people now on the voter rolls in Alaska were not signed up to vote in 2006 when she ran for governor or 2008 when she ran for vice president.