Sarah Palin’s Hot Photos (& Interview)

By BILL TANCER
Time Magazine
Tuesday, Sep. 02, 2008

I doubt that any of us have ever considered any of our past vice-presidential candidates a sex symbol. But if recent Internet searches are any measure of the average American's current interest in politics, that may be changing.

On the Richter scale of Internet search energy, Republican presidential candidate John McCain's announcement on Friday that he had chosen Sarah Palin, the current governor of Alaska, as his running mate measured a magnitude 10. If you compare the number of searches for "John McCain," "Barack Obama" or "Joe Biden" with those for "Sarah Palin," there's no contest. In just two days, the number of U.S. Internet searches for "Sarah Palin" reached a peak greater than any other political personality in the past three years. In the week ending Aug. 30, 2008, searches for Governor Palin were almost four times as popular as Obama searches, eight times as popular as McCain searches and over 10 times more popular than searches for Biden.

So, what exactly are Palin searchers seeking?

Of the 1,323 unique search queries containing "Sarah Palin" over the past four weeks, there were many that you'd normally expect to see regarding a newly named vice-presidential candidate: queries about Palin's biography, for example, her voting record and her stance on abortion. The No. 1 search was simply "Sarah Palin." The next nine most popular search terms that appeared in conjunction with "Sarah Palin" were:

2. Vogue Magazine
3. Photos
4. Beauty Pageant
5. Bio
6. Biography
7. Pictures
8. Scandal
9. Alaska Governor
10. Hot

And if you look more carefully at the 1,300 searches Hitwise tracked, one of the most commonly entered search topics surrounding Palin was "hot photos." (Hitwise search data updates weekly on Mondays, so information on searches related to the news of Palin's pregnant teen daughter, Bristol, were not yet available.) Other queries common to the American public: "Sarah Palin Bikini Photos," "Sarah Palin Naked," "Sarah Palin Nude." People also searched frequently for Palin's physical stats - particularly her age and height - as they did with the other candidates and running mates. Internet searchers also appear to be fascinated by and confused about her religious orientation, with several queries such as "Sarah Palin Religious Beliefs," "Sarah Palin Christian," "Sarah Palin Catholic," "Sarah Palin Mormon" and "Sarah Palin Jewish."

Examining which of their search results Internet users click on provides additional clues on searchers' intent. Of those searching for information on the Republican Veep candidate, 28.5% continued on to reference websites such as Wikipedia, indicating that a large portion of searchers were either interested in finding out general information or simply answering last weekend's common question: Who is Sarah Palin?

Given that the most popular searches surrounding the candidates include queries about Meghan McCain's lunch with Heidi Montag, Web videos of Obama Girl and slogans like "Alaska: Coldest State, Hottest Governor," it's getting harder and harder to distinguish news about the 2008 presidential race from the latest chatter from celebrity gossip magazines.

Found this gem on TIME's website. But remember: No matter who you might be supporting, always focus on the issues, not the distractions, not the petty arguements, and not the personal attacks. Who has the better plan to lead?

More on Sarah Palin:

Palin's first extended interview with the media. Charles Gibson of CBS as interviewer.



TIME: How did Palin Do On Her Interview?

Consider a few questions:

• Was Palin dodging questions?
• Did she reveal her lack of knowledge over world affairs (eg. Her explanation why the 9/11 attacks occured) and domestic policies (eg. Bush Doctrine) to the world?
• Did Obama, on the other hand, answer much tougher questions from O'Reilly with much better answers?
• Does she have any idea how extreme the Bush Doctrine (pre-emptive invasion) is?

You decide.

Oh, and Sarah Palin also gave a few wrong facts in the interview. Go to Factcheck.org for details.

Similar Article (US Politics): 10/09/2008 - Are Mccain & Palin Mavericks? Or Is It Merely "Lipstick On A Pig?"