Scouring the Web for Sarah Palin

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has chosen Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, to be his running mate. The moment the selection was made official, bloggers, searchers, and buzzers went wild.

Naturally, lookups on the little-known Palin surged, as did other queries like "alaska governor," "sarah palin bio," and "sarah palin voting record." But that was to be expected. The interesting stuff came when folks picked up on the fact that Gov. Palin isn't your typical candidate.

As you'll likely hear countless times in the coming weeks, Gov. Palin came in second place in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant in 1984. Us Weekly picked up on the story, but not before looky-loos searched for "sarah palin beauty pageant," "sarah palin photos," and "sarah palin young."

Her relatively young age (she's just 44 years old) and the fact that she's a mother of 5 will continue to drive interest in her children and husband over the coming weeks and months. Her hubby, Todd, who often goes by the moniker "First Dude," is a a four-time champion of the Tesoro Iron Dog race. Her eldest son, Track, enlisted in the military on September 11, 2007. Both husband and son are currently rocketing up in Search. We also expect to log spikes soon on the rest of her brood: Bristol, Willow, Piper, and baby Trig.

Politics-related queries are also garnering tremendous interest. Curious folks are looking up Palin's stance on abortion and religion, as well as whether or not she's currently under an ethics investigation. The search data on those terms are impressive, but not as impressive as the queries on "sarah palin vogue magazine." That's right, kids—the possible next vice president is fashionable enough to be in Vogue.

But searchers are also learning their history. We're seeing huge spikes on Geraldine Ferraro, the first female candidate for vice president back in 1984. That's the same year Palin nearly won the title of Miss Alaska. This November, Gov. Palin will vie for a title that's just a bit more prestigious.

by Mike Krumboltz