Sarah Palin

About

Sarah Palin is an American author, former Governor of Alaska and former Republican Vice Presidential nominee in the 2008 Presidential election. Palin is known for her conservative political leanings and endorsement of the Tea Party movement.

Political Career

In 1992, Palin was elected to the City Council in Wasilla, Alaska. In 1996, Palin was elected mayor of Wasilla, defeating incumbent John Stein. In 2006, she defeated Frank Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary in Alaska. In November, Palin went on to defeat Democrat Tony Knowles and became the state's first female governor. In 2008, Palin was selected as Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate. The pair were defeated by Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the November election.

Online History

On August 29th, 2008, the official "Sarah Palin" Facebook^[1] page was launched, garnering upwards of 4.2 million likes in the next six years. In August 2009, Palin created a feed on Twitter,^[2] gathering more than 1.08 million followers in five years.

2008 United States Vice-Presidential Debate

2008 Vice Presidential Debate was a televised debate between the vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin in October of 2008. Watched by nearly 70 million U.S. television viewers and people online, the debate inspired a number of parodies online.

#Shakespalin

On July 18th, 2010, Palin tweeted a comment regarding a planned Cordoba House project, also known as the "Ground Zero Mosque", in New York City. Followers began to notice that Palin had invented the word "refudiate" in the tweet, for which there was no known definition. The tweet was quickly taken down, but screenshots of the tweet were subsequently posted on various sites around the web. The next day, Palin sent out another tweet embracing the newly coined word, going as far as to compare herself to William Shakespeare.

This inspired the creation of a new hashtag on Twitter, #shakespalin, #bardofwasilla and #cariboubardbie that would take famous quotes from Shakespeare's plays and comedically intertwine them with quotes from Sarah Palin or comments on her personality. On November 15th, 2010 "refudiate" was named one of Oxford English Dictionary’s 'Top Words of 2010'.^[3]

Sarah Palin Rap Facts

In May 2011, Palin raised an issue with the White House inviting Grammy-winning rapper and actor Common to a poetry event hosted by the first lady. The Twitter hashtag #PalinRapFacts was subsequently launched, which featured tongue-in-cheek tweets about Sarah Palin being at the center of major events throughout the history of hip hop.

#AccordingtoPalin

In June 2011, The Daily Show Twitter teed launched the hashtag #AccordingtoPalin to satirize Palin’s inaccurate description of American patriot Paul Revere’s heroic “Midnight Ride” in the early stage of the Revolutionary War. The hashtag was typically used to preface an ignorant, historically non-factual claim in jest.

The Sarah Palin Channel

In late July 2014, Palin announced her plan to launch an online subscription-based news network titled "The Sarah Palin Channel,"^[4] seeking to "go beyond the soundbites and the media's politically correct filter to get to the truth" as an alternative news media outlet. Launched on July 27th, the network's programming consisted of video commentaries and op-ed columns on various political issues by Palin and her staff, including her daughter Bristol, as well as a number of reality TV-style segments that focus on Palin's personal life. On July 6th, 2015, nearly a year after its launch, Palin announced the closure of the network in its original form and a new plan to continue its programming directly via Facebook and her official PAC website.

Donald Trump Endorsement

On January 19th, 2015, Palin made an appearance at Donald Trump's campaign rally event in Ames, Iowa to declare her endorsement of the controversial Republican presidential front-runner. During her 20-minute long speech on stage (shown below), the GOP's former vice presidential candidate reprised her notoriously militant brand of populism, or Palin-ism, filled with phrases like "pussy-footin'," "hallelujah" and "you betcha."

Palin's endorsement of Trump as the Republican presidential nominee was first picked up by the New York Times, followed by virtually all major U.S. news publications and networks covering the primaries campaign trail, many of which highlighted the former Alaskan governor's endorsement as a substantial boost towards Donald Trump's victory in the upcoming Iowa and New Hampshire caucuses. Meanwhile on Twitter and elsewhere in the social media, Palin's surprise appearance at Donald Trump's campaign rally instantly became a target of mockeries as a video clip of her rambling speech began circulating on Vine (shown below), which has garnered almost 20 million views within the first 72 hours.

Search Interest

External References