public image of Sarah Palin

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Prior to the Republican National Convention, a Gallup poll found that most voters were unfamiliar with Sarah Palin. 39% said she is ready to serve as president if needed, 33% said she is not, and 29% had no opinion. This was "the lowest vote of confidence in a running mate since the elder George Bush chose then-Indiana senator Dan Quayle to join his ticket in 1988."{{cite news|first=Susan|last=Page|title=Poll: Voters uncertain on Palin|date=August 30, 2008|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-30-palin-poll_N.htm|work=USA Today|access-date=December 24, 2008}}

Republicans cited her tenure in executive office, high popularity, past focus on ethics and energy issues, her personal life, as well as her command of the Alaska National Guard and Alaska's proximity to foreign countries among reasons for the choice of Sarah Palin.{{cite news|title=Transcript: Gibson Interviews John McCain|date=November 3, 2008|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Conventions/story?id=5715542|work=ABC News|access-date=December 24, 2008}}

Criticism focused on her limited foreign policy experience and work on major policy issues and claims of low amount of actual responsibility as well as alleged misconduct during her time in office. Her readiness to step in should the president be incapacitated was also questioned.{{cite news|first=Charles|last=Krauthammer|title=Palin's Problem|date=November 5, 2008|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090402845.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=December 24, 2008}}{{cite news|first=Adam|last=Nagourney|title=Concerns About Palin's Readiness as Big Test Nears|date=November 29, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/us/politics/30palin.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 24, 2008}}{{cite news|first=Jeff|last=Zeleny|title=Donation Record as Colin Powell Endorses Obama|date=October 19, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/us/politics/20campaign.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 24, 2008}}

A February 2010 poll for ABC News and The Washington Post showed 71% of Americans felt Palin lacked the qualifications necessary to be President of the United States. In a poll in October 2010, the number dropped to 67%, with 27% seeing her as qualified and with self-described Tea party members split evenly.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers/2010/10/tea-party-or-no-palins-popularity-still-lags.html|title=Tea Party or No, Palin's Popularity Still Lags|date=October 29, 2010 |first=Gary |last=Langer|publisher=ABC news|archive-date=March 2, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302110903/http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenumbers/2010/10/tea-party-or-no-palins-popularity-still-lags.html}}

Sarah Palin cited Alaska's proximity to Russia and her dealings with foreign trade delegations as showing her the importance of foreign policy.{{cite news|title=Excerpts: Charlie Gibson Interviews Sarah Palin|date=September 11, 2008|url=https://abcnews.go.com/politics/vote2008/Story?id=5782924|work=ABC News|access-date=December 24, 2008}} Palin later agreed that her comments were "mocked" and reiterated her view that this proximity enhanced her foreign policy credentials.{{cite news|title=Exclusive: Palin On Foreign Policy|date=November 25, 2008|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/exclusive-palin-on-foreign-policy/|work=CBS Evening News|access-date=December 24, 2008}} Her interviews and particularly her response to explaining the Bush Doctrine as Bush's "worldview" were criticized. Subsequently, a survey found likely voters were divided on whether Palin had the personality and leadership qualities a president should have.{{cite news|first=Jim|last=Rutenberg|title=In First Big Interview, Palin Says, 'I'm Ready'|date=September 11, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/us/politics/12palin.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 25, 2008}}{{cite news|first=Michael R.|last=Gordon|title=Analysis: Palin and Foreign Policy|date=September 12, 2008|url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/analysis-palin-and-foreign-policy/|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 25, 2008}}{{cite news|first=Foon|last=Rhee|title=Poll shows Palin might be losing some of her luster|date=September 27, 2008|url=https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/09/27/poll_shows_palin_might_be_losing_some_of_her_luster/|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=December 25, 2008}}

After announcing Palin as the presumptive vice-presidential nominee, the McCain campaign received $7 million in contributions in a single day,{{cite news|first=Matthew|last=Mosk|title=McCain Gets $7 Million Bounce from Palin Pick|date=August 30, 2008|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/30/mccain_gets_7_million_bounce_f.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709040405/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/30/mccain_gets_7_million_bounce_f.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 9, 2009|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=December 24, 2008}} and the Obama campaign garnered more than $8 million by the next day.{{cite news|first=Michael|last=Luo|title=In August, Obama Donations Shatter Records|date=September 21, 2008|url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/in-august-obama-donations-shatter-records/|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 25, 2008}} During the campaign, Palin evoked a more strongly divided response than Joe Biden among voters and was viewed both more favorably and unfavorably when compared to her opponent. A plurality of the television audience rated Biden's performance higher at the 2008 vice-presidential debate.{{cite news|title=Palin Still Viewed More Favorably – And Unfavorably – Than Biden |date=November 24, 2008 |url=http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/palin_still_viewed_more_favorably_and_unfavorably_than_biden |work=Rasmussen Reports |access-date=December 25, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207172753/http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/palin_still_viewed_more_favorably_and_unfavorably_than_biden |archive-date=December 7, 2008 }}{{cite news|title=45% Say Biden Won Debate, 37% Say Palin |date=October 4, 2008 |url=http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/45_say_biden_won_debate_37_say_palin |work=Rasmussen Reports |access-date=December 25, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201201824/http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/45_say_biden_won_debate_37_say_palin |archive-date=December 1, 2008 }} Following the presidential election, 69% of Republicans felt Palin had helped John McCain's bid, while 20% felt Palin hurt. In the same poll, 71% of Republicans stated Palin had been the right choice.{{cite news|title=69% of GOP Voters Say Palin Helped McCain |date=November 7, 2008 |url=http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_2012/69_of_gop_voters_say_palin_helped_mccain |work=Rasmussen Reports |access-date=December 25, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223223347/http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_2012/69_of_gop_voters_say_palin_helped_mccain |archive-date=December 23, 2008 }}

{{See also|Political positions of Sarah Palin}}

Environmental organizations, including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club Alaska, and Greenpeace strongly opposed Palin's positions on issues of energy and environment and criticized Palin for her skepticism regarding humans as the cause of global warming and her administration's positions on wildlife, including the attempt to have the federal designation of the polar bear as a threatened species removed. They also criticized Palin's support of oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.{{cite news|last=Doyle|first=Leonard|title=Palin: the real scandal|work=The Independent|date=September 6, 2008|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/palin-the-real-scandal-920803.html|access-date=March 15, 2009|location=London}}{{cite news|last=Lydersen|first=Kari|title=Oil Group Joins Alaska in Suing To Overturn Polar Bear Protection|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 31, 2008|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/30/AR2008083001538.html|access-date=March 15, 2009}}

After being nominated, Palin's religious views came under scrutiny from the media.{{Cite news |last=Mostrous |first=Alexi |date=September 10, 2008 |title=Sarah Palin, the pastor and the prophecy: judgment day is not far away |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4720440.ece |work=Times Online}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{Cite web |last=Kaye |first=Randi |date=September 9, 2008 |title=Pastor: GOP may be downplaying Palin's religious beliefs |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/08/palin.pastor/index.html |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=CNN}}{{cite news |author=Benen |first=Steve |author-link=Steve Benen |date=September 9, 2008 |title=Palin's beliefs draw closer scrutiny |url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014624.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912043716/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_09/014624.php |archive-date=September 12, 2008 |work=Washington Monthly}} Palin had been involved in Independent Charismatic circles and was a member of an NAR "spiritual warfare network" linked to prophet Cindy Jacobs, through which she was reportedly encouraged to go into politics.{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Matthew D. |title=The Violent Take it by Force |date=October 2024 |publisher=Broadleaf Books |isbn=978-1-5064-9778-5 |location=Minneapolis |chapter=5. Seven Mountains}} A video, filmed at the Wasilla Assemblies of God church, of dominionist New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) preacher Thomas Muthee praying that God would protect Palin from witchcraft was released during the campaign, also leading to critique.{{Cite journal |last=Butler |first=Anthea |date=2012-09-12 |title=From Republican Party to Republican Religion: The New Political Evangelists of the Right |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1558/poth.v13i5.634 |journal=Political Theology |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=642–643 |doi=10.1558/poth.v13i5.634 |issn=1462-317X|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Sears |first=Brian C. |date=Summer–Fall 2022 |title=Power, Prophecy, and Dominionism: the New Apostolic Reformation Goes to Washington |journal=Fides et Historia |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=97 |via=EBSCOhost}} Her connection with the NAR led its leaders, particularly figurehead C. Peter Wagner, to see her as a political force for their movements. Wagner later expressed concern that Palin's NAR ties and the media's negative reaction to the Muthee video may have led to the campaign's loss.

Palin spoke to a group of graduating ministry students at her former church, where she urged them to pray "that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," and in the same remarks asserted that "God's will" was responsible for the Alaskan national gas pipeline project.

Following the Republican National Convention, the McCain campaign told CNN that Palin "doesn't consider herself Pentecostal," raising the possibility for commentators that she might be downplaying her faith. A Rassmussen poll taken after the convention found that Palin was a draw with Catholic voters; the poll found that 54% favored Palin and 42% found her unfavorable, a 12% difference, while Joe Biden was viewed favorably by 49% to 47%.{{cite web|url=http://www.zogby.com/news/readnews.cfm?ID=1548|title=Zogby Poll: Republicans Hold Small Post-Convention Edge|publisher=Zogby|date=September 6, 2008|access-date=September 7, 2008}}

Republican Jewish Coalition Executive Director Matt Brooks commented: "As governor of Alaska, Palin has enjoyed a strong working relationship with Alaska's Jewish community. She has demonstrated sensitivity to the concerns of the community and has been accessible and responsive."{{cite news|first=Natasha|last=Mozgovaya|title=Jewish Democrats: Palin is out of step with Jewish public opinion|date=August 29, 2008|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1016506.html|work=Haaretz|access-date=December 24, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122055113/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1016506.html|archive-date=November 22, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} The Republican Jewish Coalition publishes a page on its website debunking what it calls "smears" about Sarah Palin, as well as an endorsement from Governor Linda Lingle, Hawaii's first Jewish and first female governor."[http://www.rjchq.org/Newsroom/newsdetail.aspx?id=ee7f61fa-1a9b-49bf-8164-b140348da1e0 Smears Debunked: The Truth about Gov. Sarah Palin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920012603/http://www.rjchq.org/Newsroom/newsdetail.aspx?id=ee7f61fa-1a9b-49bf-8164-b140348da1e0 |date=September 20, 2008 }}", Republican Jewish Coalition, September 9, 2008.

On September 16, 2008, the National Organization for Women (NOW) gave its endorsement in the presidential race to Democratic candidate Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden. The Independent of London reported: "The feminist organisation almost never supports a presidential candidate, but the Alaska governor's Christian fundamentalist faith and her opposition to abortion rights has forced its hand."Leonard Doyle.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/hillarys-women-reject-mccains-vp-choice-933050.html 'Hillary's women' reject McCain's VP choice"]; The Independent September 17, 2008 Gandy explained, "as the chair of NOW's Political Action Committee, I am frequently asked whether NOW supports women candidates just because they are women. This gives me an opportunity to once again answer that question with an emphatic 'No.' We recognize the importance of having women's rights supporters at every level but, like Sarah Palin, not every woman supports women's rights."Jon Nichols. [http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/351275 "Clinton Praises Palin Pick"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228094530/http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/351275 |date=December 28, 2008 }}; The Nation, August 30, 2008 The conservative magazine The Weekly Standard responded asserting "the old-fashioned feminists have fallen back on the old theme of false consciousness; that women who don't agree with them aren't really women at all."Noemie Emery.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080920224836/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/591xzuuj.asp "The Palin Effect "]; Weekly Standard, September 2008, Volume 014, Issue 03

According to a blog published by the Christian Broadcasting Network, Palin retained the support of Evangelicals following her daughter's conception of a child outside of wedlock: "First they hear that Sarah Palin chooses the life option even though she had a Down Syndrome baby and once again the family (and Bristol) has chosen the life option in this recent case... Will there be some turned off by the whole pre-marital sex thing? Of course but this type of story doesn't sink her at all with Evangelicals."{{Cite web|date=2008-09-10|title=Palin's 17-Year-Old Daughter is Pregnant - The Brody File: David Brody Blog - CBN News|url=http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/436448.aspx|access-date=2020-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910055747/http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/436448.aspx|archive-date=September 10, 2008}} Evangelical leader Richard Land said of Palin's seventeen-year-old daughter's pregnancy, "Those who criticize the Palin family don't understand that we don't see babies as a punishment but as a blessing."{{cite news|first=Rebecca|last=Sinderbrand|title=Evangelicals rally behind Palin after pregnancy news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/01/palin.evangelicals/|work=CNNPolitics.com|date=September 2, 2008|access-date=September 19, 2008 }}

Bill O'Reilly expressed support for Palin: "As long as society doesn't have to support the mother, father or baby, it is a personal matter."{{cite news|last=O'Reilly|first=Bill|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/sarah-palin-and-the-chaos-zone|title=Sarah Palin and the Chaos Zone|work=The O'Reilly Factor|publisher=Fox News|date=September 3, 2008|access-date=August 3, 2010}}

"Hillary is missing in action from the Palin-hating brigade," opined a writer for The Weekly Standard. Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton referred to Palin's VP nomination as "historic,"[http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/09/65488/index.html "Palin Thinks Obama Regrets Not Choosing Clinton for VP"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917232239/http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/09/65488/index.html |date=September 17, 2008 }}; ET, September 12, 2008 stating, "We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin's historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain.... While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate." Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin expressed a different view: "To the extent that this choice represents an effort to court supporters of Hillary Clinton's historic candidacy, McCain misjudges the reasons so many voters rallied around her candidacy. It was Senator Clinton's experience, skill and commitment to change, especially in the areas of health care and energy policy, that drew such strong support. Sarah Palin's opposition to Roe v. Wade and her support of big oil will not draw Democrats from the Obama-Biden ticket."Jon Nichols. [http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/351275 "Clinton Praises Palin Pick"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228094530/http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/351275 |date=December 28, 2008 }}; The Nation, August 30, 2008 The president of NOW, Kim Gandy, said: "What McCain does not understand is that women supported Hillary Clinton not just because she was a woman, but because she was a champion on their issues. They will surely not find Sarah Palin to be an advocate for women."

Palin and Clinton were compared and contrasted with one another in the media. A New York Times article explained: "Mrs. Clinton and Ms. Palin have little in common beyond their breakout performances at the conventions and the soap opera aspects of their family lives. Mrs. Clinton always faces high expectations; Ms. Palin faced low expectations this week, and benefited from them. Mrs. Clinton can seem harsh when she goes on the attack; Ms. Palin has shown a knack for attacking without seeming nasty. Mrs. Clinton has a lot of experience; Ms. Palin, not so much. Mrs. Clinton is pantsuits; Ms. Palin is skirts."Patrick Healey.[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/us/politics/06web-healy.html "The Real ’08 Fight: Clinton v. Palin?"]; The New York Times, September 5, 2008 Guy Cecil, the former political director of Mrs. Clinton's campaign, said it was "insulting" for Republicans to compare Ms. Palin to Mrs. Clinton."[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/01/clinton-advisers-palin-pi_n_122911.html "Clinton Advisers: Palin Pick Means Bigger Role For Hillary"]; Huffington Post, September 1, 2008 The Saturday Night Live skit "A Nonpartisan Message from Governor Sarah Palin & Senator Hillary Clinton" counterpoised Palin, played by Tina Fey, against Hillary Clinton, played by Amy Poehler. The skit pointed out their opposing political views and presented Palin as unversed in global politics, as emphasized by the line: "I can see Russia from my house." Ex-Hewlett-Packard chief executive and former McCain advisor Carly Fiorina blasted the Saturday Night Live sketch in a television interview: "They were defining Hillary Clinton as very substantive and Sarah Palin as totally superficial,"[http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iBqRMwm8pDt4bbIHnsfzUWyl_e8g "Palin imitators flood YouTube with mocking videos"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921034048/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iBqRMwm8pDt4bbIHnsfzUWyl_e8g |date=September 21, 2008 }}; AFP, September 17, 2008 and an ABC news blog headline soon after ran, "Now the McCain Campaign's Complaining that Saturday Night Live Skit Was 'Sexist'."Jake Tapper.[http://blogs.abcnews.com/ "Now the McCain Campaign's Complaining that Saturday Night Live Skit Was 'Sexist'"]; ABC, September 17, 2008

In a September 2008 article, Chad Baus the vice chairman of the Buckeye Firearms Association comments:{{cite web |author1=Chad D. Baus |title=Morale problem solved: Sarah invigorates army of pro-gun voters |url=http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5975 |website=Buckeye Firearms Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202223318/http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5975 |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |language=en-us |date=September 5, 2008 |url-status=live}} "Unlike Mitt Romney and John Kerry, Palin is a life-long NRA member and big animal hunter.... In seeking to assuage the concerns of gun owners about his spotty record on guns and rally them to the polls, John McCain couldn't have made a better choice." In its brief, "Sarah Palin and Joe Biden: Worlds Apart," the NRA Institute for Legislative Action says nothing specific about Palin's position on gun legislation but concludes: "Gov. Sarah Palin would be one of the most pro-gun vice-presidents in American history."[http://www.NRAILA.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?id=320&issue=047 "Sarah Palin and Joe Biden: Worlds Apart"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104123534/http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?id=320&issue=047 |date=January 4, 2012 }}; National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action, August 29, 2008

On August 7, 2009, Palin released a statement on her Facebook page in which she said: "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care."{{cite news|last=Farber|first=Daniel|title=Palin Weighs In on Health Care Reform|publisher=CBS News|date=August 8, 2009|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/08/08/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5226795.shtml|access-date=August 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810152127/https://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/08/08/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5226795.shtml|archive-date=August 10, 2009|url-status=dead}} The Associated Press reported: "Palin and other critics are wrong."{{Cite news|last=Alonso-Zaldivar|first=Ricardo|title=Palin is wrong: There's no 'death panel' in health care bill|newspaper=Alaska Journal of Commerce|date=August 15, 2009|url=http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/081509/loc_11_001.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129130659/http://alaskajournal.com/stories/081509/loc_11_001.shtml|archive-date=November 29, 2010|df=mdy-all}} The provision of the health care bill to which Palin referred (on page 425){{cite web|last=Tapper|first=Jake|author-link=Jake Tapper|title=Palin Paints Picture of 'Obama Death Panel' Giving Thumbs Down to Trig|publisher=ABC News|date=August 7, 2009|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/palin-paints-picture-of-obama-death-panel-giving-thumbs-down-to-trig.html|access-date=August 18, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208021018/http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/palin-paints-picture-of-obama-death-panel-giving-thumbs-down-to-trig.html|archive-date=February 8, 2011|df=mdy-all}} merely authorizes Medicare reimbursement for physicians who provide voluntary counseling about such subjects as living wills.{{Cite news|last=Connolly|first=Ceci|title=Talk Radio Campaign Frightening Seniors|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 1, 2009|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073103148.html?hpid=topnews}} Howard Dean, the former Chair of the Democratic National Committee, said that Palin "just made that up. Just like the 'Bridge to Nowhere' that she supposedly didn't support."{{Cite news|last=Fabian|first=Jordan|title=Gingrich: Palin concerns about euthanasia warranted|newspaper=The Hill|date=August 9, 2009|url=http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/gingrich-palin-concerns-about-euthanasia-warranted-2009-08-09.html}}{{dead link|date=April 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Republicans were divided. Former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich agreed with Palin, saying that "there are clearly people in America who believe in establishing euthanasia, including selective standards." Palin's "death panels" comment was selected as the "Lie of the Year" by PolitiFact.com, the fact-checking website of the St. Petersburg Times.{{cite news|last=Holan|first=Angie Drobnic|title=PolitiFact's Lie of the Year: 'Death panels'|newspaper=PolitiFact.com|date=December 18, 2009|url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/dec/18/politifact-lie-year-death-panels/|access-date=2009-12-22}} Palin was also criticized for having invoked her infant for political purposes.{{cite web|last=Olbermann|first=Keith|author-link=Keith Olbermann|title=Olbermann: 'Death Panel' Palin dangerously irresponsible|publisher=NBC News|date=August 10, 2009|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/32363493|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125075335/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/32363493/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 25, 2016|access-date=August 11, 2009}}

The ideas for Palin's death panel meme came from the editorial Deadly Doctors, which was written by Betsy McCaughey and published by the New York Post.Who runs gov?: Ezekiel Emanuel, a Washington Post publication, [http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Ezekiel_Emanuel Obama's 'Deadly Doctor'?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909094206/http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Ezekiel_Emanuel |date=September 9, 2009 }}Jim Dwyer, August 25, 2009, Distortions on Health Bill, Homegrown, The New York Times, [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/nyregion/26about.html Distortions on Health Bill, Homegrown], The article states – Ms. McCaughey has been the hammer to Ms. Palin's nail. Palin cited a speech Michele Bachmann gave about the editorial regarding President Barack Obama's health care advisor Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, which contained what TIME called "selective and misleading quotes" from Emanuel's writings. While Rush Limbaugh called death panels "the reality of what's going to happen"The Rush Limbaugh Show, August 17, 2009, [http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_081709/content/01125109.guest.html The Bottom Line on "Death Panels"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203143501/http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_081709/content/01125109.guest.html |date=February 3, 2010 }}TIME, August 12, 2009, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090814203349/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1915835,00.html Ezekiel Emanuel, Obama's 'Deadly Doctor,' Strikes Back]David Saltonstall, August 12, 2009, Former Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey leads 'death panel' charge writing up talking points, Daily News, [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/08/13/2009-08-13_former_lt_gov_mccaughey_leads_death_panel_charge_writing_up_talking_points_on_he.html Former Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey leads 'death panel' charge writing up talking points] TIME and ABC described her remarks as false euthanasia claims.

Palin said recommendations that women wait longer to be screened for breast and cervical cancer indicate "rationed care."Sarah Palin, August 19, 2009, facebook, [http://www.facebook.com/notes/sarah-palin/cancer-screenings-rational-advice-or-rationed-care/178333423434 Cancer Screenings – Rational Advice or Rationed Care?] The guideline from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on pap smears was begun before Obama was elected.Denise Grady, November 20, 2009, The New York Times, [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/health/20pap.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=all Guidelines Push Back Age for Cervical Cancer Tests] The change in guidelines for mammograms was suggested by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which, according to Kathleen Sebelius, does not set government policy.Alice Park, November 20, 2009, TIME, [https://web.archive.org/web/20091124091907/http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1941700,00.html Mammogram Guidelines: What You Need to Know]Kevin Sack, November 20, 2009, The New York Times, [http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=504900&single=1 Screening Debate Reveals Culture Clash in Medicine]{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}Arthur Caplan, November 19, 2009, NBC, [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/34040273 Mammogram advice accurate but not ‘right’]{{dead link|date=August 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} It also is not related to cost controls, according to members of the task force.ABC News, November 21, 2009, [https://abcnews.go.com/Health/HealthCare/mammogram-brouhaha-stymie-health-care-reform/story?id=9141189 Could Mammogram Brouhaha Stymie Health Care Reform?]

File:Palin In Carson City On 13 September 2008.jpg in Carson City, Nevada on September 13, 2008.]]

Palin was early on accused of dissimulation in her approach to campaigning during the 2008 elections. An Associated Press journalist reported: "Day after day she said she had told Congress 'no thanks' to the so-called Bridge to Nowhere, a rural Alaska project that was abandoned when critics challenged its costs and usefulness. For nearly a week, major news outlets had documented that Palin supported the bridge{{cite web|url=http://portal.gopconvention2008.com/speechdetails.aspx?id=38|title=Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin|publisher=2008 Republican National Convention|date=September 3, 2008|access-date=September 8, 2008}}{{cite news|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/09/palin_defends_bridge_to_nowher.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715154331/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/09/palin_defends_bridge_to_nowher.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 15, 2012|title=Palin Defends 'Bridge to Nowhere' Claims|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=September 11, 2008}}: "In her nomination acceptance speech and on the campaign trail, Palin has often said: "I told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,' for that Bridge to Nowhere."{{cite news|url=http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/08/politics-of-the-bridge-to-nowhere.aspx|title=The Politics of the 'Bridge to Nowhere'|work=Stumper|author=Romano, Andrew|date=September 8, 2008|access-date=September 8, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910040255/http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/08/politics-of-the-bridge-to-nowhere.aspx|archive-date=September 10, 2008|df=mdy-all}}: Although Palin was originally a main proponent of the Gravina Island Bridge, McCain-Palin television advertisements claim Palin "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere." These claims were widely questioned or described as misleading in several newspapers across the political spectrum when running for governor in 2006, noting that she turned against it only after it became an object of ridicule in Alaska and a symbol of Congress's out-of-control earmarking... (The campaign) equated lawmakers' requests for money for special projects with corruption, even though Palin has sought millions of dollars in such 'earmarks' this year. The Washington Post reported that "critics, the news media and nonpartisan fact checkers have called [Palin's claim] a fabrication or, at best, a half-truth."{{Cite news|last=Weisman|first=Jonathan|title=As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts Before They're Undone|newspaper=Washington Post|date=September 10, 2008|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/09/AR2008090903727.html}}

Palin compared herself to Harry Truman, the vice-president who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt, contributing to the impression that for a time the race was between Palin and Obama.{{Cite news|last=Rich|first=Frank|title=Pitbull Palin Mauls McCain|newspaper=New York Times|date=October 4, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/opinion/05rich.html}} Indeed, for many Palin was the main attraction at McCain-Palin rallies; there were often "a sizable number of people making their way towards the exit" after Palin left the podium.Adam Aigner in [https://web.archive.org/web/20081011154059/http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/08/1517943.aspx] First Read

After the McCain-Palin ticket lost the elections, media coverage focused on rumors of infighting within the McCain campaign, reporting that campaign staffers stated Palin had refused preparation for her interview with Katie Couric, was at times emotionally intractable, could not list the three members of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and was unaware that Africa is a continent rather than a country, had scheduled an interview with French President Nicolas Sarkozy which turned out to be a radio station prank, spent far more than the reported amount on her campaign wardrobe, and asked to make her own concession speech on election night.Kate Snow.[https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=6196407&page=1 "Palin Aide Fires Back at Reported McCain Camp Slams"]; ABC New November 6, 2008 Although Palin disputed the accusations as "foolish," she said she bears no ill will towards the McCain staff who anonymously leaked the accusations to the press.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/article721655.ece The Canadian Press: Knives come out for Sarah Palin] The Globe and Mail, Nov 6, 2008. Retrieved 2010-12-10. Ultimately the press emphasized Palin's statement that she was sorry if she had cost McCain a single vote.Mark Silva.[http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/11/sarah_palin_sorry_if_she_cost.html "Sarah Palin 'sorry' if she hurt McCain"]; Chicago Tribune, November 5, 2008

File:Palin-crosshairs.jpg

In March 2010, Palin posted to her Facebook page to seek contributions to SarahPAC to help defeat 20 House Democrats in the 2010 congressional election. Her post featured a graphic that used gunsight crosshairs to mark the Democrats' districts.{{cite news|title=After Health Vote, Democrats Are Threatened With Violence|first=Carl |last=Hulse|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/health/policy/25health.html|work=New York Times|date=March 25, 2010|page=A.18}} She also tweeted to her supporters, "'Don't Retreat, Instead – RELOAD!' Pls see my Facebook page."{{cite web| last = Palin| first = Sarah| author-link = Sarah Palin| title = Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America| publisher = Twitter| date = March 23, 2010| url = https://twitter.com/sarahpalinusa/status/10935548053| access-date =2011-01-16 }}McCormick, John. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20100413155808/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-09/-don-t-retreat-reload-palin-tells-republicans-in-new-orleans.html 'Don't Retreat, Reload,’ Palin Urges Republicans (Update2)]", Bloomberg (April 9, 2010). Palin critics said she was inciting violence.{{cite news|title=Her plot will unfold at council meetings|first1= Andrea |last1=Kelly|first2=Rhonda |last2=Bodfield|url=http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/article_349e18b8-ec64-5fd7-b347-afe7f1778a47.html|agency=McClatchy – Tribune Business News|location=Washington|date=June 9, 2010}}{{Cite news | last = Bodfield| first = Rhonda| title = Pueblo Politics: Dems to CD8 Republicans: Disavow Tea Party| newspaper = Arizona Daily Star| date = March 25, 2010| url = http://azstarnet.com/news/blogs/pueblo-politics/article_0e9a5422-3863-11df-a8d0-001cc4c03286.html| access-date = 2011-01-13}} One of the targeted Democrats, Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, objected to the graphic, saying, "we're in the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they've got to realize that there are consequences to that action."Alberts, Sheldon. "[https://vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=4099542&sponsor= Palin fires back at 'blood libel' critics over Arizona shooting]{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}", The Vancouver Sun (January 12, 2011). Palin referred to the targets as "a bullseye icon" in a post-election tweet.{{cite news|title=The news in 140 characters|work=The Independent|location=London (UK)|date=November 5, 2010|page=18}}{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA/status/29677744457 |title=Twitter / Sarah Palin: Remember months ago "bulls |publisher=Twitter |date=November 4, 2010 |access-date=2011-01-14}}

In the immediate aftermath of the 2011 Tucson shooting, where Giffords was among those who were shot, Palin was the subject of press and political criticism about her style of political rhetoric,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/us/politics/11palin.html?_r=2|title=Palin, amid criticism, stays in electronic comfort zone|work=The New York Times|date=January 10, 2011|access-date=January 11, 2011|first1=Jim|last1=Rutenberg|first2=Kate|last2=Zernike}}{{cite news| first = Paul| last = Krugman| author-link = Paul Krugman| date = January 9, 2011| title = Climate of Hate| newspaper = The New York Times| issn = 0362-4331| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/opinion/10krugman.html| access-date = January 13, 2011}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2011/01/09/palin-aides-inane-bullseye-map-defense.html|title=Palin Aide's Inane Bullseye Map Defense|magazine=U.S. News & World Report|date=January 9, 2011|access-date=January 11, 2011}} which was disputed by defenders of Palin in the media.{{cite news|title=The unseemly rush to blame Sarah Palin, the Tea Party and Republicans for murder in Arizona|author=Toby Harnden|author-link=Toby Harnden|url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100071004/the-unseemly-rush-to-blame-sarah-palin-the-tea-party-and-republicans-for-murder-in-arizona/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109163722/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk//news//tobyharnden//100071004//the-unseemly-rush-to-blame-sarah-palin-the-tea-party-and-republicans-for-murder-in-arizona//|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 9, 2011|access-date=2011-01-09|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=January 9, 2011|location=London}}{{cite web|author=Robert Stacy McCain|author-link=Robert Stacy McCain|url=http://spectator.org/blog/2011/01/09/arizona-shootings-it-was-a-col|title=Arizona Shootings: 'It Was a Colossal Failure of Journalism'|work=The American Spectator|access-date=2011-01-09|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827221717/http://spectator.org/blog/2011/01/09/arizona-shootings-it-was-a-col|archive-date=August 27, 2013|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-08/gabrielle-giffords-shooting-dont-blame-sarah-palin/|title=Should We Blame Sarah Palin for Gabrielle Giffords' Shooting?|author=Howard Kurtz|author-link=Howard Kurtz|work=The Daily Beast|date=January 8, 2011|access-date=2011-01-09}}{{cite web|author=Byron York|author-link=Byron York|url=http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/01/journalists-urged-caution-after-ft-hood-now-race-blame-palin-afte|title=Journalists urged caution after Ft. Hood, now race to blame Palin after Arizona shootings|work=Washington Examiner|date=January 9, 2011|access-date=2011-01-09|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128213422/http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/01/journalists-urged-caution-after-ft-hood-now-race-blame-palin-afte|archive-date=January 28, 2011|df=mdy-all}} Palin removed the controversial graphic from her website,{{Cite news | title = Sarah Palin pulls 'gun crosshairs' graphic targeting Arizona congresswoman who was shot| newspaper = The Trentonian| date = January 8, 2011| url = http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2011/01/08/news/doc4d28e702e42dd770727651.txt?viewmode=fullstory| access-date = 2011-01-25}} but later restored it. On Glenn Beck, an e-mail said to be from Palin was read, saying "I hate violence. I hate war. Our children will not have peace if politicos just capitalize on this to succeed in portraying anyone as inciting terror and violence."{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47432_Page2.html|title=Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh respond to shooting |author=Keach Hagey|work=Politico|date=January 10, 2011|access-date=2011-01-11}} Following the 2011 Tucson shooting, a Palin aide stated that death threats against the former Alaska governor had risen to "an unprecedented level."{{cite news |title=Death Threats Against Sarah Palin at 'Unprecedented Level,' Aides Say |author=CLAIRE SHIPMAN and HUMA KHAN |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/blood-libel-sarah-palins-controversial-reference-riled-emotions/story?id=12601352&page=1 |work=ABC News |date=January 12, 2011 |access-date=January 13, 2011}} As more details of the shooting emerged, The Christian Science Monitor reported: "The suggestion that the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Saturday might have been influenced by political 'vitriol' seems less likely as more becomes known about suspect Jared Loughner."Jonsson, Patrik. [http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2011/0112/As-portrait-of-Jared-Loughner-sharpens-vitriol-blame-fades "As portrait of Jared Loughner sharpens, 'vitriol' blame fades; The suggestion that the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Saturday might have been influenced by political 'vitriol' seems less likely as more becomes known about suspect Jared Loughner], Christian Science Monitor (January 12, 2011): "one piece of evidence collected so far is a 2007 letter from Giffords's office to Mr. Loughner, thanking him for attending a meet-and-greet event. On it is scrawled a death threat to Giffords. In 2007, Sarah Palin was a little-known Alaska governor and the tea party movement did not exist....a majority of Americans are dismissing the notion that the shooter was set off by a Sarah Palin political map...."Balz, Dan. "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/10/AR2011011006653.html Palin caught in crosshairs map controversy after Tucson shootings]", The Washington Post (January 10, 2010): "there is no known connection between anything Palin said or did and the alleged actions of Jared Loughner." Palin released a video denying any link between her rhetoric and the shooting, controversially referring to such suggestions as a blood libel, also saying that, "Acts of monstrous criminality stand on their own. They begin and end with the criminals who commit them."Oliphant, James. "[https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-palin-rhetoric-20110113,0,2106478.story Sarah Palin video on Giffords aftermath stays true to who Palin is]", Los Angeles Times (January 13, 2011).{{cite web| last = Kurtz | first = Howard | title = Palin Goes Nuclear With 'Blood Libel' Speech | work = TheDailyBeast.com | publisher = RTST, Inc | date = January 12, 2011 | url = http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-12/sarah-palin-says-media-guilty-of-blood-libel-why-her-speech-was-wrong | access-date = 2011-01-14 }}

A public opinion survey commissioned by USA Today and conducted by Gallup January 14–16, 2011, showed that Palin was perceived favorably by 38% of those polled and unfavorably by 53%, the highest unfavorable rating since Palin entered national politics.{{cite news|title=Poll: Most want Obama, GOP to work together|first=Susan |last=Page|date=January 17, 2011|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-01-17-poll-obama-house_N.htm|work=USA Today}}{{cite news|title=Sarah Palin's poll ratings fall after 'blood libel' row|first=Richard |last=Adams |date=January 18, 2011|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/18/sarah-palin-facebook-fox-strategy|work=The Guardian|location=London}}

Palin came under fire in congress and the media as a result of her support for the Gravina Island Bridge "Bridge to Nowhere,"{{cite news|first=Tom|last=Kizzia|title=Palin touts stance on 'Bridge to Nowhere,' doesn't note flip-flop|newspaper=Anchorage Daily News|date=August 31, 2008|url=http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/511471.html|access-date=September 10, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910092459/http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/511471.html|archive-date=September 10, 2008|df=mdy-all}} often called an emblem of pork-barrel spending and excessive earmark requests.

Some media outlets repeated Palin's statement that she "stood up to Big Oil" when she resigned after just 11 months as the head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission because of abuses she witnessed involving other Republican commissioners and their ties to energy companies and energy lobbyists, and again when she raised taxes on oil companies as governor; in turn others said that she is a "friend of Big Oil" due to her fervent advocacy of oil exploitation, including her push to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling and effort to de-list polar bears as an Endangered species since this could hinder oil speculation.[http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/679/ "Palin sought more taxes and more development from oil companies"]; Politifact, Saint Petersburg Times, August 29, 2008[https://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN1150293420080912 "Is Palin foe of big oil or a new Cheney?"]; Reuters, September 12, 2008

Similarly, some called Palin a "small-town foe of 'good old boys' politics and a champion for ethics reform," as evidenced by her run-ins with Ted Stevens, while others argued that Palin's record "undermined arguments that Palin has broken from Alaska's Republican machine, including Stevens."Apuzzo, Matt. [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jrhFOsVwX9jtDyUhy3zKCBVms8tgD92UU8BO0 “Campaign money hurts Palin's outsider image”], Associated Press (September 2, 2008) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920020300/http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jrhFOsVwX9jtDyUhy3zKCBVms8tgD92UU8BO0 |date=September 20, 2008 }} Still others point to nepotistic hiring tendencies and question her firing policies.{{Cite news|last1=Becker|first1=Jo|last2=Goodman|first2=Peter S.|last3=Powell|first3=Michael|title=Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 14, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html}} Controversy arose concerning Palin's dismissal of the Wasilla police chief at the start of her first term as mayor,{{cite news|author=Carlton, Jim|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122048513733097089?mod=googlenews_wsj|title=Focus Turns to Palin Record|work=Wall Street Journal|date=September 4, 2008|display-authors=etal}}Ken Armstrong and Hal Bernton.[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008163431_palin070.html "Sarah Palin had turbulent first year as mayor of Alaska town"]; Seattle Times, September 7, 2008 and her firing of the public commissioner while governor of Alaska (what the media referred to as "troopergate").{{cite news|last=Demer|first=Lisa|url=http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/510080.html|title='Troopergate' inquiry hangs over campaign|newspaper=Anchorage Daily News|date=August 30, 2008|access-date=September 5, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905015703/http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/510080.html|archive-date=September 5, 2008|df=mdy-all}}: "Monegan said he believes his firing was directly related to the fact Wooten stayed on the job. 'It was a significant factor if not the factor,' Monegan said."{{cite news|title=Palin E-Mails Show Intense Interest in Trooper's Penalty|first=James V.|last=Grimaldi|author2=Karl Vick |date=September 4, 2008|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303210_pf.html|access-date=September 3, 2008 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{cite news|first=Lisa|last=Demer|title=Attorney challenges Monegan firing inquiry|date=September 2, 2008|newspaper=Anchorage Daily News|url=http://www.adn.com/monegan/story/513137.html|access-date=September 2, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080903025551/http://www.adn.com/monegan/story/513137.html|archive-date=September 3, 2008|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news|first=Wesley|last=Loy|title=Palin accuses Monegan of insubordination|work=Anchorage Daily News|url=http://www.adn.com/front/story/527346.html|date=September 15, 2008|access-date=September 16, 2008|archive-date=September 19, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919024722/http://www.adn.com/front/story/527346.html|url-status=dead}}

In an article entitled "State leaders question Palin's qualifications," the Juneau Empire, one of Alaska's main papers, reported that as governor, Palin was so frequently absent from work at the state capitol that, "someone at the Capitol even printed up buttons asking, 'Where's Sarah?'"; the article quoted Rep. Andrea Doll, D-Juneau, "At a time when her leadership was truly needed, we didn't know where she was."{{cite news|first=Pat|last=Forgey|url=http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/083108/sta_325768173.shtml|title=State leaders question Palin's qualifications: Governor's two years of experience raise concerns about vice presidential candidacy|work=Juneau Empire|date=August 31, 2008|access-date=September 26, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913192653/http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/083108/sta_325768173.shtml|archive-date=September 13, 2008|url-status=dead}}

As governor of Alaska, Palin's job approval rating ranged from a high of 93% in May 2007 to 54% in May 2009. In November 2006, the month before Palin took office, Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski's job approval rating was 19%.[http://www.surveyusa.com/50State2006/State50StateGovernor061120.htm "APPROVAL RATINGS FOR ALL 50 GOVERNORS AS OF 11/20/06"]. SurveyUSA website, Retrieved 2010-12-15.

In April 2009, SurveyUSA reported job approval ratings for the following U.S. governors: Bob Riley (AL) 54%, Arnold Schwarzenegger (CA) 25%, Chet Culver (IA) 42%, Kathleen Sebelius (KS) 46%, Steve Beshear (KY) 47%, Tim Pawlenty (MN) 46%, Jay Nixon (MO) 56%, Bill Richardson (NM) 46%, David Paterson (NY) 25%, Ted Kulongoski (OR) 40%, Tim Kaine (VA) 50%, Christine Gregoire (WA) 40%, and Jim Doyle (WI) 35%. (Polls taken April 24–26, 2009).[http://www.surveyusa.com/50StateTracking.html SurveyUSA "SurveyUSA Job Approval Numbers"] (to see, e.g., Schwarzenegger, select 042809 – California Approval Rating Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger). Retrieved 2010-12-15.

Soon after the 2008 Republican National Convention, Palin quickly became a favorite subject of satire and derision. According to Lara Spencer, host of the tabloid show The Insider, Palin was part of a big cross-over between politics and pop culture in the 2008 election.[http://tboextra.com/content/2008/nov/07/na-insider-public-loves-politics-pop-culture-mix/tboextra/ Insider: Public Loves Politics, Pop Culture Mix] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716194100/http://tboextra.com/content/2008/nov/07/na-insider-public-loves-politics-pop-culture-mix/tboextra/ |date=July 16, 2011 }}, Walt Belcher, Tampa Tribune, November 7, 2008, via TBOExtra.com. Retrieved November 13, 2008. During the campaign Spencer conducted the only live broadcast interview with Palin's husband, Todd Palin.

Palin's status as a mother of a child with Down syndrome was initially a focus for some pundits and reporters during her national emergence in 2008. CNN's John Roberts pondered: "Children with Down's syndrome require an awful lot of attention. The role of vice president, it seems to me, would take up an awful lot of her time, and it raises the issue of how much time will she have to dedicate to her newborn child?"

William Kristol of The Weekly Standard wrote: "There she is: a working woman who's a proud wife and mother; a traditionalist in important matters who's broken through all kinds of barriers; a reformer who's a Republican; a challenger of a corrupt good-old-boy establishment who's a conservative; a successful woman whose life is unapologetically grounded in religious belief; a lady who's a leader."{{cite journal|first=William|last=Kristol|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/500wrhjq.asp|title=Let Palin Be Palin|journal=Weekly Standard|date=September 8, 2008|volume=013|issue=48|access-date=September 20, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919211809/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/500wrhjq.asp|archive-date=September 19, 2008|url-status=dead}}

A great deal of attention was paid to Palin's physical appearance during the 2008 election. According to Vogue magazine, "Besides being telegenic, [Palin] had a tough-girl Alaskan résumé that most politicians could only dream of—the protein her family eats comes from fish she has pulled out of the ocean with her own hands and caribou she has shot."{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Rebecca |date=February 2008 |title=Sarah Palin: Altered State |journal=Vogue |location=United States |publisher=Condé Nast Publications |access-date=2011-04-11 |url=http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/sarah-palin-altered-state/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426050922/http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/sarah-palin-altered-state/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 26, 2011}} Others were quick to point out striking resemblances of Palin to actress Tina Fey, who would impersonate her on Saturday Night Live, and Peggy Hill, a character on Fox Network's cartoon series King of the Hill. Regarding her appearance, Palin has said, "I've been taken aback by the nasty criticism about my appearance. I wish they'd stick with the issues instead of discussing my black go-go boots. A reporter once asked me about it during the campaign, and I assured him I was trying to be as frumpy as I could by wearing my hair on top of my head and these schoolmarm glasses."

According to the Los Angeles Times of October 23, 2008, "the news that the Republican National Committee has bought Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her family nearly $150,000 worth of clothing since September has fueled charges of hypocrisy by her detractors and sparked questions about the legality of the expenditures". It reported that "Election-law experts are split on whether the RNC's expenditure is allowable under federal laws, which prohibit the use of campaign funds for personal use."{{cite news|title=A political fashion do or don't? |first1=Robin |last1=Abcarian |first2=Kate |last2=Linthicum |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-oct-23-na-palinshop23-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California, USA |issn=0458-3035 |oclc=3638237 |date=October 23, 2008 |access-date=2011-04-11 |quote=The beauty or scandal of Palin's RNC-funded makeover appears to be in the eye of the beholder's party. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311172837/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/23/nation/na-palinshop23 |url-status=live |archive-date=March 11, 2011}} Tracey Schmitt, Palin's traveling press secretary responded by saying "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign." "I am an Obama supporter, but when I heard that for $150,000, they dressed her, her children and her husband, I thought, 'that's not much'," said Vicki Sanchez, a costume designer who dressed Geena Davis as the first female U.S. president on the short-lived TV show Commander in Chief." She continues on to say "When you start buying $3,000 suits, boots that cost anywhere from $800 and up, and designer shoes, which cost $500 at least, it goes fast."

A profile in The New Yorker described Palin's oratorical style as "simultaneously chatty and urgent," and noted that "she reinforces her words with winks and nods and wrinklings of her nose that seem meant to telegraph intimacy and ease." The article's author, Philip Gourevitch, characterized Palin as being "high-spirited, irrepressible, and not in the least self-conscious."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/09/22/080922fa_fact_gourevitch?currentPage=3|title=The State of Sarah Palin|author=Gourevitch, Philip|pages=3, 8|magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 22, 2008|access-date=October 5, 2008}}

Features of the Minnesotan dialect are prominent in the Mat-Su Valley where Palin grew up because the area was settled by farmers from Minnesota during the Great Depression.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2201318/|title=What Kind of Accent Does Sarah Palin Have?|magazine=Slate Magazine|author=Jesse Sheidlower|date=October 1, 2008|access-date=October 5, 2008}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/opinion/04pinker.html|title=Op-Ed Contributor – Everything You Heard Is Wrong|work=New York Times|author=Pinker, Steven|date=October 3, 2008|access-date=October 5, 2008}} Palin's dialect is Upper Midwestern, and she speaks with a characteristic North Central American English dialect. Her dialect is often tied in with her persona, and often reinforces her "folksy" image.{{cite web|url=http://omg.yahoo.com/news/tina-fey-plays-sarah-palin-in-return-to-snl/13092|title=Tina Fey Plays Sarah Palin In Return To 'SNL'|publisher=omg! news on Yahoo!|author=Access Hollywood|date=September 14, 2008|access-date=October 5, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920015513/http://omg.yahoo.com/news/tina-fey-plays-sarah-palin-in-return-to-snl/13092|archive-date=September 20, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

In July 2010, amidst the Cordoba House controversy, Palin on Twitter asked Muslims to "pls refudiate" support for the mosque.{{cite news|last=Harris|first=Dan|title=Sarah Palin Riles Up NYC Mayor Bloomberg Over Tweet to 'Refudiate' Ground Zero Mosque|url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/sarah-palin-riles-nyc-mayor-michael-bloomberg-mosque/story?id=11203590|access-date=August 3, 2010|newspaper=ABC|date=July 20, 2010|author2=Joel Siegel|author3=Sarah Netter}} She was then mocked by bloggers{{cite news|last=Sheridan|first=Michael|title=Sarah Palin uses Twitter to criticize Ground Zero mosque, gets slammed for poor grammar|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/19/2010-07-19_sarah_palin_uses_twitter_to_criticize_ground_zero_mosque_gets_slammed_for_poor_g.html|access-date=August 3, 2010|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=July 19, 2010}} and media outlets{{cite news| url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/refudiate-was-a-typo-political-revisionism-2010/|work=The New York Times|first=Michael D.|last=Shear|title='Refudiate' Was a Typo – Political Revisionism 2010|date=December 30, 2010}}NPR: [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128950842 Refudiate? Repudiate? Let's Call The Whole Thing Off.] August 3, 2010. for using "refudiate," which is not a word.{{cite news|last=Kanalley|first=Craig|title=Sarah Palin 'Refudiate' Twitter Remark Causes FLOOD Of #ShakesPalin Tweets|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/20/sarah-palin-refudiate-twi_n_653100.html|access-date=August 3, 2010|work=Huffington Post|date=July 20, 2010}} Palin later responded on Twitter, saying that "English is a living language." and "Shakespeare liked to coin new words too." According to Michael Shear of The New York Times, the record suggests the original Twitter message was no typo. Just days earlier in a Fox News appearance, Palin had combined "refute" and "repudiate" into "refudiate." The word was chosen as new word of the year for 2010 by the New Oxford American Dictionary, with the statement "From a strictly lexical interpretation of the different contexts in which Palin has used 'refudiate,' we have concluded that neither 'refute' nor 'repudiate' seems consistently precise, and that 'refudiate' more or less stands on its own, suggesting a general sense of 'reject.'"{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/11/sarah-palin-refudiate.html|title=Top of the Ticket: Sarah Palin's 'refudiate' named dictionary's word of the year|date=November 15, 2010 |first=Craig |last=Howie |work=Los Angeles Times}}

In June 2009, David Letterman told a joke that Sarah Palin's daughter was "knocked up" by a baseball player during a Yankees game. Palin then issued a public statement condemning Letterman's joke.{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2009/06/palin-david-letterman-pathetic-023536|title=Palin: David Letterman 'pathetic'|publisher=Politico|author=Andy Barr|date=June 9, 2009|access-date=June 16, 2009}} A campaign then began to have David Letterman fired or to force him to apologize for his actions, with several Republicans organizing a boycott of Letterman sponsors.{{cite web|url=http://firedavidletterman.com/|title=FireDavidLetterman.com|publisher=Self|author=Self|date=June 16, 2009|access-date=June 16, 2009}} On June 16, Sarah Palin accepted Letterman's apology.{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090616/ap_en_tv/us_tv_letterman_palin;_ylt=Au8lw9VAkE2nFi5okzQ6Q_1xFb8C;_ylu=X3oDMTJtdjVkbW9vBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNjE2L3VzX3R2X2xldHRlcm1hbl9wYWxpbgRjcG9zAzEEcG9zAzIEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDc2FyYWhwYWxpbmFj |archive-url=https://archive.today/20090621003817/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090616/ap_en_tv/us_tv_letterman_palin;_ylt=Au8lw9VAkE2nFi5okzQ6Q_1xFb8C;_ylu=X3oDMTJtdjVkbW9vBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwNjE2L3VzX3R2X2xldHRlcm1hbl9wYWxpbgRjcG9zAzEEcG9zAzIEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDc2FyYWhwYWxpbmFj |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 21, 2009 |title=Sarah Palin Accepts David Letterman's Apology |agency=Associated Press |author=David Baulder |date=June 16, 2009 |access-date=June 16, 2009 }} In June 2009, Palin responded to a blogger for posting a photo in which her son Trig's face was altered, calling the change "malicious."{{cite news|url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/25/palin-hits-back-at-malicious-photo/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626210955/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/25/palin-hits-back-at-malicious-photo/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 26, 2009 |title=Sarah Palin Attacks Alaskan Blogger|publisher=ScienceBlogs|last=Mooney|first=Alexander|date=June 25, 2009|access-date=June 26, 2009}} The image superimposed was of a local Alaskan right-wing radio show host and was implying that he was her "baby" regarding his positive coverage of her governorship foibles.

In July 2009, Palin threatened to sue any media outlet that printed rumors that she was being investigated by the FBI on corruption charges involving inappropriate contracts. The head of the FBI in Alaska said that she was not being investigated. Some reports stated that the statute of limitations on the contract incident would have passed.{{cite web|url=http://www.adn.com/palin/story/853746.html|title=Palin Attorney's decry 'defamatory' rumors|publisher=ADN|author=Sean Cockerham|date=July 5, 2009|access-date=July 5, 2009}} She also criticized the media in an op-ed in The Washington Post in which she said "many in the media would rather focus on the personality-driven political gossip of the day than on the gravity of these Cap and Trade challenges. So, at risk of disappointing the chattering class, let me make clear what is foremost on my mind and where my focus will be."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/13/AR2009071302852.html|title=The 'Cap and Tax' dead end|newspaper=Washington Post|author=Sarah Palin|date=July 14, 2009|access-date=July 14, 2009}}

Palin herself, the Los Angeles Times, and other commentators have accused Newsweek of sexism for their choice of cover in the November 2009 issue discussing Palin's book, Going Rogue: An American Life. The cover depicted her posing in gym-clothes and was captioned "How do you solve a problem like Sarah." "It's sexist as hell," wrote Lisa Richardson for the LA Times.{{cite news|url=http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2009/11/newsweeks-sexism-and-sarah-palin.html|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Opinion L.A|date=November 17, 2009|access-date=May 22, 2010}} Taylor Marsh of The Huffington Post called it "the worst case of pictorial sexism aimed at political character assassination ever done by a traditional media outlet."{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-marsh/what-was-newsweek-thinkin_b_362086.html |title=Taylor Marsh: What Was Newsweek Thinking? (updated) |work=Huffington Post |date= November 18, 2009|access-date=2011-01-14}} David Brody of CBN News stated: "This cover should be insulting to women politicians."{{cite web|author=Ruler4You |url=http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2009/11/16/newsweek-photo-of-palin-shows-media-bias-and-sexism.aspx |title=Newsweek Photo of Palin Shows Media Bias and Sexism |publisher=Blogs.cbn.com |date=November 16, 2009 |access-date=2011-01-14}} The cover came from a photo of Palin used in the August 2009 issue of Runner's World.{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2009/11/sarah-palin-hates-her-newsweek-cover-really-1.html |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Sarah Palin hates her 'sexist' Newsweek cover. Does she really? |access-date=May 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206093228/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2009/11/sarah-palin-hates-her-newsweek-cover-really-1.html |archive-date=February 6, 2010 }}{{cite web |author=Eleanor CliftNovember 16, 2009 |url=http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/11/16/payback-time-why-right-wing-men-rush-to-palin-s-defense.aspx |title=Payback Time: Why Right-Wing Men Rush to Palin's Defense – Newsweek |publisher=Blog.newsweek.com |date=November 16, 2009 |access-date=2011-01-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119051635/http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/11/16/payback-time-why-right-wing-men-rush-to-palin-s-defense.aspx |archive-date=November 19, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20091117/pl_ynews/ynews_pl984 |title=Palin angered by 'sexist' Newsweek cover – Yahoo! News |publisher=News.yahoo.com |access-date=2011-01-14}}

In March 2010, Palin starred on a travelogue reality television series on the Discovery Channel called Sarah Palin's Alaska,{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/04/wildlife-group-urges-discovery-to-drop-sarah-palins-docuseries.html|title=Wildlife Group urges Discovery to Drop|newspaper=LA Times|date=April 9, 2010|access-date=2010-04-15}} produced by Mark Burnett.{{cite news|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-03-30/news/ct-talk-sarah-palin-fox-news-0331-20100330_1_levi-johnston-fox-reality|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102081205/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-03-30/news/ct-talk-sarah-palin-fox-news-0331-20100330_1_levi-johnston-fox-reality|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 2, 2013|title=Palin's new Fox show debuts|work=Chicago Tribune|date=March 30, 2010|access-date=2010-04-15|first=Matea|last=Gold}} A Palin series on Fox News called Real American Stories generated some controversy since several of the guests shown "interviewed" by her claimed to have never met her: L.L. Cool J and Toby Keith both complained that footage taken from an interview with someone else was recycled for this.{{cite news |title='Guests' say Palin's YV show dishonest |first=Tom |last=Leonard |date=April 2, 2010 |work=The Telegraph |publisher=canada.com |url=http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=2755374 |access-date=January 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826032030/http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=2755374 |archive-date=August 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}

During a 2011 bus tour, titled "One Nation," across the Northeastern states and paid for by her PAC,{{Cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/wnt/video/jetpack-flies-5000-feet-13734474%26tab%3D9482930%26section%3D1206853%26playlist%3D1363488 |title=Jetpack Flies to over 5,000 Feet | Video - ABC News |website=ABC News |access-date=May 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820102413/http://abcnews.go.com/wnt/video/jetpack-flies-5000-feet-13734474%26tab%3D9482930%26section%3D1206853%26playlist%3D1363488 |archive-date=August 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }} Palin visited the Paul Revere House in Boston. When asked what she had learned during her visit, Palin replied with a comment to the effect that Paul Revere had warned the British that Americans would not let them confiscate American arms, and that Revere's warnings involved ringing bells and firing guns.

{{blockquote|text=He who warned, uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed.|sign=Sarah Palin|source=Los Angeles Times}}

The remark was widely seen as a gaffe and not accepted by the news media, but she declined to withdraw her assertion.{{cite web |last=Amira |first=Dan |title=Sarah Palin Reveals Fascinating New Account of Paul Revere's Midnight Ride |work=New York Magazine |quote=... yesterday she revealed some heretofore unknown facts about Paul Revere's midnight ride. Did you know that he was actually warning the British, through the repeated ringin' of bells? ... Sarah Palin: by ringin' those bells and, um, by makin' sure that as he's ridin' his horse through town to send those warnin' shots and bells... |date=June 3, 2011 |url=https://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/06/sarah_palin_reveals_fascinatin.html |access-date=2011-06-05}}{{cite news |author=Andrew Malcolm |title=Sarah Palin claims Paul Revere warned the British |work=The Los Angeles Times |quote=He who warned, uh, the British that they weren't gonna be takin' away our arms, uh, by ringing those bells, and um, makin' sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be sure and we were going to be free, and we were going to be armed." |date=June 3, 2011 |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/06/sarah-palin-claims-paul-revere-warned-the-british-that-they-werent-gonna-be-takin-away-our-arms/comments/page/5/ |access-date=2011-06-05}}{{cite web|title=Palin: I didn't mess up Paul Revere history|website=NBC News |date=June 5, 2011 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43285196|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608144050/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43285196/ns/politics|url-status=live|archive-date=June 8, 2011|access-date=June 6, 2011}}{{cite news|title=Palin: I didn't mess up Paul Revere history|url=http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-news-sunday/transcript/exclusive-sarah-palin-us-economy-national-bus-tour?page=2 | work=Fox News | date=June 5, 2011}} Historian Brendan McConville stated that Palin's account was "essentially right" and Cornell law professor William Jacobson said Palin's critics are the ones in need of a history lesson. "It seems to be a historical fact that this happened, A lot of the criticism is unfair and made by people who are themselves ignorant of history."{{cite news |title=Experts back Sarah Palin's historical account |first=Chris |last=Cassidy |url=http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view.bg?articleid=1343353&srvc=rss |newspaper=Boston Herald |date=June 6, 2011 |quote= Sarah Palin yesterday insisted her claim at the Old North Church last week that Paul Revere "warned the British" during his famed 1775 ride – remarks that Democrats and the media roundly ridiculed – is actually historically accurate. And local historians are backing her up.}}{{cite news|last=Bishop|first=Stewart|title=Palin defends Revere comments|url=https://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/06/06/palin_defends_paul_revere_comments/|access-date=June 7, 2011|newspaper=Boston Globe|date=June 6, 2011}} On the other hand, Revere biographer James Giblin disagreed with some of Palin's remarks, characterizing her comment about warning the British as a "blooper." A director from the Paul Revere House also disagreed with historical descriptions made by Palin.{{cite news|last=Marikar|first=Sheila|title=Experts Dispute Sarah Palin's Midnight Ride Account, Agree Paul Revere Did Not Warn the British|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sarah-palins-account-paul-reveres-midnight-ride-shot/story?id=13773745|access-date=June 7, 2011|newspaper=ABCNews|date=June 6, 2011}} Robert Allison, the chair of the history department at Suffolk University, commented in an interview with NPR that Revere did not personally ring bells nor were gunshots involved, but he did ride as part of the militia warning system, intending the ringing of church bells as a sign of American solidarity and a warning to the British not to impound the colonists' weapons. Allison said that Palin was correct on the whole.{{cite news |title=How Accurate Were Palin's Paul Revere Comments? |author=National Public Radio |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/06/06/137011636/how-accurate-were-palins-comments-on-paul-revere?ft=1&f=2 |date=June 6, 2011 |access-date=June 7, 2011}}

Palin became a subject of parody and satire soon after her nomination for Vice President on the Republican Party ticket for the 2008 presidential election.

File:Web name generator.png.]]

A Comedy Central writer joked that "she's a pit bull who wears lipstick for some reason!" (in response to her statement at the 2008 Republican National Convention that the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom was lipstick).Dennis DiClaudio.[http://blog.indecision2008.com/2008/09/09/sarah-palin-still-strong-womens-issues/ "Sarah Palin, Still Strong on Women's Issues"]; ComedyCentral, September 9, 2008 In addition, David Harrington's "Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator""[http://politsk.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah_13.html Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator]", Poli Tsk Tsk Tsk (politsk.blogspot.com). Retrieved October 25, 2008. generates hunting, industrial, hockey-related, and other idiosyncratic personal names from names that are supplied to it.Gene Weingarten, "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/09/09/DI2008090902095.html Chatological Humor]", The Washington Post, September 16, 2008; Christie St. Martin, "[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/funny_pages_20/2008/09/soup-landmine-p.html Soup Landmine Palin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204023508/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/funny_pages_20/2008/09/soup-landmine-p.html |date=February 4, 2009 }}", The Los Angeles Times, September 15, 2008; Gilbert Cruz, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080925235550/http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1843583,00.html Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator]", Time, September 23, 2008 (all three Retrieved October 25, 2008)

Also, comedian Julie Brown re-wrote her 1980s single "The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" as a parody titled "The Ex-Beauty Queen's Got a Gun."{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/user/Kielan2154 |title=Kanaal van Kielan2154 |publisher=YouTube |date=November 17, 2006 |access-date=2011-01-14}}{{cite web|url=http://juliebrown.com/blog/index.php |title=Julie's Blog |publisher=Julie Brown |access-date=2011-01-14}} Some street art in New York City also parodied Palin before the 2008 election, including one employing Shepard Fairey's Barack Obama "Hope" poster."[http://animalnewyork.com/news/2008/10/sarah-palin-is-a-frightening-p.php Sarah Palin is a 'Frightening Prospect'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025094536/http://animalnewyork.com/news/2008/10/sarah-palin-is-a-frightening-p.php |date=October 25, 2008 }}", animalnewyork.com, October 21, 2008"[http://www.villagevoice.com/slideshow/view/165211/17 Spoofing Shepard Fairey's Obama "Hope" Posters]", The Village Voice, n.d.Randall Roberts, "[http://blogs.laweekly.com/lurker/frightening-prospect-posters-e/ Palin 'Frightening Prospect' Posters Everywhere but LA. What gives?]", LA Weekly, October 21, 2008 (all three Retrieved March 3, 2009).

{{Main|Saturday Night Live parodies of Sarah Palin}}

File:Fey Poehler as Palin Clinton.png as Sarah Palin (left) and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton (right)]]

On September 13, 2008, Tina Fey appeared in a comedy skit, "A Nonpartisan Message from Governor Sarah Palin & Senator Hillary Clinton," on Saturday Night Live as Sarah Palin, alongside Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton.{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i8fcb5100629836e60f2b946f58f168aa |title=NBC's Web sites see surge in traffic |work=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=September 20, 2008 |date=September 18, 2008 |author=Wallenstein, Andrew |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920122627/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i8fcb5100629836e60f2b946f58f168aa |archive-date=September 20, 2008 }}{{cite press release|title=Tina Fey Guest Stars On Saturday Night Live Season Premiere As Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Gov. Sarah Palin|url=http://nbcumv.com/release_detail.nbc/entertainment-20080914000000-tinafeygueststars.html|publisher=NBC Universal Media Village|date=September 14, 2008|access-date=September 16, 2008}}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The sketch was written by Poehler, Fey, and head writer and Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers.{{cite web| url = http://snltranscripts.jt.org/08/08apalin.phtml | title = Palin impersonators | publisher = snltranscripts.jt.org |access-date=2011-01-14}} The following year Fey won an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her impersonation of Palin.{{cite news|url=http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/09/you-betcha-tina-fey-wins-emmy-as-sarah-palin-on-snl-entertainment-news-2468097.html|title=You betcha — Tina Fey wins Emmy as Sarah Palin on 'SNL'|date=September 13, 2009|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2009-09-13|archive-date=July 9, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709105331/http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/09/you-betcha-tina-fey-wins-emmy-as-sarah-palin-on-snl-entertainment-news-2468097.html|url-status=dead}}

Due to its popularity, additional sketches with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin were seen in later SNL episodes leading up to the weekend before the election, with Fey ultimately performing her impersonation alongside both the real Palin and John McCain. Palin has said that, before her national prominence, she once dressed up as Fey on Halloween.{{cite news|title=Sarah Palin reacts to Tina Fey Impersonation |url=http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/09/65530/index.html |publisher=Entertainment Tonight |date=September 15, 2008 |access-date=September 16, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916214010/http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/09/65530/index.html |archive-date=September 16, 2008 }} Palin herself has appeared several times on Saturday Night Live or its primetime specials; a couple skits have featured guest stars mistaking Palin for Fey.

On September 27, 2008, Nicole Parker portrayed Sarah Palin during a mock Q&A session in a live audience. On October 4, 2008 MADtv aired a Special Election Presidential Special where it featured Parker once again appearing as Palin.{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-sarah-palin-impersonators-pg,0,2595533.photogallery |title=Sarah Palin impersonators |work=Chicago Tribune |date=October 24, 2008 |access-date=2011-01-14}}

Actress Gina Gershon self-produced and posted several parody videos in which she portrays Palin for the comedy website Funny or Die.Luchina Fisher, "[https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Story?id=5791053&page=2 Will the Real Sarah Palin Please Stand Up?]", ABC News, September 15, 2008{{cite web|title=Gina Gershon index page|author=Gina Gershon|work=Funny or Die|url=http://www.funnyordie.com/gina_gershon|access-date=October 31, 2008}} In one of the videos,{{cite web|title=Gina Gershon Strips Down Sarah Palin|author=Gina Gershon|work=Funny or Die|url=http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/61410aa4ff/gina-gershon-strips-down-sarah-palin-from-gina-gershon|access-date=October 31, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031074811/http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/61410aa4ff/gina-gershon-strips-down-sarah-palin-from-gina-gershon|archive-date=October 31, 2008|url-status=dead}} Gershon, as Palin, dons a stars-and-stripes bikini and totes a gun, a reference to a widely circulated, but faked, photograph purporting to be the real Palin in such a scenario.Samantha Chang, "[http://www.theimproper.com/Template_Article.aspx?IssueId=3&ArticleId=2285 The Improper: Sarah Palin Bikini Photos Are Fake] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429155231/http://www.theimproper.com/Template_Article.aspx?IssueId=3&ArticleId=2285 |date=April 29, 2009 }}", The Improper, September 4, 2008 . Retrieved October 31, 2008."[http://www.usmagazine.com/gina-gershon-spoofs-sarah-palin Video: Gina Gershon Spoofs Sarah Palin]", US Magazine, September 11, 2008 . Retrieved November 1, 2008.David Sarno, "[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/09/bikini-clad-gin.html Bikini-clad Gina Gershon spoofs Sarah Palin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204012830/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/09/bikini-clad-gin.html |date=February 4, 2009 }}", Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2008 . Retrieved November 1, 2008.

Kelly Ripa impersonated Palin on the Halloween edition of Live with Regis and Kelly (broadcast October 31, 2008), parodying phrases associated with Palin such a "Say it ain't so, Joe" and "Maverick," wearing Palin's well-known red outfit, and speaking in Palin's accent. Her co-host, Regis Philbin, impersonated Joe Biden.{{cite news|title=CNN Showbiz Tonight: Funniest Campaign Ever|publisher=CNN|url=http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2008/11/03/sbt.funniest.campaign.ever.cnn|date=November 3, 2008|access-date=November 4, 2008 }} (video)

{{See also|Mama grizzly}}

Following her nomination, Palin was often tagged with the epithet "Caribou Barbie," a play on Malibu Barbie, owing to her background as a beauty pageant contestant in her home state of Alaska.Chris Weigant, "[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/my-2008-mclaughlin-awards_b_153636.html My 2008 'McLaughlin Awards']" Huffington Post, December 26, 2008.David Freddoso, "[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YWU5OTFlMzY3MDU1MGNmOTZiZDZlZGQxYmMwMjdkNWE=Following ‘Caribou Barbie’]{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}", National Review Online, September 5, 2008. Palin herself uttered this phrase when she made an October 18, 2008 guest appearance on Saturday Night Live, filling in the blank for Alec Baldwin, who could not remember what people called her."[https://web.archive.org/web/20081020233654/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20234312,00.html Tina Fey & Sarah Palin Cross Paths on SNL]", People Magazine, October 19, 2008. Baldwin later referred to Palin as "Bible Spice" in an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.{{Cite episode|title=Late Show – When Alec Baldwin Met Sarah Palin|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXoO8aeM5-Y|access-date=October 23, 2010|series=Late Show with David Letterman|network=CBS|airdate=October 29, 2008}} The epithet Caribou Barbie has been contrasted with Palin's usage of Mama grizzly to describe herself and later to describe other moms seeking political office.{{cite news |title=Legislators, grizzlies and Bible verses |first=John |last=Laird |department=Opinion |newspaper=The Columbian |date=January 11, 2009 |page=C |quote=Mama grizzly or Caribou Barbie? Sarah Palin is on the prowl, snorting that when the media poke fun at her family, it brings out the mama grizzly in her.}}

Country music singer Ray Stevens issued a YouTube music video entitled Caribou Barbie on March 11, 2010, which gently parodies Palin's image but at the same time denounces her critics and urges voters to think of her in 2012 should she decide to run for the U.S. Presidency.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

In addition to his career on Star Trek, actor William Shatner is also known for his spoken word performances. On July 27, 2009, Shatner gave a "spoken word" interpretation of Palin's farewell address on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.{{cite news |last=Newman |first=Craig |url=http://blogs.suntimes.com/shinyobjects/2009/07/sarah_palin_says_goodbye_-_the_william_shatner_way.html |title=Sarah Palin says goodbye – the William Shatner way |publisher=Blogs.suntimes.com |date=July 28, 2009 |access-date=2011-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909030453/http://blogs.suntimes.com/shinyobjects/2009/07/sarah_palin_says_goodbye_-_the_william_shatner_way.html |archive-date=September 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}{{cite news|last=Mackey |first=Robert |url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/shatner-performs-palins-poetry/?hp |title=Shatner Performs Palin's 'Poetry' |work=The New York Times |date=July 28, 2009 |access-date=2011-01-14}}{{cite news| url = http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/07/long-before-palin-interpretation-william-shatner-did-elton-johns-rocket-man.html |title=Long before Palin speech, William Shatner did Elton John's "Rocket Man" |publisher=Latimesblogs.latimes.com |date=July 28, 2009 |access-date=2011-01-14}}{{cite news|last=Scherer |first=Michael |url=https://swampland.time.com/2009/07/28/william-shatner-reads-sarah-palin/ |title=William Shatner Reads Sarah Palin |publisher=Time |date=July 28, 2009 |access-date=2011-01-14}} He returned to the Tonight Show on July 29, 2009, and performed a few of Palin's "Tweets" on Twitter.{{cite web|url=http://newsroom.mtv.com/2009/07/30/william-shatner-sarah-palin-twitter/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090731135509/http://newsroom.mtv.com/2009/07/30/william-shatner-sarah-palin-twitter/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 31, 2009 |title=William Shatner Returns To 'Tonight' To Tackle Sarah Palin's Tweets |publisher=Newsroom.mtv.com |date=July 30, 2009 |access-date=2011-01-14}}{{cite web|url=http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/07/30/william-shatner-interprets-the-twitter-poetry-of-sarah-palin/ |title=William Shatner interprets the Twitter poetry of Sarah Palin |publisher=Features.csmonitor.com |date=July 30, 2009 |access-date=2011-01-14}} Shatner then appeared on the show on December 11, 2009, to recite Palin's Going Rogue: An American Life, but was followed by an appearance from Palin herself reading excerpts from Shatner's autobiography, Up Till Now.{{cite news |title=Palin makes surprise appearance on 'Tonight Show' |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jac50hCoxZ_E2r6zUJUhDmp7sqVQD9CHGTG00 |access-date=December 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091217035625/https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jac50hCoxZ_E2r6zUJUhDmp7sqVQD9CHGTG00 |archive-date=December 17, 2009 }}{{cite web|last=Tucker |first=Ken |url=http://watching-tv.ew.com/2009/12/11/sarah-palin-the-tonight-show/ |title=See Sarah Palin out-Shatner William Shatner on 'The Tonight Show' | Ken Tucker's TV | EW.com |publisher=Watching-tv.ew.com |date=December 11, 2009 |access-date=2011-01-14}}{{cite news|url=http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/sarah-palin-to-appear-on-tonight-show-its-a-surprise/|work=The New York Times|title=Sarah Palin Appears on 'Tonight Show'|first=Bill|last=Carter|date=December 11, 2009|access-date=May 22, 2010}}

Going Rouge: Sarah Palin, An American Nightmare is a collection of essays about Palin with a spoof title and cover design similar to Palin's memoir.[http://shelf-life.ew.com/2009/10/21/going-rouge-palin-basher-lookalike/ Attention, Sarah Palin Bashers: Lookalike book "Going Rogue" is Coming] by Thom Geier, Entertainment Weekly, October 21, 2009[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/oct/21/spoof-biographies-sarah-palin-book Spoof Biographies look to Spoil Sarah Palin's Book Launch] by Alison Flood, The Guardian, October 21, 2009 The paperback was released on November 17, 2009, the same day that Palin's own hardback Going Rogue: An American Life was released. Both books feature Palin on the front in red, but Going Rouge: An American Nightmare has her against a backdrop of black thunder clouds and lightning, instead of the blue sky with clouds of her actual memoir.[http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/10/21/2009-10-21_going_rogue_spoof_nightmarestories_may_have_sarah_palin_seeing_rouge.html "Going Rogue" Spoof: "Nightmare" Stories may have Sarah Palin Seeing "Rouge"] by Olivia Smith, New York Daily News, October 21, 2009 Going Rouge is compiled by Richard Kim and Betsy Reed, two editors of the left-leaning weekly The Nation, and includes essays by Katrina vanden Heuvel, Naomi Klein, Katha Pollitt and others.

The 2012 movie Iron Sky casts Stephanie Paul as the President of the United States as parody of Sarah Palin.{{cite news|title=Die finnische Filmparodie "Iron Sky" erzählt von durchgeknallten Nazis auf dem Mond|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=2 April 2012}}

In 2016, Palin appeared as a panelist on the revival of the classic game show Match Game hosted by Alec Baldwin.

In 2020, Palin competed on season 3 of The Masked Singer as the Bear, where she sang "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2020/03/12/sarah-palin-in-a-fursuit-perfectly-embodies-2020/|title=Sarah Palin In A Fursuit Perfectly Embodies The Surreal Horror Of 2020|last=Placido|first=Dani Di|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2020-03-14}} She was eliminated on her first appearance.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/sarah-palin-s-masked-singer-performance-fox-perfectly-encapsulated-our-ncna1157181|title=Opinion|website=NBC News|date=March 13, 2020 |language=en|access-date=2020-03-14}}

Actor Zach Galifianakis cited Palin's handling of her overnight elevation to national prominence in 2008 as a source of inspiration for his portrayal of the character Marty Huggins in the 2012 comedy film The Campaign. In the film, Huggins is a politically inexperienced candidate.{{cite web |last1=Harp |first1=Justin |title=Galifianakis: 'Palin Inspired Campaign' |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a399116/zach-galifianakis-sarah-palin-partly-inspired-the-campaign |website=Digital Spy |access-date=16 May 2025 |date=13 August 2012}} Former McCain campaign staffer Nicolle Wallace cited Palin as the inspiration for her depiction of a mentally ill vice president in her 2011 novel It's Classified. Wallace had worked directly with Palin during the 2008 campaign, with the two being odds both during and after the campaign.{{cite web |last1=Horowitz |first1=Alana |title=Sarah Palin Inspired Mentally-Ill Character In Former McCain Staffer's New Book |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nicole-wallace-sarah-palin_n_996649 |website=HuffPost |access-date=16 May 2025 |language=en |date=5 October 2011}} In 2020, Michael Schur, co-creator of the television series Parks and Recreation, revealed that Palin's role in the construction of the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center while mayor of Wasilla had inspired a plot point in the series in which the character Ben Wyatt had previously (as a teenage mayor of a small town) bankrupted his hometown's finances by funding a planned ice rink complex called "Ice Town".{{cite web |last1=Leishman |first1=Rachel |title=There's a New 'Parks and Recreation' Tonight!!!!!!!! |url=https://www.themarysue.com/new-parks-and-recreation |website=The Mary Sue |access-date=16 May 2025 |language=en |date=30 April 2020}} Actress Lucy Punch cited Palin as the inspiration for her portrayal of the supporter character Amy Squirrel in the 2011 comedy film Bad Teacher, remarking that she portrayed her character as behaving like a younger cousin of Palin who is employed as an elementary school teacher.{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Drew |title=Lucy Punch Says Her Character In 'Bad Teacher' Was Inspired By Sarah Palin |url=https://theplaylist.net/lucy-punch-says-her-character-in-bad-teacher-was-inspired-by-sarah-palin-20110625 |website=The Playlist |access-date=16 May 2025 |date=25 June 2011}} Palin is also speculated to have been a likely inspiration for the character Laura Pickler, portrayed by actress Jennifer Garner in the 2011 comedy film Butter.{{cite web |last1=Reynolds |first1=Simon |title=Garner's 'Butter' Role Inspired By Sarah Palin |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a216634/garners-butter-role-inspired-by-sarah-palin |website=Digital Spy |access-date=16 May 2025 |date=26 April 2010}}

During the run of the comedy series Veep, comparisons were made between its lead character Selina Meyer and the real life careers of prominent women in American politics, including Palin, Hillary Clinton, and Nancy Pelosi.Multiple sources:

• {{cite web |last1=Gallagher |first1=Brenden |title=The Real-Life Political Equivalents of the Cast of "Veep" |url=https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/brenden-gallagher/the-real-life-political-equivalents-of-the-cast-of-veep |website=Complex |access-date=16 May 2025 |language=en |date=April 6, 2014}}
• {{cite web |last1=Berman |first1=Russell |title=Why 'Veep' Trumps 'House of Cards' in TV's Battle of the Beltway |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2014/08/why-veep-teaches-more-about-the-dc-swamp-than-house-of-cards/379045 |website=The Atlantic |access-date=16 May 2025 |language=en |date=25 August 2014}}
• {{cite web |last1=Carlson |first1=Sarah |title="Veep" Review: Answering Absurdity With Absurdity |url=https://www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/veep-review-answering-absurdity-with-absurdity.php |website=Pajiba |access-date=16 May 2025 |date=3 May 2012}}
• {{cite web |title=Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus makes a first-rate, funny 'Veep' |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-apr-20-la-et-veep-20120420-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=16 May 2025 |date=20 April 2012}} Actress Julia Louis Dreyfus (who portrayed Meyer), however, denied that the character was meant to serve as a parody of Palin, "any other female politician", or "any one specific person".Multiple sources:
• {{cite web |last1=Nissim |first1=Mayer |title=Louis-Dreyfus: 'Veep No Palin parody' |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a355259/julia-louis-dreyfus-veep-isnt-a-sarah-palin-parody |website=Digital Spy |access-date=16 May 2025 |date=9 December 2011}}
• {{cite web |last1=Alvarez |first1=Alex |title=No, Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Character In Veep Is Definitely Not Based On Sarah Palin |url=https://www.mediaite.com/tv/no-julia-louis-dreyfus-character-in-veep-is-definitely-not-based-on-sarah-palin |website=Mediaite |access-date=16 May 2025 |language=en |date=19 April 2012}}
• {{cite web |last1=Walker |first1=Jodi |title=Is Julia Louis Dreyfus' Character on Veep Based on Anyone? The Real Story Behind Selina Meyer |url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/37164-is-julia-louis-dreyfus-character-on-veep-based-on-anyone-the-real-story-behind-selina-meyer |website=Bustle |access-date=16 May 2025 |language=en |date=25 August 2014}} Creator Armando Iannucci has similarly denied that the character was modeled upon Palin or any specific individual.Multiple sources:
• {{cite web |last1=Ford |first1=Lily |title=‘Veep’ Creator Armando Iannucci on Why His Show Wouldn’t Work Today — and Advice for Kamala Harris |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/veep-election-2024-kamala-harris-trump-armando-iannucci-1235961649 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=16 May 2025 |date=30 July 2024}}
• {{cite web |last1=Burstein |first1=David D. |title=“Veep” Creator Armando Iannucci On The Real Comedy Of Politics |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/1680639/veep-creator-armando-iannucci-on-the-real-comedy-of-politics |website=Fast Company |access-date=16 May 2025 |date=April 20, 2012}} Analysis of the series has noted that its early writing and conceptualization was responsive to the then-current political atmosphere surrounding female aspirants to the White House, in which Palin's vice presidential candidacy (recent at the time the show was conceived) and subsequent public interest in Palin was a significant factor.Multiple sources:
• {{cite web |title=Veep: How the Show Has Evolved from Satire to Documentary |url=https://movieweb.com/veep-satire-documentary |website=MovieWeb |access-date=16 May 2025 |language=en |date=2 February 2023}}
• {{cite web |last1=Smart |first1=Jack |title=Why ‘Veep’ Has One of the Best Acting Ensembles of 2019 |url=https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/veep-hbo-best-ensemble-awards-fyc-69554 |website=Backstage.com |access-date=16 May 2025 |language=en |date=3 December 2019}}
• {{cite web |last1=Weigel |first1=David |title=With Great Power Comes Great Hilarity |url=https://slate.com/culture/2013/04/veep-second-season-review-hbos-much-improved-political-satire-starring-julia-louis-dreyfus.html |website=Slate |access-date=16 May 2025 |date=11 April 2013}} Palin was cited by some of the show's costume designers as a source of inspiration for some of the outfits worn by the character during the first season.{{cite web |title=Veep Season 1: The Wardrobe {{!}} Feather Factor |url=https://www.featherfactor.com/2014/07/veep-season-1-the-wardrobe.html |access-date=16 May 2025 |date=21 July 2014}} However, lead costume designer Ernesto Martinez noted that Louis–Dreyfus was resistant to the use of Palin and fellow Republican politician Michele Bachmann as wardrobe inspirations, which led the costume designers to instead favor Michelle Obama (the then-current first lady) as their most significant reference point for Meyer's wardrobe that season.{{cite web |last1=Moss |first1=Hilary |title=Julia Louis-Dreyfus Didn’t Want to Look Like Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann for Her New Show Veep |url=https://www.thecut.com/2012/04/louis-dreyfus-didnt-want-to-look-like-palin.html |website=The Cut |access-date=16 May 2025 |language=en |date=26 April 2012}}{{cite web |last1=Chang |first1=Bee-Shyuan |title=Outfitting the ‘Veep’ |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/fashion/what-should-a-female-vice-president-wear.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=16 May 2025 |date=25 April 2012}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080919215120/http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/nakedcampaign/palebycomparison/?xrail New Yorker: Steve Brodner on Sarah Palin and the politics of perception]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100413082255/http://photo.newsweek.com/content/photo/2008/8/photos-the-career-of-gov-sarah-palin.html Who is Sarah Palin?] – slideshow by Newsweek magazine
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/01/AR2008100103437.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2008100103651&s_pos= "Palin's Strengths Rooted in Alaska,"] by Sally Jenkins
• [http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/540072.html "How Palin governs: She keeps a narrow focus, prefers message to mechanic,"] by Anchorage Daily News September 28, 2008
• Burkeman, Oliver. "[https://www.theguardian.com/world/oliverburkemanblog/2008/oct/19/uselections2008-sarahpalin Parody Extravaganza: Twenty US election spoofs you may have missed]." The Guardian, October 30, 2008.
• [https://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2010/10/sarah-palin-201010?printable=true¤tPage=all Sarah Palin: The Sound and the Fury] by Michael Joseph Gross, Vanity Fair Cover Story, October 2010

{{Sarah Palin}}

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Category:Sarah Palin

Category:Public image of American politicians