ABSTRACT
When Republican Party presidential candidate John McCain introduced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential nominee in late August 2008, few people knew her name or anything about her. She was not widely known in the “lower 48” and journalists scrambled to prepare background stories and profiles about the latest newsmaker at the national and international level. Americans and others around the world wanted to know about this individual, the first woman to be nominated by the Republican Party to become vice president.
