What some Anchorage locals have referred to as the "biggest political rally in Alaska" took place last Saturday to protest the GOP selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as its vice presidential nominee. To mark the governor's return from a celebrated jaunt in the Lower 48, crowds with homemade signs packed the grounds around the city library.
Photos of the event spread fast and wide on email lists, email writers and bloggers apparently as shocked by the turnout as attendees had been. One of the after-event "seed emails" written by "Linda Lovett" contained the photos we're posting here, some of which were also posted in part at places like Momocrats. Although Lovett implied that the event was a specifically organized gathering, that it even had a name -- "The Alaska Women Reject Palin Rally" -- Journalist and OffTheBus community member Amanda Coyne said the genesis of the protest was difficult to pinpoint. "It's hard, if not impossible, to tell if the protest was organized by anyone specifically," Coyne wrote at her blog. "But rumors were floating around that it was the brainchild of a few 'angry moms' -- angry moms who understand the power of the Internet. Emails began popping up in inboxes early last week. My box was jammed up with at least 20 of them."
Lovett's recap was breathless:
Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators). This was the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn't honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn't happen here.
Coyne was impressed, too. "Democrats here have had a hard time amassing much enthusiasm for their causes... Saturday, though, wow."
It was the internet-generated mass turnout and the homemade signs that made an impression. Coyne again:
The signs--some crafted from paper-covered clothes hangers, like the one that declared, "Bristol got to choose. Why don't we?"--nearly said it all:
The Alaska Disaster
Pray for peace, not pipelines
Palin: A woman not afraid to hate women
Palin scares this working mom
And maybe the most clever,
Jesus was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a Governor
But underlining the protest was a sentiment that couldn't be quipped, that no sign was big enough to contain. It was something that I had been hearing only in snippets for the past two weeks, but until today, I hadn't heard articulated. This was from a state worker, who, for fear of reprisal, didn't want their name used (it wasn't the first state worker who expressed the same fear at the rally--some even wore masks to conceal their State of Alaska identities). This is what this person told me:
"I just feel exploited. I feel like they're using this state like they use products in commercials. It is like, 'OK, what can we sell?' And Alaska and Palin are what they chose. They're selling our state out, and she's allowing it. It almost feels like a violation."
