Before there was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene or Rep. Lauren Boebert — before former President Donald Trump launched the MAGA movement with his 2016 campaign — there was former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is competing in a race to fill the U.S. House of Representatives seat once held by the late Rep. Don Young. A Palin victory in that congressional election is far from a done deal; she is facing a lot of competition. But Palin was certainly an influential figure in her party, and journalist Joanna Weiss examines that influence in an article published by Politico on April 24.
Palin hasn't run for office since the presidential election of 2008, when she was chosen as Sen. John McCain's running mate. The then-Alaska governor wasn't McCain's first choice; truth be told, McCain would have much preferred former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge — a moderate conservative who was popular in the Philadelphia suburbs. But the late Arizona Republican went along with putting Palin on the ticket, and the far right loved her even though McCain lost the election to Barack Obama.
