Palin still a draw for hometown, Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska — Anyone who doubts Sarah Palin's celebrity need only talk to Lyn Carden.

As head of Wasilla, Alaska's chamber of commerce, Carden tends to be the frontline for tourists wanting to see Palin, perhaps even grab a cup of coffee at her house. And she's heard it all.

When Palin makes news, or carries a snazzy purse women want to buy, Carden invariably gets a call, or flurry of calls. Some callers have left credit card information, hoping to get that purse. Others send fan mail, or money for Palin's political action committee.

There are those, too, that just stop in, off a train and hoping for directions to her house — which they do not get — or eager to learn as much as they can about Wasilla's most famous resident. Many snap a photo of themselves with Palin's cardboard cutout.

"Of course, every single question is about her and where she is and where she gets her hair done and what she eats and what she's doing," Carden said.

A year after Palin's abrupt resignation as governor, interest in her and the small Alaska town she put on the map hasn't gone away. While it's not at the fever pitch it reached during Palin's run for vice president, there remains a steady stream of pilgrims. At least one tour company builds old Palin haunts into a trip that includes a musk ox farm visit.

Some in Wasilla don't see what the big deal is. To them, Palin's just a local-girl-made-good, a former mayor and current resident who hits her favorite running trails when she's in town and runs her own errands, seen at the Fred Meyer, gas station or library, dressed down, without immaculate hair and makeup.

But she's also one of the most popular, and polarizing, political figures in America — revered by supporters as a God-fearing Everywoman, who fights for what she believes in, and derided by critics as a political lightweight and quitter.

"There's no gray area," Carden said.

There's also no denying the fascination with her.

John Coale, who's no stranger to celebrity — he's married to Fox News' Greta Van Sustern and considers the Clintons friends — recalls a scene in Boston earlier this year when he took Palin and her husband, Todd, to a pastry shop.

Within "seconds," he said, people started asking for photos, and seemingly out of nowhere, a crowd of almost 100 amassed outside. It took about 45 minutes to get through, he said, with Palin stopping for autographs and photos, never complaining or acting a diva.