The bustling tourism season is just getting under way up in Alaska, but this weekend The Last Frontier State has sent New York its biggest export over the last year: The Palin Family. Governor Sarah Palin has been zipping around the area over the last couple days with events planned in various suburbs and towns around the city, almost flirtatiously toying with the five boroughs.
Yesterday the town of Auburn found a way to connect themselves to the governor—by inviting her to celebrate the first ever "Founder's Day" in honor of their native son, William Seward, the former Secretary of State notorious for his "folly" in purchasing Alaska for the US. Palin marched in a parade through town and helped raise money for a Seward Museum they are trying to build.
Today Palin heads to some events a little closer to the city to help raise awareness for people with disabilities. She's taking part in a walk to raise money for Autism Speaks in Westchester this morning and will make her way out to Long Island this evening for an event for disabled children in St. James.
With Palin so publicly on the march, naturally her future political ambitions are a topic of discussion. Congressman Peter King told Newsday, "She's definitely a player. She has a real strong base of support." But when asked about any future presidential bid for Palin, Nassau County Democratic chair Jay Jacobs said, "There's just way too much baggage with her and I think that she's not taken seriously by the overwhelmingly majority of the electorate."
Palin certainly sounded like she was winning over the hearts of upstate New York. While she stopped by Seneca Falls on Friday, one local resident told a reporter, "She is basically as close to our class as anyone in politics."
