Gov. TF from Wasilla Dishes on Palin

For many teachers in Harvard’s government department, Sarah Palin’s rise to prominence might be the basis for a lesson on Republican enthusiasm and the political pitfalls of a 24-hour news cycle.

For Jennifer W. Howk, conversations about Alaska’s governor hit a little closer to home. Howk, who is a teaching fellow for the College’s introductory comparative politics course, is a native of Wasilla, Alaska, the town Palin presided over for six years as mayor.

“Wasilla is a tragedy, Shakespearean in scope—there’s a gorgeous natural environment with a relentless assault of strip malls,” Howk said in an interview last week. “Wasilla is one big road that cuts through town and there’s a grocery store and a Wal-Mart...and a strip mall.”

Prior to Palin’s nomination, the town’s most recent claim to fame was that its Wal-Mart sold more duct tape than any Wal-Mart in the world in 2002, Howk said. (The Department of Homeland Security had issued a directive to stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting to seal windows during chemical or biological attacks.)

After Palin graduated from college with a journalism degree, she moved back to Wasilla. Howk’s mother was the editor of a small newspaper and hired Palin to work for her.

“I remember [Palin] called my little brother ‘Buster.’ He had a big crush on her, he was eight,” Howk said. “She looked pretty much the same, she had the big hair.”

According to Howk, Wasilla residents were surprised by the pick.

“It was very odd,” she said. “No one saw it coming.”

She said that Alaskans are facing a political “identity crisis.” In addition to their governor’s protracted grilling on the national stage, Senator Ted Stevens—Howk called him “Uncle Ted”—was found guilty on seven counts of lying on his tax returns Monday.

Howk described Palin as someone you would let “take your kids to a baseball game.”

“She’s Miss Congeniality, which she literally won,” Howk said. “It tells you a lot.”

But Howk was hesitant to dish further.

“I don’t want to wind up on an enemies list if they win the election,” Howk laughed. “Though that’s looking like a long shot.”

—Staff writer Aditi Balakrishna can be reached at balakris@fas.harvard.edu.