Sarah Palin and children of Vern Taylor are related:
eleventh cousin through Samuel LATHROP , immigrant & Elizabeth SCUDDER , i mmigrant. To my son-in-law, Adam Rice, she is related:
eleventh cousin once removed Robert ROYCE & Mary SIMS
and twelfth cousin once removed through William CURTISS & Agnes ‎(Curtis s)‎
Sarah Palin and Misha are related as:
tenth cousin once removed through Robert ROYCE & Mary SIMS.

excerpts from
­http­://­en­.­wikipedia­.­org­/­wiki­/­Sarah_Palin­
Sarah Louise Heath Palin ‎(pronounced /'peilin/; born February 11, 1964)‎ i s the governor of the U.S. state of Alaska.

Palin was a member of the Wasilla, Alaska city council from 1992 to 199 6 and the city's mayor from 1996 to 2002. After an unsuccessful campaig n for lieutenant governor of Alaska in 2002, she chaired the Alaska Oil a nd Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004. She was elected gover nor of Alaska in November 2006 by defeating the incumbent governor in t he Republican primary and then defeating a former two-term Democratic g overnor in the general election. She is the first female governor of Al aska, and the youngest person elected to the position.

On August 29, 2008, Republican presidential candidate John McCain annou nced he had chosen Palin as his running mate, and she was formally nomi nated at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minneso ta. She was the first woman to run on the Republican Party's presidenti al ticket and the first Alaskan nominee of either major party.

Early life and education
Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho, the third of four children of Sarah H eath ‎(née Sheeran)‎, a school secretary, and Charles R. Heath, a science t eacher and track coach.‎[6]‎‎[7]‎ She is of English, German, and Irish desc ent. The family moved to Alaska when she was an infant. As a child, she s ometimes went moose hunting with her father before school. The family r egularly ran 5 km and 10 km races.‎[8]‎

Palin attended Wasilla High School in Wasilla, located 44 miles ‎(71 km)‎ n orth of Anchorage.‎[9]‎ She was the head of the Fellowship of Christian A thletes chapter at the school and the point guard and captain of the sc hool's girls' basketball team that won the Alaska state championship in 1 982.‎[8]‎‎[10]‎

In 1982, she enrolled at Hawaii Pacific College but left after her firs t semester. She transferred to North Idaho community college, where she s pent two semesters as a general studies major. From there, she transfer red to the University of Idaho for two semesters.‎[11]‎‎[12]‎ During this t ime Palin won the Miss Wasilla Pageant,‎[13]‎‎[14]‎ then finished third in t he 1984 Miss Alaska pageant,‎[15]‎‎[16]‎ at which she won a college scholar ship and the "Miss Congeniality" award.‎[8]‎ Afterwards, Palin attended t he Matanuska-Susitna community college in Alaska for one term. The next y ear she returned to the University of Idaho where she spent three semes ters completing her Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journa lism, graduating in 1987.‎[11]‎‎[12]‎

In 1988, she worked as a sports reporter for KTUU-TV and KTVA-TV in Anc horage, Alaska,‎[17]‎ and for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman as a sports r eporter.‎[18]‎ She also helped in her husband’s commercial fishing family b usiness.‎[19]‎

...
Governor of Alaska
Main article: Governorship of Sarah Palin

Palin visits soldiers of the Alaska National Guard, July 24, 2007.In 20 06, running on a clean-government platform, Palin defeated incumbent Go vernor Frank Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary.‎[71]‎ Her r unning mate was State Senator Sean Parnell.

Despite being outspent by her Democratic opponent, she won the gubernat orial election in November, defeating former governor Tony Knowles by a m argin of 48.3% to 40.9%.‎[8]‎ Palin became Alaska's first female governor , and at the age of 42, the youngest governor in Alaskan history.‎[72]‎ S he is the state's first governor to have been born after Alaska achieve d U.S. statehood, and the first not to be inaugurated in Juneau; she ch ose to have the ceremony held in Fairbanks instead. She took office on D ecember 4, 2006, and has been very popular with Alaska voters. Polls ta ken in 2007 early in her term showed her with a 93% and 89% popularity a mong all voters,‎[73]‎ which led some media outlets to call her "the most p opular governor in America."‎[65]‎‎[73]‎ A poll taken in late September 200 8 after Palin was named to the national Republican ticket showed her po pularity in Alaska at 68%.‎[74]‎

Palin declared that top priorities of her administration would be resou rce development, education and workforce development, public health and s afety, and transportation and infrastructure development.‎[72]‎ She had c hampioned ethics reform throughout her election campaign. Her first leg islative action after taking office was to push for a bipartisan ethics r eform bill. She signed the resulting legislation in July 2007, calling i t a "first step", and declaring that she remained determined to clean u p Alaska politics.‎[75]‎

Palin has sometimes broken with the state Republican establishment. For e xample, she endorsed Sean Parnell's bid to unseat the state's longtime a t-large U.S. Representative, Don Young.‎[76]‎ Palin has publicly challeng ed Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about the ongoing federal investig ation into his financial dealings. Shortly before his July 2008 indictm ent, she held a joint news conference with Stevens, described by The Wa shington Post as needed "to make clear she had not abandoned him politi cally."‎[69]‎

Palin promoted oil and natural gas resource development in Alaska, incl uding in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ‎(ANWR)‎. Proposals to drill f or oil in ANWR have been the subject of a national debate.‎[77]‎

In 2006, Palin obtained a passport‎[78]‎ and in 2007 traveled for the fir st time outside of North America on a trip to Kuwait. There she visited t he Khabari Alawazem Crossing at the Kuwait-Iraq border and met with mem bers of the Alaska National Guard at several bases.‎[79]‎ On her return t rip to the U.S., she visited injured soldiers in Germany.‎[80]‎

...
Federal funding
In her State of the State Address on January 17, 2008, Palin declared t hat the people of Alaska "can and must continue to develop our economy, b ecause we cannot and must not rely so heavily on federal government ‎[fu nding]‎."‎[89]‎ Alaska's federal congressional representatives cut back on p ork-barrel project requests during Palin's time as governor; despite th is, in 2008 Alaska was still the largest per-capita recipient of federa l earmarks, requesting nearly $750 million in special federal spending o ver a period of two years.‎[90]‎

While there is no sales tax or income tax in Alaska, state revenues dou bled to $10 billion in 2008, For the 2009 budget, Palin gave a list of 3 1 proposed federal earmarks or requests for funding, totaling $197 mill ion, to Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.‎[91]‎ Palin’s decreasing support for f ederal funding has been a leading source of friction between herself an d the state's congressional delegation; Palin has requested less in fed eral funding each year than her predecessor Frank Murkowski requested i n his last year.‎[92]‎

...
Gas pipeline
See also: Alaska Gas Pipeline
In August 2008, Palin signed a bill authorizing the State of Alaska to a ward TransCanada Pipelines - the sole bidder to meet the state's requir ements - a license to build and operate a pipeline to transport natural g as from the North Slope to the Continental United States through Canada .‎[106]‎ The governor also pledged $500 million in seed money to support t he project.‎[107]‎ It is estimated that the project will cost $26 billion .‎[106]‎ Newsweek described the project as "the principal achievement of S arah Palin's term as Alaska's governor,"‎[108]‎ but it faces legal challe nges from Canadian First Nations ‎(aboriginal peoples)‎.‎[108]‎

...
2008 Vice-presidential campaign

On August 29, 2008, in Dayton, Ohio, Republican presidential candidate J ohn McCain announced that he had chosen Palin as his running mate.‎[144]‎ A ccording to Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for John McCain, he first me t Palin at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington in F ebruary 2008 and came away "extraordinarily impressed."‎[145]‎ He called P alin on August 24 to discuss the possibility of having her join him on t he ticket.‎[146]‎ On August 27, she visited McCain's vacation home near S edona, Arizona, where she was offered the position of vice-presidential c andidate.‎[147]‎ Palin was the only prospective running mate who had a fa ce-to-face interview with McCain to discuss joining the ticket that wee k.‎[146]‎ Nonetheless, Palin's selection was a surprise to many as specul ation had centered on other candidates, such as Minnesota Governor Tim P awlenty, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, United States Senat or Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom R idge.‎[144]‎

Palin is the first Alaskan and the second woman to run on a major U.S. p arty ticket. The first woman was Geraldine Ferraro, the Democratic vice -presidential nominee in 1984, who ran with former vice-president Walte r Mondale.‎[144]‎ On September 3, 2008, Palin delivered a 40-minute accep tance speech at the Republican National Convention that was well-receiv ed and watched by more than 40 million viewers.‎[148]‎

Several conservative commentators met Palin in the summer of 2007 when t hey sailed on cruises that docked in Juneau.‎[149]‎ Some of them, such as B ill Kristol, urged McCain to pick Palin, arguing that her presence on t he ticket would provide a boost in enthusiasm among the religious right w ing of the Republican party, while her status as an unknown on the nati onal scene would also be a positive factor for McCain's campaign.‎[150]‎

Since Palin was largely unknown outside Alaska before her selection by M cCain, her personal life, positions, and political record drew intense m edia attention and scrutiny.‎[151]‎ Some Republicans felt that Palin was b eing subjected to unreasonable media coverage, a sentiment Palin noted i n her acceptance speech.‎[152]‎ A poll taken immediately after the Republ ican convention found that slightly more than half of Americans believe d that the media was "trying to hurt" Palin with negative coverage.‎[153 ]‎

During the campaign, controversy erupted over alleged differences betwe en Palin's positions as a gubernatorial candidate and her position as a v ice-presidential candidate. While campaigning for vice-president, Palin t outed her stance on "the bridge to nowhere" as an example of her opposi tion to pork barrel spending.‎[154]‎ In her nomination acceptance speech a nd on the campaign trail, Palin has often said, "I told the Congress 't hanks, but no thanks,' on that Bridge to Nowhere."‎[155]‎ Although Palin w as originally a main proponent of the Gravina Island Bridge, McCain-Pal in television advertisements assert that Palin "stopped the Bridge to N owhere."‎[156]‎ These statements have been widely questioned or described a s misleading or exaggerations‎[157]‎ by many media groups in the U.S.‎[158 ]‎ Newsweek remarked, "Now she talks as if she always opposed the fundin g."‎[159]‎

Palin was reported to have prepared intensively for the October 2 vice- presidential debate with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden a t Washington University in St. Louis. Some Republicans suggested that P alin's performance in the interviews would improve public perceptions o f her debate performance by lowering expectations.‎[167]‎‎[163]‎‎[168]‎ Polli ng from CNN, Fox and CBS found that while Palin exceeded most voters' e xpectations, they felt that Biden had won the debate.‎[169]‎‎[170]‎

Upon returning to the campaign trail after her debate preparation, Pali n stepped up her attacks on the Democratic candidate for President, Sen ator Barack Obama. At a fundraising event, Palin explained her new aggr essiveness, saying, "There does come a time when you have to take the g loves off and that time is right now." In a series of campaign rallies b eginning on October 4, Palin returned to the vice presidential candidat e's traditional role of attack dog, lashing out at and criticizing Bara ck Obama personally.‎[171]‎

Palin appeared on the television show Saturday Night Live on October 18 .‎[172]‎ Prior to her appearance on the show, she had been parodied sever al times by Tina Fey.

In his concession speech McCain thanked Palin, and called her "one of t he best campaigners I've ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our p arty for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest s trength."‎[173]‎

Personal life
In 1988, Palin eloped with her childhood sweetheart Todd Palin because, a ccording to her mother, Palin believed that her parents "couldn't affor d a big white wedding."‎[174]‎ Todd Palin works for the London-based oil c ompany BP as an oil-field production operator and owns a commercial fis hing business.‎[72]‎‎[21]‎ The Palins have an estimated combined net worth o f over $1 million.‎[175]‎ In 2007, Todd and Sarah Palin reported an adjus ted gross income of $166,080. They paid $24,738 in federal taxes, and $ 7,424 in other taxes. They gave $3,325 to charity. Their fishing busine ss returned a net profit of $15,503, but they reported a loss of $9,639 o n Todd's snowmachine racing activities.‎[176]‎

Palin describes herself as a hockey mom. The Palins have five children: s ons Track ‎(b. 1989)‎‎[177]‎ and Trig ‎(b. 2008)‎, and daughters Bristol ‎(b. 1 990)‎, Willow ‎(b. 1995)‎, and Piper ‎(b. 2001)‎.‎[178]‎ Track enlisted in the U .S. Army on September 11, 2007,‎[179]‎ and was subsequently assigned to a n infantry brigade. He and his unit deployed to Iraq in September 2008, f or 12 months.‎[180]‎ On September 1, 2008, Palin announced that Bristol w as five months pregnant and that she intends to keep the baby and marry L evi Johnston, the father of the child.‎[181]‎ Palin's youngest child, Tri g, was prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome.‎[182]‎

Palin was born into a Roman Catholic family.‎[183]‎ Later her family join ed the Wasilla Assembly of God, a Pentecostal church.‎[184]‎ Palin attend ed the Wasilla Assembly of God until 2002. Palin says she switched to W asilla Bible Church because she preferred the children's ministries the re.‎[185]‎ When in Juneau, she attends the Juneau Christian Center.‎[186]‎ H er current home church is the Wasilla Bible Church, an independent cong regation.‎[187]‎ Palin described herself in an interview as a "Bible-beli eving Christian."‎[183]‎ After the Republican National Convention, a spok esperson for the McCain campaign told CNN that Palin "doesn't consider h erself Pentecostal" and has "deep religious convictions."‎[40]‎

Political positions
Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982, and has described th e Republican Party platform as "the right agenda for America".‎[4]‎ Palin i s a social conservative. A lifetime member of the National Rifle Associ ation ‎(NRA)‎, she believes the right to bear arms includes handgun posse ssion, and is against a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons.‎[188]‎ She h as supported gun safety education for youth.‎[189]‎ She supports capital p unishment.‎[190]‎ In a 2006 gubernatorial debate, responding to a questio n asking the candidates whether they would support teaching creationism i n public schools, Palin stated that she supported teaching both creatio nism and evolution. Shortly after that debate, however, Palin said in a n interview that she had only meant to say she supports allowing the di scussion of creationism in public schools, but says it does not have to b e part of the curriculum.‎[191]‎ Palin opposes same-sex marriage and supp orted a non-binding referendum for an Alaskan constitutional amendment t o deny state health benefits to same-sex couples; however, early in her g ubernatorial term she vetoed such a bill, citing its current unconstitu tionality.‎[112]‎‎[192]‎ Palin has called herself "as pro-life as any candi date can be"‎[192]‎ and has called abortion an "atrocity."‎[193]‎ Palin has s tated that abortion should be banned in nearly all cases, including rap e and incest, except if the life of the mother is endangered.‎[194]‎‎[195]‎ P alin has stated that she does not support embryonic stem cell research. ‎[188]‎ She supports sex education in public schools that encourages abst inence but also discusses birth control.‎[193]‎‎[196]‎

Palin has promoted oil and natural gas resource exploration in Alaska, i ncluding in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.‎[77]‎ She brought suit t o overturn the listing of polar bears under the federal Endangered Spec ies Act,‎[197]‎ and also opposed strengthening protections for beluga wha les in Alaska’s Cook Inlet.‎[198]‎ The official Alaska press release stat ed that she had "asked ‎[the National Marine Fisheries Service]‎ to work w ith the state and other scientists to finalize and implement a conserva tion plan for the Cook Inlet stock of belugas."‎[199]‎

On global warming, Palin said that "a changing environment will affect A laska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one t hough who would attribute it to being man-made."‎[200]‎ She later said th at "man's activities certainly can be contributing to the issue" and th at "John McCain and I agree that we gotta do something about it."‎[201]‎

Regarding foreign policy, Palin supports the Bush Administration's poli cies in Iraq, but is concerned that "dependence on foreign energy" may b e obstructing efforts to "have an exit plan in place".‎[202]‎‎[203]‎ Palin s upports preemptive military action in the face of an imminent threat, a nd supports U.S. military operations in Pakistan. She declined to give a y es or no answer regarding whether U.S. military forces should make cros s-border attacks into Pakistan without the approval of the Pakistani go vernment.‎[204]‎ She supports NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia,‎[20 4]‎ and affirms that if Russia invaded a NATO member, the United States s hould meet its treaty obligations.‎[205]‎

References & photo credit
­http­://­en­.­wikipedia­.­org­/­wiki­/­Sarah_Palin­

What the foreigh press thinks Sarah Palin:
From FERGUS SHANAHAN
in St Paul, Minnesota
Published: 05 Sep 2008

WHY, why, why can’t WE have a Sarah Palin?

That was the question churning in my mind as I witnessed this astonishi ng American presidential race.

A week ago few in Britain had heard of Palin.

Today, the moose-huntin’ mom is the most talked-about woman in the worl d. And with good reason.

Her sensational performance at the Republican convention may turn out t o be the moment the White House slipped from Barack Obama’s grasp.

She was an electrifying mix of passion, energy, optimism and plain spea king. The exact opposite of the slippery, two-faced, depressing bunch o f third-raters who parade on our Westminster stage.

In Palin and the Democrats’ Barack Obama, America has two hugely charis matic people offering distinctly different roads.

Democrats and their Lefty media backers had been sneering that Palin is a s mall-town nobody, a hick from Alaska put into a job way beyond an inexp erienced woman.

Believe me, you will not be hearing that again.

Full of self-assurance and aggression, super Sarah popped Barack’s ball oon big-time.

She is popular with voters for the very reason America’s snooty politic al establishment despises her: She isn’t one of the Washington gang.

She’s a mum of five from icy Alaska with a sledge-load of problems behi nd her own front door that workaday Americans can relate to.

A child with special needs. A daughter of 17 pregnant. A constant juggl e between family and career. Compared to the career politicians dominat ing both parties here she seemed fresh, natural - one of us and not one o f them.

She revelled in being an outsider.

She spoke to America as one working mum to another. She cracked good jo kes.

Showing steel beneath her magnolia jacket, she slaughtered Obama’s lack o f experience, his vanity, his emptiness beneath the windy waffle.

It was the most powerful demolition of the Democrat hero I have heard i n two weeks on the US election trail.

The wagons have been drawn up and the Republicans are ready for battle.

The McCain-Palin ticket now looks in exciting shape. A war hero and a h eroic mum. Experience and optimism.