Please don’t judge the rest of us in AK by what you read about Sarah Palin and Levi Johnston.

I will admit, I admired Palin enough to consider voting for her to be governor. Yeah, that’s a big deal for a liberal-minded gal like me. But she was a lot more normal then. At least on the surface. And compared to the other candidates during that election? Well, let’s just say she was a breath of fresh air as she spoke of ethics reform and fiscal responsibility. Since then, I promised myself I would research candidates much more thoroughly in the future. Much more.

But then the vice presidential thing and the pregnant daughter thing and the baby daddy becoming some sort of celebrity thing occurred (Can someone please please PLEASE explain to me what Levi Johnston did to earn all this attention?). Palin and Johnston have been splashed across the national scene like poo at a monkey house. There are book deals and pistachio commercials, appearances on Oprah and spreads in Playgirl. They’re dragging the rest of the state along for the ride, whether they mean to or not. Whether we want it or not.

I just want to remind you that there are normal people who live here, too. Folks who work hard, do their jobs, raise families and care about the world around us. Not that Palin and Johnston don’t do those things (though for the life of me, I can’t figure out what Johnston DOES do), but the attention isn’t on their normalcy. Far from it. And there is normalcy here. Despite our living in a more extreme environment, we’re not all rogues. Or celebutants. Or hockey moms. Lip-sticked or otherwise.