McEntee: Palin fans ponder her past and future

It was single-digit cold as Madison Schiffman and her parents spent 13½ hours on lawn chairs, bundled in blankets, waiting for Sarah Palin to arrive at the Salt Lake City Costco on Wednesday.

I waltzed in at midmorning, armed with only my club card.

The Schiffmans, like me, undoubtedly thought there would be thousands of Palin fans here in Utah. Didn't happen. But those who did show were all about Palin, who has turned her 2008 vice-presidential debacle into Going Rogue: An American Life , which rests atop Amazon's best-seller list.

Those of us standing in line got to talking about Palin and McCain, President Obama (not on the most-favored list) and Ronald Reagan. Most said they'd vote for her in 2012 or 2016.

One guy told me he'd love to see a Ron Paul-Sarah Palin on the ballot in ' 12, given their libertarian philosophies. Which one at the top of the ticket? "Probably Sarah, because she's younger," he said.

And there was the older man in a wonderfully decorated buckskin coat, who told me he was a Sioux medicine man from South Dakota. He wanted Palin to sign the book so he could give it to his daughter, an Air Force pilot in Iraq.

Others chimed in on Palin's conservative credentials, her obvious love for her family and the raw deal the media gave her.

"I find it really empowering that there is a strong female who is willing to get out in the dirty world of politics, kind of

stand up for what she believes in," said Ashley Prymek. "She's a great role model."

It was about 20 minutes to noon when Palin, holding her youngest child, Trig, and flanked by her husband, arrived to whoops and whistles.

I'd hoped she'd speak for a few minutes, but no. She sat down and, clearly much practiced, started signing books -- the first to a few military men who had been ushered to the front of the line.

One of them, Senior Airman Karl Hillwig, is leaving for the Middle East next month in the first push of Obama's new war plan. "She's down to earth," he said. "She's not afraid to speak her mind."

I've read most of Palin's autobiography. I've also fallen into convulsive laughter watching Tina Fey's impersonation of her on "Saturday Night Live."

But I've learned, as a political reporter and observer, that pretty much everyone in public life is far more nuanced than they appear to be in sound bites and comedy shows. Palin has always held her family close, fished for salmon and hunted caribou (it's an Alaska thing), and weathered a brutal introduction to the politics of the Lower 48.

Personally, I have my doubts about her. But Madison Schiffman, 14, thinks she's cool.

Palin signed her parents' books and her scrapbook and made time for a little chitchat before the three of them headed home for a nap.

"She's a good, humble person," Madison says.

pegmcentee@sltrib.com

Jennifer Staley contributed to this column