Somehow, a 22-year-old University of Alaska student named Richard Millay got his hands on a videotape that's eluded the media since John McCain asked Sarah Palin to be his running-mate — original footage of her 1984 Miss Alaska Pageant.
Of course, this is all very frivolous and has nothing to do with the current campaign. But like Barack Obama's high school basketball footage, it's a little glimpse into the early life of a highly-visible national figure.
In the first part added to YouTube, he posted the portion from the swimsuit competition, prefaced by a brief introduction mentioning the demand for the "88 minutes of Alaska Gold."
As the future vice-presidential candidate parades on stage, an off-screen announcer reads her early biography: "Contestant #8, Sarah Heath. Sarah says that she wants to prepare for a career in television broadcasting by majoring in Telecommunications and Political Science. It's no wonder that she has also been recognized by Who's Who, since she has explained her leadership in all areas, from academics to student politics to athletics, having led her basketball team to the championship at the state tournament. Ladies and gentleman, contestant #8, Sarah Heath."
Richard's promised to post the video from the talent competition next, in which Sarah Palin plays the flute. YouTube currently lists only 2,173 views for the video, but I expect this will blow up soon. I'm tracking the growth stats, so will be able to see how quickly it spreads over the next few weeks.
I've emailed Richard asking for a brief interview, and will update here if he gets in touch.
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