Diddy on Palin: Could Anyone Be Less Black?

The culture of celebrity, evangelical ideals, and small town nostalgia combine to enable Palin's 'outsized' influence

(NEWSER) - The number of enthusiastic Republicans have doubled in polls since John McCain picked Sarah Palin for his ticket, and Palin figures in slightly more news coverage than her running mate. That might be expected, but she is mentioned 10 times more than Democratic counterpart Joe Biden. Tim Rutten offers up three reasons the hockey mom has become McCain's "meal ticket" in the Los Angeles Times. More»

And Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin is still pretty scary: reactions

(NEWSER) - If you thought Julianne Moore's Sarah Palin was terrifying in the first Game Change teaser , wait until you see her in the full trailer, where she utters lines such as, "We have to win this thing. I so don’t want to go back to Alaska." Watch below, then read on for some reactions:

• This will clearly be "a Frankenstein-esque story about McCain’s staffers coming to regret the choice they made in bringing a little-known governor into the limelight," writes Jon Bershad at Mediaite . "The full trailer ... gives us even more famous actors getting their turn to stare in horror at the 'monster' they’ve created."

HBO debuts first teaser

(NEWSER) - For all of you who have spent the past nine months wondering how Julianne Moore’s Sarah Palin impersonation will stack up against Tina Fey’s , you finally have your answer. HBO debuted its first teaser trailer for Game Change, the film due in March that's based on the Mark Halperin-John Heilemann book about the 2008 presidential election. Neither Ed Harris as John McCain nor Woody Harrelson as top adviser Steve Schmidt sound much like their real-life counterparts, notes David Jackson in USA Today , but Moore’s Palin is spot-on: Numerous publications including People , New York , the Huffington Post , and Jezebel are fairly impressed. More»

Tea Party hero lends support to former running mate

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin spoke at a rally for John McCain today in Tucson, the first time the two have stumped together since the 2008 presidential campaign. McCain is in a tight primary fight with JD Hayworth, who is attempting to paint the senator as insufficiently conservative. Palin delivered some much-needed Tea Party cred: McCain, she said has been "leading the fight against reckless spending for decades." More»

2008 running mate brought in to counter Hayworth

(NEWSER) - With JD Hayworth breathing down his neck, John McCain is looking for help in the Arizona primary race from a familiar campaigner: Sarah Palin. The former Alaska governor and Tea Party favorite will travel to Arizona next weekend to stump for her onetime running mate. The joint appearances will be their first since they conceded the 2008 election, notes the Arizona Daily Star . More»