Sarah Palin has many faces: hockey mom, fundamentalist Christian, sex symbol, Republican ideologue, fashion icon, maverick populist. But, above all, Palin has become one thing: an American obsession that just wont go away. Edited by two senior editors at The Nation magazine, this sharp, smart, up-to-the-minute book examines Palins quirky origins in Wasilla, Alaska, her spectacular rise to the effective leadership of the Republican Party, and the nightmarish prospect of her continuing to dominate the nations political scene.With contributions by: Amy Alexander, Max Blumenthal, Juan Cole, Joe Conason, Jeanne Devon, Eve Ensler, Michelle Goldberg, Jane Hamsher, Christopher Hayes, Mark Hertsgaard, Jim Hightower, Linda Hirshman, Naomi Klein, Dahlia Lithwick, Amanda Marcotte, Jane Mayer, Shannyn Moore, John Nichols, Rick Perlstein, Tom Perrotta, Katha Pollitt, Robert Reich, Frank Rich, Hanna Rosin, Jeff Sharlet, Matt Taibbi, Michael Tomasky, Rebecca Traister, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Jessica Valenti, Patricia Williams, JoAnn Wypijewski and Gary Younge among others.A superb collection . . . an engaging read from start to finish . . . You will read far more about the real Sarah Palin in Going Rouge than you ever will in her own memoirs.Geoffrey Dunn, The Huffington PostRichard Kim is a senior editor at The Nation (http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/richard_kim) where he writes about politics and culture. His essays and editorials have appeared in Salon, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Boston Herald, In These Times, Nerve, Metro, Poz and other publications. He has taught American Studies at Skidmore College and New York University.Betsy Reed is the executive editor of The Nation, where she works with such writers as Naomi Klein, Katha Pollitt and Jeremy Scahill. She blogs at thenation.com on feminism, economic issues and politics. She edited two previous anthologies: Unnatural Disaster: The Nation on Hurricane Katrina, and Nothing Sacred: Women Respond to Religious Fundamentalism and Terror.IntroductionBy Richard Kim and Betsy ReedOn the evening of November 4, 2008, progressives were in an ebullient mood. After eight long years of Republican rule, Barack Obama had been elected president. Accompanying our shouts of joy were audible sighs of relief. The prospect of a John McCain presidency had filled us with dread. But to imagine Sarah Palina conservative Christian with a penchant for folksy warmongering who flaunted her ignorance as a virtueseparated from the red button in the Oval Office only by a 72-year-old cancer survivor that was beyond terrifying. Palin, we hoped, would slink back to Alaska, where her corrosive influence could be contained and perhaps ultimately extinguished, as her candidacy, historic in its way, became a footnote in an election filled with other, more galvanizing political developments.