On Thursday night, Alaska's newly-minted second-most-popular woman -- Bristol Palin -- made an appearance at Rum Runners in downtown Anchorage. She was accompanied by her "Dancing with the Stars" partner, musician and professional ballroom dancer Mark Ballas. Standing before a modest crowd, Bristol enjoyed the music and the company of friends around her, also stopping to take pictures with fans amidst the food and fun. (Ballas also posted some Rum Runners photos to his personal website.)
Ballas had his guitar with him and played songs to the cheering crowd. We tried to get some footage of Palin herself, but her handler wouldn't let us near her. We were told she doesn't care much for Alaska Dispatch. I'm not sure what the issue is -- I have been an intern for the Dispatch only three weeks now -- but her handler said something about her not liking that the Dispatch staff sometimes appear on conservative talk show host Dan Fagan's radio show on KFQD.
Contact Bryan Dunagan at bryan(at)alaskadispatch.com.