Anchorage Daily News

Sarah Palin appears to be accomplishing in a couple of weeks -- for free -- a project her predecessor poured $100,000 into before abandoning.

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Sarah Heath, Miss Wasilla, in 1984; now Gov. Sarah Palin.

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She's polishing Alaska's image.

Exhibit A: Walk into F Street Station and check out the chalkboard used to share quotes and quips. Last week's offering is guaranteed to become a bumper sticker before long: "Alaska -- The coldest state with the hottest governor.''

Exhibit B: Go to www.wonkette.com, a Web site that specializes in national political humor, gossip and news, and do a search for Palin. You'll find, among other things, an item reporting last week's inauguration of "the nation's hottest governor.''

California has Mr. Universe. Alaska has Miss Wasilla.

In fact, you'll find an entry about Palin's reign as Miss Wasilla at wonkette.com, complete with a photo from her beauty-queen days -- a head-and-shoulders shot notable for its very bare shoulders.

"Topless Alaskan beauty queens. Hooray for America,'' the item says. "We say she's still the best-looking politician in America.''

You'll also find a series of reader comments, not all of which are suitable for the family dinner table. More than a couple credit Palin's hotness for global warming: "This chick could be solely responsible for why polar bears have no icebergs to swim to,'' said one.

Others note her Tina Fey/Repressed Librarian look -- a look Palin herself has acknowledged; she once went to a costume party dressed as Fey, the former "Saturday Night Live" babe.

You'll even find some comments from actual Alaskans, including one thanking the Web site "for (an) Alaska shout-out not including old senile white guys.''

Some of those old white guys -- notably Don Young and Ted Stevens -- brought a significant amount of ridicule our way in the last year or two. Between their bridges to nowhere and outbursts on the Senate floor, Young and Stevens became popular punch lines for Letterman, Leno and Jon Stewart.

Concerned by the nation's "distorted'' view of Alaska, Frank Murkowski -- the man Palin replaced as governor -- announced plans for a national advertising campaign to pump up Alaska's image.

The first step was spending $100,000 on a public opinion poll that told us -- surprise, surprise! -- that most Americans think of Alaska as a vast, wild, beautiful place covered by snow and ice much of the year. When Palin beat Murkowski in the primary, the pimp-my-state campaign went into limbo.

Then Palin won it all, and the national buzz about Alaska switched from the negative (Ted's series of tubes) to the positive (Sarah's up-do).

Palin boosted Alaska's image without spending a penny, pretty or otherwise.

Hotness aside, it's been a decent opening week for the new governor. Her inauguration ceremony, which defied tradition by being held in Fairbanks instead of Juneau, hit all the right notes, especially its nod to the Constitutional Convention held in Fairbanks 50 years ago.

One of her first official acts was the reversal of one of Murkowski's final official acts, the appointment of former chief of staff Jim Clark to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, a potential player in a gas line project. That's good.

One of her other first official acts, however, was to meet with groups interested in building a gas pipeline. Palin, who promised transparency during her campaign, held the meetings behind closed doors. That's bad.

But it's far too soon for a Palin report card. Palin and Alaska are just beginning that pleasant, early part of a political term during which the public is effusive and forgiving. Let the rest of the country drool while we honeymoon with a hottie.

Beth Bragg's opinion column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Her e-mail address is bbragg@adn.com.