Sarah Palin's "Hot Photos:" the GOP Answer to the Dems' New Media Advantage?

I can remember the late 1990s when Democrats lamented the extraordinary advantage that Republicans held over us in the talk radio arena. I imagine Republicans must be all too familiar with that feeling these days, what with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's juggernaut new media campaign and his mammoth Internet fundraising presence. U.S. Sen. John McCain can't even turn on his own computer.

Well, it looks like those days may be over now that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is on the scene -- or screen. Apparently, search engines are in overdrive. And what are people looking for?

According to this TIME Magazine article by Bill Tancer:

In the week ending Aug. 30, 2008, searches for Governor Palin were almost four times as popular as Obama searches, eight times as popular as McCain searches and over 10 times more popular than searches for Biden.

So, what exactly are Palin searchers seeking?

Of the 1,323 unique search queries containing "Sarah Palin" over the past four weeks, there were many that you'd normally expect to see regarding a newly named vice-presidential candidate: queries about Palin's biography, for example, her voting record and her stance on abortion. The No. 1 search was simply "Sarah Palin." The next nine most popular search terms that appeared in conjunction with "Sarah Palin" were:

2. Vogue Magazine
3. Photos
4. Beauty Pageant
5. Bio
6. Biography
7. Pictures
8. Scandal
9. Alaska Governor
10. Hot

But wait, it gets better:

And if you look more carefully at the 1,300 searches Hitwise tracked, one of the most commonly entered search topics surrounding Palin was "hot photos." (Hitwise search data updates weekly on Mondays, so information on searches related to the news of Palin's pregnant teen daughter, Bristol, were not yet available.) Other queries common to the American public: "Sarah Palin Bikini Photos," "Sarah Palin Naked," "Sarah Palin Nude."

I am thoroughly unimpressed with Palin and horribly alarmed by her positions on issues, but I'm also sorry this might be what it takes for the Republicans to catch up to the Democrats when it comes to leveling the new media playing field.