Who knows what, if anything this portends. But August and state fairs have, in the past, been very good to Sarah Palin of Alaska. On Friday Palin will visit the Iowa State Fair. Will that fair also prove a blessing for her?

Some history:

Aug. 31, 2006: Thousands of Alaskans were enjoying the Alaska State Fair as FBI agents readied to rock the state by raiding the offices of state lawmakers. At about the time women were preparing to get on stage for the Great Alaskan Husband Holler competition, pitting screeching woman against screeching woman, FBI agents began serving search warrants across the 49th state.

It was the beginning of what would be the largest corruption investigation in Alaska's history, a scandal that heated up while Palin was in office, giving her political cover to raise taxes on oil companies and to push through radical legislation that was supposed to ensure Alaskans a gas pipeline. The federal investigation imploded after she left office. (But that, as they say, is another story, best told, perhaps, in a book?)

The FBI descended on Anchorage, Juneau, Wasilla, Eagle River, and Girdwood, the small ski town near the end of Turnagain Arm where former Veco Corp. Chairman Bill Allen had remodeled the late Sen. Ted Stevens' cabin. Twenty search warrants were issued that day, and more would follow. The FBI was looking for, among other things, financial ties between Alaska politicians and Allen or Veco, an oil field services company. They wanted documents related to the proposed natural gas pipeline and the Petroleum Production Tax, not to mention hats with the CBC label on them, short for the "Corrupt Bastards Club."

Until then it wasn't a given that Palin would win the governor's race. She was young, from Wasilla (a place full of what Stevens' son, Ben, once called "Valley trash") and was running against Alaska's "Republican establishment." And, the fact that that establishment was "BFF" with Big Oil meant that she was also running against Big Oil.

She was the only candidate to do so. It was a risky move. Alaska is near completely dependent on oil for state revenue. More than 80 percent of the state's budget comes from oil proceeds. Because of oil, Alaska is the only state in the country that doesn't impose some sort of broad-based tax on its citizens. And, because of oil, every man, woman and child gets a check every year just to breathe Alaska air.

Dan Fagan, a radio talk show host and Sarah Palin's old friend, was broadcasting from the Alaska State Fair when he heard of the FBI raids. He understood the significance, predicting then that Palin, the only anti–Big Oil candidate, would be Alaska's next governor. This cinched it, he told his listeners. And he was right.

Jump ahead two years, nearly to the day. Palin's at the fair again. The mountains were dusted in white. Termination dust, Alaskans call it. The vegetables were out of a children's book -- pumpkins the size of carriages, 5-foot-long gourds, hundred-pound kohlrabis.

Palin entered the Alaska Right to Life booth, a booth decorated with gory pictures of aborted fetuses and a cutout of a pregnant woman. She put some money in the jar as her blackberry buzzed. It was John McCain and her date with destiny.

Contact Amanda Coyne at amanda(at)alaskadispatch.com