On Saturday afternoon at least 800 people, maybe as many as 1,000, convened on the lawn and sidewalks in front of Z.J. Loussac Library in Anchorage to protest Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, U.S. Sen. John McCain's pick for vice president. It's hard, if not impossible, to tell if the protest was organized by anyone specifically, but rumors were floating around that it was the brainchild of a few "angry moms." Angry moms who understand the power of the Internet. Emails began popping up in inboxes early last week. My box was jammed up with at least 20 of them.

Only about 20 percent of Alaskan residents are registered Democrats. About 32 percent are Republican and the rest are independents who tend to vote Republican. And of those Democrats, the largest number live in Anchorage. They've historically had a hard time amassing much enthusiasm for their causes. Sure, there's the occasional meeting with the requisite Cosco turkey-wraps where everyone sits around talking about how horrible everything is, sipping fruit juice and wishing for beer. Things were starting to look up for the Dems when the FBI began raiding the offices of Republican politicians and oilmen in 2006, and then earlier this year when it looked like Obama had a chance to take Alaska, the first Dem since 1964. But McCain's surprise Palin pick, along with the Obama camp splitting for bluer pastures, seemed to put everyone back in the same old funk.

Saturday, though, wow.

People came in doves, pointing at each other ("You came too! This is amazing!), beaming ("We've never seen anything like this!") and holding their signs with pride as cars on 36^th Avenue honked their horns in support ("I've never heard so much beeping!"). They posed for the photographers and anxiously took turns talking to the reporters who have descended on Alaska to report on all things Palin ("I hope people in the Lower 48 understand that she doesn't speak for all of us."). It was by far the biggest political protest most had ever witnessed in Alaska.

The signs--some crafted from paper-covered clothes hangers, like the one that declared, "Bristol got to choose. Why don't we?"--nearly said it all:

The Alaska Disaster

Pray for peace, not pipelines

Palin: A woman not afraid to hate women

Palin scares this working mom

And maybe the most clever,

Jesus was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a Governor

But underlining the protest was a sentiment that couldn't be quipped, that no sign was big enough to contain. It was something that I had been hearing only in snippets for the past two weeks, but until today, I hadn't heard articulated. This was from a state worker, who, for fear of reprisal, didn't want their name used (it wasn't the first state worker who expressed the same fear at the rally-some even wore masks to conceal their State of Alaska identities). This is what this person told me:

"I just feel exploited. I feel like they're using this state like they use products in commercials. It is like, ‘OK, what can we sell?' And Alaska and Palin are what they chose. They're selling our state out, and she's allowing it. It almost feels like a violation."