Sarah Palin emails: Selection as vice presidential nominee sparked jubilant exchanges between governor, staff

By Kim Geiger

June 10, 2011 2:39 PM PT

The email account of Aug. 29, 2008, the day John McCain announced Palin as his running mate, tells a tale of jubilant shock and amazement from Palin devotees.

Palin’s staff fired off emails praising her speech – and got lots of love back from the new vice presidential nominee.

“Wow governor! Just watched you on TV!” wrote budget director Karen Rehfeld. “You knocked their socks off!”

RELATED: Read the Palin emails

“Can you believe it!” Palin replied. “He told me yesterday -- it moved fast! Pray! I love you.”

Vice President Dick Cheney called the governor’s office requesting a call back.

“Talked to him. Thank you – you rock – i love you!!!” Palin wrote to Janice Mason, her scheduler and executive secretary.

“You sure knew how to wake me up from a dead sleep this morning!” wrote staffer Mindy Rowland. “You must have been busting at the seams wanting to tell us all...Tell Piper that she did great and that her hairstyle shows really good on TV :).”

“I’m telling Piper that right now!” Palin replied. “Thank you, I love you guys!”

In response to a congratulatory note from Marty Rutherford, Palin’s gas pipeline chief, Palin wrote: “Thank you – you rock – I love you – hold the fort down for me and kick TC in the butt as they hustle towards our gasoline??? :)” (TC is believed to stand for pipeline company TransCanada.)

News of the nomination crashed the Alaska governor’s website.

“Sorry,” she wrote in an email to staffer Kami Clark.

“That’s ok you go girl!!!!” Clark responded. “We have a huge group trying to resolve how popular your web site is today.”

The announcement also produced an offer from Hollywood.

“Let me know if I can be of any help with the footage I have,” wrote Elan Frank, a filmmaker who had filmed Palin in Alaska that spring. “The footage I have and my approach present the governor in a bright and positive light, and can be very helpful....We can also think of perhaps creating a film about her, with what I already have and more we can shoot between now and the elections.”

But Palin would not be distracted from matters in Alaska. When her staff sent out a news release that afternoon announcing a court of appeals appointment, Palin responded: “Thank you for sending the presser.”

When Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell and Palin spokesman Bill McAllister scheduled a news conference to discuss her nomination, Palin emailed in: “Should I call in for ONE minute?”

“I understand you are receiving – and responding to – emails. Wow,” wrote staffer Joe Balash. “It has been an honor to serve you and be a part of an incredible journey. God be with you and your family for the next 67 days.”

Sarah Palin emails: Selection as vice presidential nominee sparked jubilant exchanges between governor, staff

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