Many Conservatives first learned about Palin from Bill Kristol's appearances on Fox News after he met her on the 2007 Alaskan cruise hosted by The Weekly Standard.
Bill Kristol's Palin piece which mentions their meeting in Alaska:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/06/opinion/06kristol.html?_r=1
Fred Barnes' article on Palin from Juneau during the cruise:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/851orcjq.asp
The Weekly Standard's comments about a Daily Beast article which referenced the cruise:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/10/horton_of_the_beast.asp
A New Yorker piece on Palin's ascent (biased but it describes the cruise and meeting):
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/10/27/081027fa_fact_mayer?currentPage=all
That is a strange and inaccurate way to describe Governor Palin.
Palin's rise to national prominence began when she became the youngest Governor, and first female Governor in Alaskan history, and her defeating the sitting Republican Governor in the primary, and the previous Democrat Governor in the general, to do it, people notice things like that.
The Weekly Standard people did personally meet the Governor when they were in Juneau, and that was followed by articles on the rising conservative star who was already making national news with her battles and stances on issues of national prominence, such as the "bridge to nowhere".