You betcha: Sarah Palin mania means comparisons for women everywhere

NEW YORK — Claire Zulkey may not have a $150,000 wardrobe, but that hasn't stopped people from telling her she looks like Sarah Palin.

Zulkey, a writer in Chicago, is among the many women who seem to fit the description of the Republican vice-presidential nominee in the minds of their friends, family and co-workers. And it's a comparison that extends far beyond those who resemble Tina Fey.

"If you have the glasses and the brown hair, then you're 75 per cent of the way there," she said. "And then if you're unfortunate enough to have bangs, you're there."

As Fey might say: You betcha. And some women don't even need the tousled, brunette updo to get the comparison; blonds and redheads have been told they look like Palin if they wear the right glasses.

It seems Palin mania has so gripped the United States that people see her doppelgangers just about everywhere.

"People are pretending to be Sarah Palin and spotting her in places that she's not," said Jeremy Gutsche, who tracks trends for the online magazine TrendHunter.com. "The world has, as we put it, Sarah Palin fever."

Cindy Michaels, a news anchor in Bangor, Maine, said she has received hate mail and nasty phone calls from viewers who think she looks like John McCain's running mate. Michaels, who has long brown and hair and occasionally wears glasses, said the 10 or so complaints came from women telling Michaels she should try to look less like Palin to avoid influencing the election.

"I was kind of shocked when I got the very first phone call. I honestly thought it was a joke," Michaels said. "I did not know I look like her."

Zulkey couldn't say the same for herself. She said she saw her own resemblance to the candidate in her bathroom mirror on the night of the vice-presidential debate.

Zulkey then created a Facebook group called "Women Who Kind of Look Like Sarah Palin Against Sarah Palin," which now has 26 members, some of whom have brown hair and glasses, and some of whom don't.

There are blonds and redheads in that group and other online gatherings of Palin look-alikes, some who say it just takes one feature, like glasses, to invite comparison. YouTube features dozens of videos featuring Palin look-alikes, not all of them demonstrating family values.

One woman started a Facebook group called "I stopped wearing my glasses because of Sarah Palin," for those who "do NOT look like beauty queens" and resent the comparison.

In short, Palin's everywoman appeal appears to be rubbing off on just about every woman.

So why are the Palin comparisons so much more common than those to, say, Hillary Clinton? Perhaps it's the rarity of a glasses-wearing celebrity. Or the fact that with her down-home mannerisms, beauty queen looks, practised hair and carefully chosen makeup and clothes, she breaks the mould of familiar politicians.

No other politician compares to Palin when it comes to Internet popularity, Gutsche noted. Palin even beat out Britney Spears on the number of Google searches the day after the MTV Video Music Awards, according to Google's Hot Trends.

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Gutsche thinks the fascination stems from her relatability and the fact that she doesn't look like a typical politician - so she might look like your neighbour, instead.

"That is probably the most popular look in America," he said. "It's not a hard stretch."

Elizabeth Hull, a professor of political science at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said that we are so inundated with politicians during election season we can't get them out of our heads.

"We tend to see them more often than anyone except close family members," Hull said, noting Palin's entrance into Americans' lives was particularly explosive. "So anything that comes closely associated with her" - like glasses or bangs - "clicks a little recognition button."

Many women are embracing Palin as a style icon.

Her glasses - $375 Kawasaki 704 titanium frames - are selling out, and instructions for getting the Palin 'do abound online. Halloween suppliers have reported ordering more Palinesque wigs for what's expected to be one of the year's hottest costumes.

Sara Benincasa, a New York comedian, has invited the comparison by filming a video blog imitating Palin.

"If you're a cute chick with ... brown hair and glasses, you probably at least vaguely resemble her," she said.

Benincasa said she feels fortunate to look enough like Palin to be able to play her in the video blog. And since her blogs have hit the Internet, she said people have come up to her and told her she looks like the candidate.

But whether they like being compared to Palin or not, most women say they don't have plans to change a look they've sported for years.

"I think it's one of those things where you go through your life quietly with your bangs and your brown hair and your glasses and then suddenly you look like Sarah Palin," Zulkey said.