Palin as President Interactive

Over the past two months since John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, the Alaska Governor has become a web phenomenon, generating torrents of YouTube hype and interactive web applications from the Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator to the latest: PalinAsPresident. It's a picture of the self-professed Caribou Barbie behind a cluttered desk in the Oval Office; its contents — from a ringing red telephone to a closet full of "secrets" — animate when clicked.

The room is also a veritable gallery of mavericks, including pictures of Tom Cruise in Top Gun and Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, a movie poster from the Mel Gibson/Jodie Foster/James Garner Western and a pic of Palin's ultimate maverick, John McCain, in a cowboy hat.

Further clicks reveal a bound-and-gagged police officer ("Palin-ized!") a lipsticked pit bull and a Miss Wasilla sash whose logo changes to Queen Palin and a flat screen monitor for stock updates: teen pregnancy up, ice caps down, wolves down, parody websites up.

Roll up the windows, and you can see oil derricks working on the White House lawn. But click on the center of the desk and you get the most worrisome response from the Governor: "Oh, here are the nukular codes." Just don't answer the ringing phone, and you're OK.

The site will be frequently updated through the election. The latest amendment? A leak in the ceiling creates a puddle on Palin's desk. Click on that puddle in order to prompt a visit from the nation's new favorite plumber.