Palin choice came out of nowhere?

Really? No. I remember reading about her since earlier this year. [Link]

To believe the narrative created by the media since August 29th, John McCain's decision to pick Sarah Palin was a bolt from the blue, foreseen by nobody. It was branded as a "snap choice"; a surprise, "a stunning selection of a little-known conservative newcomer"; a "surprise choice" that "confounded conventional wisdom"; "a stunning surprise, as McCain passed over many other better-known prospects, some of whom had been the subject of intense speculation for weeks or months."

She was "the most unlikely choice of a running mate" since Dan Quayle, and "[n]ot since [that pick] ... has a running mate choice been greeted with such a loud and collective 'Who?'" McCain's "astonishing choice for a running mate," the "little-known," "obscure" Alaskan Governor was "stunn[ing]" and "amazing." Palin "was on almost no one's short list" and "seemingly came out of nowhere to become John McCain's running mate, and the talk of the Republican Party," "mystif[ying] many in the Lower 48." She is "the out-of-nowhere walk-on whom everyone wants to see perform on a big stage."

But as Time adequately put the point, "the real surprise about Sarah Palin's selection as his running mate is that it's such a surprise." How is it that the MSM was caught off-guard (assuming that they actually were), when Palin's name has been in circulation among conservatives as a possible veep for McCain for months? Let's take a very short look at the history of what the MSM apparently didn't know.