(CNN) -- Last August, then-Republican presidential nominee John McCain introduced to the nation his surprise pick for vice president, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.



Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has a strong base of supporters, as well as a steady supply of vocal critics.



At the time, little was known about the fresh-faced, first-term governor, but within days, Palin's face was on newspapers, magazines and tabloids.



Since then, Palin has become a polarizing figure in the Republican Party. Her passionate supporters are countered with equally fervent critics.



And even though it's been nearly a year since she ventured onto the national stage and more than eight months since the Republican ticket lost the election, as Palin prepares to leave office, the public's interest in her has yet to wane. Palin explains why she's stepping down



"She's kind of a shooting star that caught fire and kept burning," said Lorenzo Benet, an assistant editor for People magazine and author of "Trailblazer: An Intimate Biography of Sarah Palin."



"When she walks into a room, she definitely commands attention and she gets more than most. She's definitely a star," said Benet, who was the only national journalist to have spent much time with Palin in the weeks before she was announced as McCain's running mate.



Palin, a mother of five, "caught the imagination" of the public because there is no one else like her, Benet said. "Particularly for conservative America, there hasn't been a rallying figure of this type," he noted.



In the days leading up to Palin's debut speech at the Republican National Convention last September, Palin revealed that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol was pregnant. The announcement followed Internet rumors that Sarah Palin's 4-month-old baby was actually Bristol's.



The instant fascination with Palin and her family was just a glimpse of what was to come. The public wanted to know everything it could about the Alaska governor, whose resume also included beauty queen, high school basketball star, TV sportcaster and mayor of the small Alaska town of Wasilla.



Amid all the rumors and negative press, Palin showed herself to be a fierce attack dog and came out throwing punches in her speech at the RNC.



The self-described "hockey mom" tore into then-candidate Barack Obama as two-faced, inexperienced and intoxicated by the sound of his own voice. Even her critics recognized the spirit she brought to the GOP.



Palin continued to throw flames on the campaign trail, energizing her supporters and outraging her adversaries.



"She yelled fire in a crowded theater. She really did, in some of her speeches --'palling around' with terrorists and some of the other slurs she was hurling in the way of Obama and the Democrats," said Larry Persily, a former Palin staffer and Alaskan journalist.



"That turned off an equally big chunk of the American public that found it distasteful, destructive, divisive, mean and ignorant. Whereas others said, 'Way to go girl. You stick it to them," he said.



But Palin hasn't always been such a divisive figure. Before entering the national scene, Palin, who knocked out incumbent Republican Frank Murkowski in the gubernatorial primary, was touted as one of the most popular governors in the country, with approval ratings nearing 90 percent. She was seen as a champion of ethics, determined to root out corruption and challenge the status quo.



For those in Alaska, Palin's Reaganesque appeal was nothing new. She secured her role as a local hero back in 1982 when she led Wasilla High School's basketball team to a state championship. And in a small community like Wasilla, that was a big deal.



Alaskans liked her "combativeness and feistiness," Benet said, and resurrected her nickname of "Barracuda" during her successful 1996 campaign to be Wasilla's mayor.



But when Palin's "Barracuda" side hit the national stage, it was met with mixed reactions. Evangelia Souris, the president of Optimum International Center for Image
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