Another less direct book beneficiary of the attention given Governor Palin has been America According to Connor Gifford (Hargrave Press, distributed by Atlas Books, $24.95, 9780981719504/0981719503), which aims to make sense of the U.S. past through the insights of a young man with Down's syndrome. In April, the Governor gave birth to her fifth child, Trig, who has Down's syndrome, which was widely reported in the stories following Senator McCain's announcement. Harris emphasized that the connection is not just that Governor Palin has a baby boy with Down's syndrome but that "both the Governor and Connor Gifford believe that Down's syndrome is a 'gift from God.' "

America According to Connor Gifford authors Connor Gifford and Victoria Harris were already scheduled to appear on the Today Show yesterday. Harris wrote: "The Today Show piece could not be better timed, and I am going crazy since I am doing all the of the PR myself." She noted that she had created Hargrave to publish the book, which has had two printings of 30,000 copies, and will soon have a "huge" third printing.

Over the weekend, Harris launched a new version of connorgifford.com. A video of yesterday's Today Show segment on Gifford, Harris and the book is available on Today's website--click on the upper right corner.