Every once in a great while, we like to share the worst press releases we received in our inbox in a given day. Or a given month, for that matter. You may remember the exciting news from KFC that they had sent a letter to Jennifer Lopez, for example. Today’s doozy comes to us from Travelzoo, a web site heretofore believed by this editor to be a rather helpful source of email alerts for good vacation deals — a belief that may now require some revision.

ONE-THIRD OF AMERICANS ELECT SARAH PALIN AS IDEAL VACATION PARTNER

Palin’s Popularity Extends Across Party Lines

New York, NY, October 14, 2008 – With the hotly contested presidential election only weeks away, the candidates are shaping all aspects of American culture, including travel. According to recent survey findings by Travelzoo (www.travelzoo.com), the guide to the world’s best travel deals, a full third of Americans (33 percent) would choose to go on vacation with vice-presidential Republican candidate Sarah Palin.

Although Democrat Barack Obama placed first overall with 35 percent of the vacation-partner vote, VP hopeful Palin was just two points behind the presidential candidate. If McCain’s goal in choosing Palin was to create excitement around the GOP and appeal to Middle America with folksy “Joe Six-Pack” charm, it seems like the plan is working.

Yes, yes it does appear to be working, doesn’t it! It’s especially great that they would release this today — farther down on the release it explains that the survey was conducted between September 18 and October 7, 2008, several days before the release of the report confirming that the GOP vice presidential candidate violated her state’s ethics rules. Oh, and then lied about what the report actually said.