BANGOR - The audacity of Cindy Michaels. The news anchor at WVII in Bangor, she sometimes wears her hair pinned at the top of her head. She has a nice gleaming smile, and neat eyeglasses, too.

The nerve.

For two weeks, Michaels has been fielding comments ranging from friendly observation to outright hostility. All because she bears an admittedly striking resemblance to a certain Republican vice presidential pick.

"My own mother said, 'you look just like Sarah Palin.' She went on and on," Michaels said Tuesday. "Friends and family, or if I go out on stories, everyone says, 'Hey, Sarah.'"

Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate, is one of the most widely discussed persons in the world right now. Famed for her hairstyle and her choice in eyeglasses, she has become the type of person that people love or hate.

Which means no easy ride if you happen to look like her.

Michaels gets e-mails and phone calls from people who insist she is trying to sway voters with the Palin look. She gets e-mails and phone calls from people who claim she is being vain.

Then there are those who just plain don't like her.

"I got a call from a woman who said, 'Take your hair down. It shouldn't be up,'" Michaels said. "I told her, I've been wearing my hair like this forever. I told her I was using that look long before Sarah Palin was on the scene. The woman said, 'I know. But it's not a look you should be doing right now.'"

One woman called WVII and accused Michaels of intentionally trying to emulate Palin, but there was no flattery lurking within the remark. The woman referred to Michaels as "the Kmart version of Sarah Palin."

Ouch.

But it begs the question, who looks like whom?

Few people had heard of Palin before McCain stunned the world by announcing her as his running mate. She was mostly hidden away in Alaska, as a small town mayor and then governor.

Nobody knew her and nobody cared about her fashion style.

Michaels, 42, on the other hand, has been reporting and reading the news on WVII for two years and she has been a journalist for nine. Since the 1990s, she's been flouting the look that only recently became famous.

"I have always worn my hair up," she said. "I have always worn either contact lenses or glasses since I was 13."

Maybe someone should be accusing the older Sarah Palin, who's 44, of emulating Cindy Michaels.

Not that Michaels really minds the attention. "The Ellen Degeneres Show" has been calling, and so has "Inside Edition." CNN has run a piece, and a YouTube video detailing the similarities between the women is becoming a viral Internet sensation.

"I'm having a grand old time," Michaels said.

As for the news audience, most seem to be more fond of Michaels than they are of the world's most mysterious and potentially powerful woman.

"Cindy is much better looking than Palin," a Bangor Daily News reader calling himself RevGerald wrote on that newspaper's Web site. "And she has something that Palin doesn't have: a conscience and a brain."

"I think Cindy Michaels is way prettier than Sarah Palin," wrote Raysgirl, on the same site. "She'd probably make a better VP, too."

"Cindy michaels is a joy," wrote Burnt2, waxing poetic. "Sarah palin is a ploy."

And so on over a comment field with two dozen remarks by Tuesday afternoon.

While Michaels appreciates the support, she doesn't necessarily share the negative view of Palin.

"Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, she's an inspiration for women," Michaels said. "It's hard to deny that. She's taking the country by storm."

The video clip from WVII that notes the similarity between Michaels and Palin can be found at www.wvii.com. Whether Palin has seen the clip or is aware of the strange uproar was unknown on Tuesday.

Frankly, Michaels hopes Palin will get wind of it and look her up. The news anchor is ready to meet her quasi twin.

"Let's meet," she said. "That would be the icing on the cake."