McCain's stunner: Gov. Sarah Palin

Sen. John McCain introducing Gov. Sarah Palin today

Sen. John McCain has burst into the national conversation about Barack Obama's big night with a stunning choice for vice president, bypassing conventional picks such as Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty to tap Alaska's 44-year-old first-term governor and former beauty queen, Sarah Palin.

McCain announced his choice at a rally in Dayton, Ohio.

"I have found someone with an outstanding reputation for standing up to special interests and entrenched bureaucracy, someone who has fought corruption and the failed policies of the past ... someone with executive experience who has shown great tenacity," McCain said of Palin, a staunch pro-life advocate and, notably, in contrast to the Arizona senator, a supporter of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

McCain, celebrating his 72nd birthday today, emphasized her roots in the working class, noting that both she and her husband, Todd, are union members.

"She's not from these parts, and she's not from Washington, but when you get to know her, you're going to be as impressed as I am," McCain said.

Palin, long mentioned as a selection that would excite the party's base, told the enthusiastic crowd in the battleground state she is prepared to serve.

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"I know that it will demand the best I have to give, and I promise nothing less," she said.

Perhaps alluding in part to McCain's bold decision to make her his running mate, Palin said it's always safer to avoid risk.

"But politics isn't just a game of competing interests and clashing parties," she said. "The people of America expect us to seek public office and serve for the right reason. The right reason is to challenge the status quo and to serve the common good."

Consulting with Cindy

John and Cindy McCain with Gov. Sarah Palin

The rumors of a Palin pick built overnight when ABC News reported a charter aircraft from Anchorage owned by a McCain supporter landed at a small airport outside Dayton.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Romney, Minnesota Gov. Pawlenty, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut had been mentioned as other possible picks. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's name also came up this week.

McCain told KDKA radio in Pittsburgh in an interview aired yesterday he would not make a final decision until after talking with his wife, Cindy. She returned late Wednesday night from a trip to the Republic of Georgia.

Top-rated radio host Rush Limbaugh, a barometer for party leaders, called Palin a "fabulous" choice.

"I knew it would be the the Republican Party who would be the first to have a woman working at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," he said.

Palin is only the second woman to join a major-party presidential ticket, after Democratic Sen. Walter Mondale chose Rep. Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.

"There is no question the Obama campaign is hurting from this," said Limbaugh.

Democrats just completed a convention focused on healing a bitter divide between Obama and supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton, many of whom are seen as ripe for defection to a Republican ticket with a woman.

The Obama campaign, fresh off the candidate's acceptance speech last night before some 80,000 supporters, dismissed McCain's pick as inexperienced.

"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.

Burton also criticized Palin's suport of oil drilling in ANWR and her opposition to abortion.

"Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies. That's not the change we need, it's just more of the same," Burton said.

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., called the Palin choice "very risky," equating it with the first President Bush's selection of much-maligned Sen. Dan Quayle in 1988.

"Being thrust on a national stage like that could be very tough," said Clyburn, according to Mark Halperin's Time magazine blog.

"I just think that it is very risky for McCain to do this, but it may be all he has left," the Democratic lawmaker said.

McCain's plan is to appear together with his running mate at rallies in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri prior to the party's convention, which begins Monday in the Twin Cities.

McCain's advisers fueled speculation in recent weeks about Lieberman and Ridge, both supporters of abortion rights, which drew a strong negative reaction from many in the party base.

Gov. Sarah Palin

Palin's strong pro-life views were highlighted earlier this year when she and her husband Todd were informed she was carrying a Down syndrome child but chose to continue the pregnancy.

"We've both been very vocal about being pro-life," Palin told the Associated Press in April. "We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential."

The day after the birth, the Palins said in a statement: "We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed."

The Palins have five children, including an 18-year-old son, Track, who joined the Army last year.

Pro-life leaders already are hailing McCain's pick.

"Absolutely brilliant," said Mathew Staver, chairman of the activist legal group Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University School of Law.

Staver is attending a meeting of like-minded leaders in Minneapolis, ahead of the Republican convention next week, and he says Palin has "electrified conservatives."

"The excitement was palpable among conservative leaders when they heard that Gov. Palin was Sen. McCain’s choice for vice president," he said. "There is a high level of optimism among conservative leaders that the McCain-Palin combination is a ticket that will connect with values voters."

Staver noted that along with a strong pro-life record, she is "pro-marriage" – a reference to her opposition to same-sex marriage – and a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association.

"Personnel is policy," Staver said. "With the selection of Gov. Palin, Sen. John McCain has proven that he can exercise sound judgment. Gov. Palin has electrified conservatives."

Sarah Barracuda

Palin, who grew up in Wasilla, Alaska, near Anchorage, earned a reputation as an intense point guard for her town's state championship basketball team, which dubbed her "Sarah Barracuda." At the time, she was head of the school's Fellowship of Christian Athletes and led the team in prayer before games.

In 1984, she became Miss Wasilla and earned second place in the Miss Alaska contest. She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism, with a minor in politics, from the University of Idaho.

After a brief stint as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations, she worked as a commercial fisherman with her husband, Todd.

Palin was a member of the Wasilla City Council for two terms before election as mayor in 1996. She later was elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.

She made an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor in 2002. One year later, Gov. Frank Murkowski appointed her ethics commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. But she resigned in protest in 2004, charging fellow Republicans with a "lack of ethics" for legal violations and conflicts of interest.

In November 2006, with little support from her party, she was elected governor, becoming Alaska's first to be born after it achieved statehood.

She wasted no time continuing her ethics push, passing a bill and setting aside her party lawmakers' pork projects. She notably killed the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" project, saying the state needed to become self-sufficient.

 

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