imported post
US election: John McCain chooses Alaska governor Sarah Palin as running mate
Republican presidential nominee John McCain today selected Alaska governor Sarah Palin, a relative political novice, as his vice-presidential running mate.
The move is a bold play for the potentially millions of disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters who yearn to vote for a woman candidate in the November election and who have remained impervious to Democratic pleas for party unity.
"Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president," the McCain campaign wrote in a news release.
"She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.
"Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state that matters to every one of us - Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent."
The announcement came the morning after Barack Obama's well-received address on the final day of the Democratic convention, a transparent effort to keep pundits from discussing Obama.
Texas senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, one of the senior women in the US Senate, praised Palin as "a breath of fresh air".
"They wanted to show that they are independent and that they are the agents of change and they have gone outside the [Washington area] to do it," she told MSNBC television. "Of course there's a risk, and I think John McCain assessed that risk".
Conservative activists today applauded the pick.
David Keene, chairman of the American conservative union, said the selection is "great news for conservatives".
"Her dedication to principle, her courage both before and after her election as governor of Alaska and her personal qualities make her a perfect choice for vice-president," he said.
"Any conservatives who have been lukewarm thus far in their support of the McCain candidacy will work their hearts out between now and November for the McCain-Palin ticket."
The conservative Washington anti-tax group Club for Growth was quick to praise Palin, lauding her "fiscal responsibility" and opposition to the use of public money on a notorious bridge project in an empty quarter of Alaska.
"At a time when many Republicans are still clinging to pork-barrel politics, Governor Palin has quickly become a leader on this issue," said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. "She is a principled reformer who understands how badly wasteful spending has marred the Republican brand."
Barack Obama spokesman Bill Burton mocked the selection and noted Palin's anti-abortion stance.
"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency," he said. "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".
Palin's selection is sure to excite the news media and thrill voters at the prospect that the next administration will feature either the first female vice-president or African-American president.
As unexpected and unusual as Palin's selection is, she is not the first woman to stand for vice-president. That was Geraldine Ferraro, a New York congresswoman who in 1984 ran alongside Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale.
Palin, 44, is Alaska's first female governor. She was sworn in December 2006, making her one of the least experienced people to run for vice-president in recent memory. Alaska is one of the smallest states in the US, with only 670,000 residents.
Before becoming governor, Palin served two terms as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of 9,800 people, and was on the city's council before that. In the 2006 Alaska gubernatorial race, Palin bested the incumbent Republican governor during the primary election.
In recent days, McCain personally interviewed Palin at his ranch in Sedona, Arizona.
In selecting a decidedly unconventional running mate, McCain passed over establishment favourites Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
Palin will have to face Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden in a televised debate September 2 in St Louis, Missouri.
Biden, a Delaware senator, is known as a skilled and tactful debater, and is a foreign policy expert, chairing the Senate foreign relations committee. Obama announced his selection of Biden last weekend.
The announcement was eagerly anticipated among Republicans, who travel this weekend to St Paul, Minnesota, for their national convention, which kicks off on Monday. Palin is to address the convention on Wednesday, and will likely launch blistering attacks on Obama.
Today is John McCain's 72nd birthday, and the youthful Palin is a welcome contrast. She is three years younger than Obama. In addition, she was a runner-up to the Miss Alaska beauty pageant.
She would present a new face unfamiliar to most of the country, and would stir up the race and excite the news media.
At 44, she would be a youthful addition to the ticket. She brings several characteristics sure to encourage the Republican base: She is an avid fisher and hunter, a member of the politically powerful National Rifle Association. She is opposed to abortion rights, and favours expanded drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge.
Her husband Todd has American Indian roots. The two have five children, one of whom suffers from Down's syndrome and the eldest of which recently enlisted in the army.