DAYTON, Ohio -- John McCain tapped little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate on Friday in a startling selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention.
Two senior campaign officials disclosed Mccain's decision a few hours before the Republican presidential nominee-to-be and his newly-minted running mate appeared at a rally in swing-state Ohio.
Palin is a self-styled hockey mom and political reformer who has been governor of her state less than two years. Palin's selection shocked numerous Republican officials.
Florida Rep. Ric Keller told News 13 that Palin is wildly popular in Alaska. He said she is a conservative reformer who knows a lot about gas prices and the importance of drilling for oil.
"She's going to bring a lot of conservatives back into the fold," Keller said.
In making his pick, Mccain passed over several more prominent prospects who had figured in speculation for months -- Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge among them.
Who Is Palin?
At 44, Palin is a generation younger than Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who is Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic ticket.
She is three years Obama's junior, as well -- and McCain has made much in recent weeks of Obama's relative lack of experience in foreign policy and defense matters. Palin is married and has four children.
Palin flew overnight to an airport in Ohio near Dayton, and even as she awaited her formal introduction, some aides said they had believed she was at home in Alaska.
Palin was elected the 11th governor of Alaska in November 2006. She was also the first female governor of that state. Before that, she lost the Alaska Lt. Governor's race in 2002.
In 2003, Palin was appointed Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
In 2004, she resigned over what she called a lack of ethics when her Republican colleagues ignored her whistleblowing complaints of legal violations and conflicts of interest.
In 2007, Palin joined McCain in opposing the Bridge To Nowhere, a $398 million bridge that would have connected Ketchikan, which is on one Alaskan island to an airport on a nearby island. The project became a national symbol of federal pork-barrel spending.
Palin governs a population of just more than 680,000 people. Orange County Fla. has a population of 1.66 million people, or 35 percent more than the entire state of Alaska.
Obama Campaign Reacts
It didn't take long for the Barack Obama campaign to respond to McCain's choice.
"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Gov. 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," said Adrianne Marsh, spokeswoman for the Obama campaign.
Gustav's Effect On The Republican Convention
There is word from the McCain camp that if Gustav strengthens to a hurricane and makes landfall on the Gulf Coast Monday, the Republicans might postpone the start of their convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Republican officials said they don't want to hold a celebration during a time when Gulf Coast residents are leaving their homes for the second time in three years.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who was picked to speak at the convention, has already said he will skip the event if Gustav hits this weekend.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is also postponing his plans to attend.
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