In Dayton, Ohio, the McCain campaign has confirmed that the presumptive GOP presidential nominee named Palin -- the first female governor of Alaska -- as his pick to join him on the November ticket. Palin and her husband, Todd, are the parents of five children, one of them with Down syndrome. She is a reformer and a self-styled "hockey mom."
The 44-year-old governor, described by some in the media as a "religious conservative," was elected to lead Alaska in 2006 after defeating the Republican incumbent. She is strongly pro-life, opposes same-sex "marriage," and is noted for her energy policies promoting independence from big oil companies.
Story continues below ...
Results from our related poll
Does the addition of Gov. Sarah Palin as VP
strengthen or weaken the GOP presidential ticket?
Palin's selection is a surprise, as McCain passed over many other better-known prospects, some of whom had been the subject of intense speculation for weeks or months. She is a generation younger that Joe Biden, who is Barack Obama's running mate. She is three years Obama's junior, as well. McCain has made much in recent weeks of Obama's relative lack of experience in foreign policy and defense matters.
Associated Press reports that Palin is known as a Republican iconoclast who's battled against the state GOP establishment. It started in 2004, when Palin was chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Palin exposed Alaska Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich for ethical violations when he was a commissioner.
Then in 2005, Palin teamed up with Eric Croft, a Democratic legislator and gubernatorial candidate, to file an ethics complaint against Governor Frank Murkowski's longtime aide and then attorney general, Gregg Renkes, who ended up resigning.
During her gubernatorial campaign in 2006, Palin cast herself as a Republican maverick.
Palin was born in 1964. She graduated from the University of Idaho in 1987 with a degree in journalism. She's worked as a sports reporter for two Anchorage TV stations and has been a businesswoman.
Palin served as chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, two terms as mayor of Wasilla and two terms on the city council.
Pro-life, evangelical aspect
Governor Palin is described by many conservatives as someone who will rally not only women voters, but also pro-life supporters. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, says pro-life supporters are familiar with Governor Palin. He says Governor's Palin's spot on the ticket will attract those who had mixed feelings about Senator McCain.
"If we look at the vast segment of the electorate for whom abortion influences their vote -- and that's approximately one third or more of the electorate -- then we find within that segment that there is a two-to-one margin in favor of pro-life candidates."
On the day after the Democratic National Convention, Rasmussen Reports' daily presidential tracking poll shows John McCain trailing Democrat Barack Obama by three points (46 to 43 percent). The Republican National Convention kicks off Monday in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission, says Palin's addition to the ticket should mobilize evangelical voters. He believes the Alaska governor's place in the number-two spot will not only appeal to most women, but will also make it tough for opponents to attack.
"How are they going to attack her?" Land asks. "They've already started by saying she doesn't have much experience. Well, you know what? If I was the Obama campaign I'd be very careful about talking about people's experience because the relative inexperience of the Republican ticket is in the second spot [whereas] the inexperience in the Democratic ticket is in the first spot."
Palin has called abortion an atrocity, and she helped Alaska pass the nation's first marriage protection amendment in 1998.
Read Townhall.com column by Dennis Prager:
"Dobson: 'I would pull that lever' for McCain-Palin"
Christian activist Dr. Gary Cass also believes evangelicals will strongly support McCain now that he has chosen Palen as his running mate. Cass is chairman of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission (CADC), which this past spring unveiled an online petition for a true Christian vice president. The document called on presidential nominees for both major political parties to select a running mate who as been born again, who publicly affirms historic Christianity, and who has a proven record of supporting traditional Christian morality.
Cass says Governor Palin will re-energize the evangelical base. "We have a young, evangelical leader who stands for our particular issues, who will be now be a leader into the future," he says of the governor-turned-VP-candidate. "[I]t was a very courageous choice by John McCain."
The CADC leader says his organization was discouraged by Barack Obama's choice for the second spot on the Democratic ticket. He says Senator Joe Biden is not an authentic Catholic.
Do you think the addition of Gov. Sarah Palin as VP for John McCain will strengthen or weaken the GOP presidential ticket?
