McCain’s choice of Alaska governor shocks political world

DAYTON, OHIO - Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Friday named Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, a surprise choice of a political newcomer expected to play the outsider role and to exploit the lingering discontent of some Democrats over their party's rejection of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"It turns out that women in America aren't finished yet," an enthusiastic Palin said to a roaring crowd of 15,000 packed into a sports arena here.

In choosing the 44-year-old Palin -- a social conservative with five children and blue-collar ties -- McCain offers a fresh face for the Republican Party, which Democrats have accused of looking backward, and deflects some attention from McCain's age -- 72 as of Friday.

But Palin's limited résumé and scant foreign policy experience could help Democrats counter criticism that their presidential nominee, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, 47, lacks seasoning.

Palin also cuts a modest image -- a self-described "hockey mom" whose husband is a union oil field worker -- that is helpful to McCain, a wealthy man portrayed by Democrats as out of step with average Americans.

"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 Friday.

"She stands up for what's right, and she doesn't let anyone tell her to sit down," he said. "She's got grit, integrity, good sense, and fierce devotion to the common good ... exactly what we need in Washington today."

After the rally, Palin and McCain embarked on a bus tour across Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Palin (pronounced PAY-lin) began her political career in the 1990s as a councilwoman and then mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a suburb of Anchorage.

She is fewer than two years through her first term as governor, an office she captured from the state's Republican leadership with a pledge to clean up a government mired in scandal.

The McCain campaign sees her as a kindred spirit to McCain, particularly in her history of taking heat from fellow Republicans for bucking them on issues and spotlighting their ethical failings. Like McCain, her political profile is built in part on her opposition to questionable government spending.

But they differ on a number of policies. Palin opposed McCain on one of the most prominent Alaskan issues: She supports drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and McCain opposes it, much to the consternation of some Republicans. McCain's environmental policy accepts that global warming is driven by man-made pollution; Palin has said she is not convinced.

The selection of Palin amounted to a gamble that an infusion of new leadership -- and the novelty of the Republican Party's first female candidate for vice president -- would more than compensate for the risk that Palin would undercut one of the McCain campaign's central arguments, that Obama is too inexperienced to be president.

Democrats and at least some shocked Republicans questioned the judgment of McCain, who has said repeatedly on the campaign trail that his running mate should have the qualifications to immediately step into the role of commander-in-chief.

McCain's words on the matter have had more than usual resonance because of his age and his history of skin cancer.

Said Nick Kimball, Obama's spokesman in Minnesota: "Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency."

McCain's advisers said Friday that he is well aware that Palin would be criticized for her lack of foreign policy experience, but that he viewed her as exceptionally talented and intelligent and that she would be able to be educated quickly.

"She's going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he'll be around at least that long," said Charlie Black, one of McCain's top advisers.

Many conservatives said the choice would energize them, giving McCain the support of a highly active group of voters whose support was crucial to President Bush's victories.

"They're beyond ecstatic," said Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition.

As recently as last month, Palin appeared to dismiss the importance of the vice presidency in an interview with Larry Kudlow of CNBC, who asked her about her prospects.

"I'll tell ya, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me, what is it exactly that the VP does every day?" Palin told Kudlow. "I'm used to being very productive and working real hard."

Staff writer Pat Doyle and the New York Times contributed to this report.