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On a night that was to be all about John McCain – the maverick and the war hero – U.S. Republicans shifted instead into damage-control mode over his running mate's colourful family life and meteoric political rise.

Republicans – from Mr. McCain and President George W. Bush to delegates at the party's convention in Minnesota – rallied around Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, 44, the party's would-be standard-bearer for family values.

Her candidacy has been marred by a steady drip of awkward revelations, including her teen daughter's pregnancy, past links to a fringe party that wants Alaska to secede from the United States, and her possible role in trying to get her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. Even her assertion last week to be a fierce crusader against government waste is being challenged with published reports that she lobbied aggressively for rich federal grants when she was mayor of tiny Wasilla, Ala.

The swirling controversy has also sparked questions about Mr. McCain's judgment in choosing a running mate with such a short political pedigree and no experience on the national stage. The former mayor of Wasilla (pop. 6,715), Ala., has been governor for less than two years.

Ms. Palin was supposed to buttress Mr. McCain's image as an independent and attract women voters. Instead, she has become a troubling distraction for the Republicans, whose convention agenda has already been knocked off course by hurricane Gustav.

“This was supposed to be a four-day political advertisement, and they haven't been able to do that,” said David Schultz, a political scientist and business ethics professor at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.

The controversy has raised questions both about Ms. Palin's suitability as vice-president and about Mr. McCain for choosing someone with such a short résumé. “What does Palin's nomination say about McCain's judgment? That's going to be the more lasting issue,” Prof. Schultz said.

Campaigning in Ohio, Mr. McCain insisted he has no regrets and that none of the revelations are a surprise.

“The vetting process was completely thorough and I'm grateful for the results,” Mr. McCain said after visiting a firehouse in Brecksville, Ohio. “I'm very, very proud of the impression she's made on all of America and I look forward to serving with her.”

Mr. Bush, who cancelled his planned appearance at the convention Monday because of hurricane Gustav, made a brief appearance Tuesday night via video link from the White House. In prepared remarks, he praised Mr. McCain's support of the Iraq war and his independent mind. “He's not afraid to tell you when he disagrees,” Mr. Bush said.

“No matter what the issue, this man is honest and speaks straight from the heart.”

Independent Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson also spoke at the convention. Mr. Lieberman, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in 2000, launched the most biting criticisms of Barack Obama of this convention so far, saying that he's too inexperienced to lead and hasn't done enough to support U.S. troops. He also appealed directly to Democrats to support the Republican nominee. “Whether you are an independent, a Reagan Democrat or a Clinton Democrat, or just a Democrat,” he said, “this year, when you vote for president, vote for the person you believe is best for the country, not for the party you happen to belong to.”

Mr. Thompson praised Ms. Palin as someone “from a small town, with small-town values, but that's not good enough for those folks who are attacking her and her family.” He added that Mr. McCain's decision to make her his running mate “has the other side and their friends in the media in a state of panic.”

Ms. Palin campaigned with Mr. McCain over the Labour Day weekend, but hasn't yet appeared publicly since news broke of her daughter's pregnancy. She's tentatively slated to address the convention in St. Paul tonight, but McCain campaign officials are being coy about exactly when she'll appear.

Campaign manager Rick Davis is billing Ms. Palin's speech as “a unique opportunity to have a conversation with the American public … to bring her into focus.”

The McCain campaign also deployed several prominent Republican women to defend Ms. Palin, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who was married at 17 and had a baby at 18. Speaking on CNN, Ms. Peters, 59, accused “elitists” of unfairly targeting Ms. Palin because she's a woman.

“Why is it that a woman candidate is being challenged like that and people are asking whether or not, as the mother of five, she can handle being vice-president, when that issue doesn't come up with men?” asked Ms. Peters, who appeared on CNN at the request of the McCain campaign.

In another twist, Levi Johnston, the 18-year-old father of Bristol Palin's baby, is headed to St. Paul to join the Palin family at the Republican convention. His mother, Sherry Johnston, told the Associated Press there was no pressure put on her son to marry Bristol.

Her son is a high-school senior and hockey player. On his MySpace page, which has been removed, Mr. Johnston calls himself a “fucking redneck” who likes to snowboard, ride dirt bikes, play hockey and “hang out with the boys.” It also lists him as “in a relationship,” but adds, “I don't want kids.”

The Palin family has said Bristol and Levi intend to get married and keep the child, who is due in roughly four months.

The pregnancy isn't the only embarrassing revelation about the Palin family since Mr. McCain's surprise announcement last Friday that Ms. Palin would be his running mate.

The McCain campaign has acknowledged that Ms. Palin's husband, Todd, was arrested on a drunk driving charge in 1986 at the age of 22.

And the head of the Alaskan Independence Party told ABC News that both Mr. and Ms. Palin were active in the party as recently as 1994, even attending the party's convention. The motto of the party, which wants a referendum on Alaskan independence, is “Alaska First, Alaska Always,” an awkward contrast to Mr. McCain's campaign theme of “Country First.”

McCain campaign officials have produced voter registration records that show Ms. Palin is a long-time Republican. They have also denied she was ever a member of the Alaskan Independence Party.

An Alaska state senator, meanwhile, said the McCain campaign is trying to stall his probe into Ms. Palin's role in putting pressure on officials to fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper, according to the Anchorage Daily News. The report is due out by Oct. 31, four days before the November presidential election.