News

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain stunned pundits and his own party by naming a virtually unknown woman from a tiny state as his running mate: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Eager to offset some of his own political frailties, the septuagenarian Arizona senator gambled yesterday that a fresh face – a 44-year-old hockey mom, former small-town mayor and anti-abortion champion – will help counter the enticing change mantra of his younger Democratic rival Barack Obama.

Mr. McCain's high-risk choice takes direct aim at female voters disillusioned by Hillary Clinton's failure to win the Democratic nomination.

But Ms. Palin's presence on the Republican ticket also undercuts a central McCain campaign theme – that Mr. Obama, 47, is simply too untested to run the world's leading superpower

And the Obama campaign was quick to pounce, suggesting Mr. McCain, who turned 72 yesterday, is showing desperation by putting a former small-town mayor with no foreign-policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.

In a gymnasium in Dayton, Ohio, where Mr. McCain unveiled his surprise choice, Ms. Palin paid tribute to two Democratic women who paved her way: Geraldine Ferraro, who in 1984 became the first woman on a major presidential ticket, and Ms. Clinton, who narrowly lost the Democratic nomination this year to Mr. Obama.

“The women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all,” said Ms. Palin.

Mr. McCain praised Ms. Palin for battling oil companies, Republican party bosses and government waste in Alaska.

“She's exactly who I need,” Mr. McCain said. “She's exactly who this country needs to help me fight the same old Washington politics of ‘me first and country second.'”

Ms. Palin is the ultimate Washington outsider. Just two years ago she was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (pop. 8,500). She's an avid hunter, hockey mom, marathon runner and a former pageant queen. In recent weeks, she rated her chances of getting the nod a very long shot.

Her husband Todd, who she calls the “first dude,” is a blue-collar fisherman and oil worker and four-time winner of Alaska's Iron Dog snowmobile race. Their five children are named Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig.

Hers is a long way from the résumés of any of the other short-listed running mate contenders, including former Massachusetts governor and successful businessman Mitt Romney.

With recent polls suggesting a tight race between Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama, the expectation was that Mr. McCain would play it safe, opting for Mr. Romney or Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Instead, Mr. McCain, a self-styled political maverick, gambled with a high-risk pick of someone with a remarkably brief political prospectus and no background in foreign policy or economics.

Minneapolis-St. Paul, where the party will confirm the McCain-Palin ticket next week, has five times the population of Alaska.

“I'm stunned. … This choice suggests McCain thinks he has an uphill climb to win this election,” said Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University law professor and vice-presidential scholar.

“It's the Hail Mary.”

Prof. Goldstein said vice-presidential running mates are typically chosen for two key attributes – their fitness to assume the presidency and their lack of significant flaws. Ms. Palin, he said, is a big question mark because she's so new and untested.

“This is like something out of a novel,” Karl Rove, former top political adviser to President George W. Bush, told Fox News.

Mr. Rove said Mr. McCain is clearly “taking a run” at Democratic women. Still unknown, however, is how Americans will react to her lack of experience, he said.

Other Republicans also pointed out that, as a state governor, she stands alone among the four presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls to have executive office experience. Mr. McCain, Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden are all veteran legislators.

Democrats were a lot less kind. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois congressman who heads up the Democratic Party's re-election campaign in the House of Representatives, called the choice an act of desperation.

“On his 72nd birthday, is this really the one-heartbeat-away he wants to put in the White House?” Mr. Emanuel wondered.

If he wins the election, Mr. McCain, who has suffered from skin cancer, would become oldest first-term president in U.S. history.

And yet as unconventional as the choice appears, Ms. Palin also boasts many of the attributes that should appeal to the conservative base of the Republican Party. She's anti-abortion and pro-guns and her husband is as blue collar as they come.

Ms. Palin, for example, has earned praise from religious conservatives for choosing not to have an abortion after learning that she was carrying a child with Down syndrome. “It is almost impossible to exaggerate how important that is to the conservative faith community,” said Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition. She gave birth to her son, Trig, in April.

She's also a staunch supporter of drilling for oil and gas in now-protected areas of Alaska and cutting U.S. dependence on foreign energy, an issue that has vaulted to the top of the political agenda along with high gas prices.

And in her short political career, Ms. Palin has displayed many of the maverick, anti-establishment tendencies that are at the heart of Mr. McCain's own story. She sold the previous governor's jet, choosing instead to fly commercial, or drive to events in her own Volkswagen Jetta.

Ms. Palin may help create a bridge between Mr. McCain and traditional Republicans, who have often felt unease about the Arizona senator, Prof. Goldstein suggested. Her wholesome image and conservative social views fit well with the party base, particularly in small towns across middle America.

And she bolsters Mr. McCain's claim to be an agent of change in Washington.

“This is a choice that allows McCain to keep the base happy, but it also allows him to reinforce his image as a maverick,” Mr. Goldstein said.

Ms. Palin also has fans in Calgary, where she championed a bill that grants TransCanada Corp. the right to start work on a $26-billion (U.S.) pipeline to bring trapped Alaska gas to the lower 48 states.

“She has provided tremendous leadership on the gas line,” said Tony Palmer, TransCanada's vice-president of Alaska development. “… She's strong and resolute, with high ethical standards.”

Ms. Palin is no stranger to Canada. This summer, she was one of several U.S. governors who signed a wide-ranging pact with B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, establishing the Pacific Coast Collaborative initiative. Climate change issues are the focus of that agreement, putting the governor firmly in the small group of Republicans ready to take action on greenhouse gases.

Joan McIntyre, B.C.'s newly appointed Secretary of State for Intergovernmental Relations, was not at the June signing of the regional pact, but said B.C.'s northern neighbour is clearly worried about climate change issues. “Alaska definitely has their concerns,” she said.

With a report from Patrick Brethour in Vancouver