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McCain Picks Alaska Governor; Palin First Woman on GOP Ticket
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When he ended months of speculation Friday, McCain did not laud Palin as immediately ready to take over, which he once said was his highest priority for a running mate.
Instead, he called her a partner in reform, who would bring an outsider's perspective and a reputation for bucking the Republican Party and the status quo.
"She's got the grit, integrity, good sense, and fierce devotion to the common good that is exactly what we need in Washington today," McCain said. "She knows where she comes from, and she knows who she works for."
Palin was poised in her first turn on the national stage, with her husband, Todd, and four of her five children -- daughters Bristol, Willow and Piper and 4-month-old son Trig -- behind her. She said her oldest son, Track, enlisted in the Army last Sept. 11 and will be deployed to Iraq on Sept. 11 of this year.
"As the mother of one of those troops and as the commander of Alaska's National Guard,'' Palin said she believes that McCain is the "kind of man I want as our commander in chief.''
Palin did not use her first speech to embrace the vice presidential candidate's traditional role of leading the attack on the opposition. Instead, she left no doubt that being the first woman named to the Republican ticket would be a prominent part of her case to voters.
She spoke admiringly of 1984 Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine A. Ferraro as well as Clinton, whom Ferraro supported in the Democratic primaries.
"It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America," Palin said. "But it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all."
Obama and Biden welcomed Palin to the race, issuing a statement that called her selection "yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics."
But the initial response from an Obama campaign spokesman was much more pointed, saying: "John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000, with zero foreign policy experience, a heartbeat away from the presidency."
Other Democrats were even tougher. "After trying to make experience the issue of this campaign, John McCain celebrated his 72nd birthday by appointing a former small-town mayor and brand new governor as his vice presidential nominee," said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.). "Is this really who the Republican Party wants to be one heartbeat away from the presidency?"
President Bush said in a statement that McCain made "an exciting decision" in choosing Palin, calling her "a proven reformer" and "champion of accountability in government."
