Columnist on Gov. Sarah Palin [Updates]

I’m astonished — it sounds like the McCain team played the cleverest of media games, even leaking that the Romney family had been screened by the Secret Service. Now we know it is Gov. Sarah Palin, the second woman to be selected to run for the vice presidency. [UPDATE 2: Check out the flood of stories and blog posts about Gov. Palin at Memeorandum.com. In a short while, I will post a new story with a "blog round-up" to give you a sampling, pro and con, of first impressions. E.g., The Moderate Voice says this is John McCain's "desperation" choice. (Huh?) What McCain's selection HAS accomplished is to have pushed Obama's speech OFF the radar as the top story of the day! What a move by McCain.]

[UPDATE 3: At the end I am posting the "official" announcement I just received from John McCain's press office.]

This morning, a reader sent me this column by Jack Kelly in June 2008:

McCain Should Pick Sarah Palin for VP

[...]

There is one potential running mate who has virtually no down side. Those conservatives who’ve heard of her were delighted to learn that McCain advance man Arthur Culvahouse was in Alaska recently, because they surmised he could only be there to discuss the vice presidential nomination with Gov. Sarah Palin.

At 44, Sarah Louise Heath Palin is both the youngest and the first female governor in Alaska’s relatively brief history as a state. She’s also the most popular governor in America, with an approval rating that has bounced around 90 percent.

This is due partly to her personal qualities. When she was leading her underdog Wasilla high school basketball team to the state championship in 1982, her teammates called her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her fierce competitiveness.

Two years later, when she won the “Miss Wasilla” beauty pageant, she was also voted “Miss Congeniality” by the other contestants.

Sarah Barracuda. Miss Congeniality. Fire and nice. A happily married mother of five who is still drop dead gorgeous. And smart to boot.

But it’s mostly because she’s been a crackerjack governor, a strong fiscal conservative and a ferocious fighter of corruption, especially in her own party.

Ms. Palin touches other conservative bases, some of which Sen. McCain has been accused of rounding. Track, her eldest son, enlisted in the Army last Sept. 11. She’s a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association who hunts, fishes and runs marathons. A regular churchgoer, she’s staunchly pro-life.

Kimberley Strassel of the Wall Street Journal said Sen. McCain should run against a corrupt, do-nothing Congress, a la Harry Truman. If he should choose to do so, Gov. Palin would make an excellent partner “The landscape is littered with the bodies of those who have crossed Sarah,” pollster Dave Dittman told the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes.

Sen. Barack Obama’s support has plunged recently among white women. Many Hillary Clinton supporters accuse him — I think unfairly — of being sexist. Having Sarah Palin on the ticket could help Sen. McCain appeal to these disgruntled Democrats. [...]

PHOTO: Wikipedia bio

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UPDATE 1: From the Wikipedia bio summary:

Sarah Louise Heath Palin (born February 11, 1964) is the current Governor of Alaska, and the presumptive 2008 Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States.[1] She is expected to be the second female Vice Presidential nominee representing one of the two major American political parties.[2] Palin was selected as the runner-up in the 1984 Miss Alaska contest, and received a scholarship to the University of Idaho where she received a degree in journalism. After working as a sports reporter at an Anchorage television station, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla, Alaska, City Council from 1992 to 1996, was elected mayor of Wasilla in 1996, and ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor in 2002.

After charging ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders,[3] she won election in 2006 by first defeating incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary, then former Democratic Alaskan governor Tony Knowles in the general election.
On August 29, 2008, presumptive GOP nominee John McCain chose Palin as his nominee for vice president.

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UPDATE 3: This is John McCain’s official announcement:

JOHN MCCAIN SELECTS ALASKA GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN AS VICE PRESIDENTIAL RUNNING MATE

For Immediate Release

Contact: Press Office

Friday, August 29, 2008

703-650-5550

ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain today announced that he has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate and to serve as his vice president.

Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.

Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state that matters to every one of us — Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.

In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. She has actually used her veto and cut budgetary spending. She put a stop to the “bridge to nowhere” that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.

As the head of Alaska’s National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.

Governor Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today.

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