Analysis: McCain's veep choice is historic, but also hardly known
NEWS ANALYSIS | Behind The HeadlinesTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fact Box
Palin's parents surprised
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - If not for flooding at a remote creek, Chuck and Sally Heath might have found out by radio that their daughter, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, had been picked by John McCain to be his GOP running mate.
High water kept the Heaths from reaching their gold mine, which they use as a camp to hunt caribou.
They returned home, intending to drop in Friday at the Alaska State Fair, where their daughter was scheduled to take part in the ceremonial launch of the Alaska commemorative quarter.
Those plans went out the window with the announcement that Palin, a first-term governor, social conservative and new mother, had been thrust into the national spotlight by McCain.
"Holy cow. I'm just kind of speechless on the whole thing," said Chuck Heath, a former elementary school teacher, told The Associated Press.
In hindsight, he said Friday morning, he should have known something was up.
Alaska's first gentleman, Todd Palin, called him as he and Sally Heath drove to the remote camp behind Gunsight Mountain, 56 miles northeast of Palmer, which is well out of cell phone range.
"He didn't know we were going hunting," Heath said.
Todd Palin told him to listen to the radio.
"He said, 'Make sure you listen to the news from hunting camp.' I should have put two and two together," Heath said, because he knew McCain was going to make an announcement.
When they couldn't cross Caribou Creek on four-wheelers, they headed back to Wasilla and reached their home at midnight.
The phone rang at 4 a.m. Friday. A friend from Atlanta was on the line, noting the buzz that Palin was the McCain's likely vice presidential pick.
Heath said he tried Palin's various phone numbers and could not reach his daughter. That was a clear signal she had flown to Ohio to meet McCain.
"I would bet she's back there," Heath said before the announcement.
With only a few hours sleep, and with the phone ringing constantly at his home, he remained bemused by the commotion.
"I'd rather go moose hunting than be involved with politics," he said.
- The Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska - In two short years, Sarah Palin moved from small-town mayor with a taste for mooseburgers to the governor's office and now - making history - to John McCain's side as the first female running mate on a Republican presidential ticket.
She has more experience catching fish as a former commercial fisherwoman than dealing with foreign policy or national affairs.
Talk about a rocketing ascent.
In turning to her, McCain picked an independent figure in his own mold, one who has taken on Alaska's powerful oil industry and, at age 44, is three years younger than Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and a generation younger than McCain, 71.
Palin's selection was a jaw-dropper, as McCain passed over many other better known prospects, some of whom had been the subject of intense speculation for weeks or months. She was on the radar but as a distinct long shot.
She brings a strong anti-abortion stance to the ticket and opposes gay marriage - constitutionally banned in Alaska before her time - but exercised a veto that essentially granted benefits to gay state employees and their partners.
Palin lives in Wasilla, a town of 6,500 about 30 miles north of Anchorage, with her husband, Todd, a blue-collar North Slope oil worker who competes in the Iron Dog, a 1,900-mile snowmobile race. He is part Yup'ik Eskimo.
Typically seen walking the Capitol halls in black or red power suits while reading text messages on Blackberry screens in each hand, Palin made a recent appearance in fashion magazine Vogue.
"At first they had me in a bunch of furs," she said of the photo shoot. "Yeah, I have furs on my wall, but I don't wear furs. I had to show them my bunny boots and my North Face clothing."
Palin's clean-hands reputation has come into question with an investigation recently launched by a legislative panel into whether she dismissed Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper. Trooper Mike Wooten went through a messy divorce from Palin's sister.
The governor denied orchestrating the dozens of telephone calls made by her husband and members of her administration to Wooten's bosses. She says she welcomes the investigation: "Hold me accountable."
Palin, who led the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter at her high school, could help McCain's standing with social conservatives who have been skeptical of him.
"It's an absolutely brilliant choice," said Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law and founder of the legal group Liberty Counsel, who has sought to coalesce evangelicals around McCain. "This will absolutely energize McCain's campaign and energize conservatives."
Palin is "a woman of faith who has a strong position on life, a consistent opinion on judges," Staver said. "She's the complete package."
But Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said McCain was taking a "roll of the dice" and declared that Palin's "lack of experience makes the thought of her assuming the presidency troubling."
Before becoming governor, Palin's political experience consisted of terms as Wasilla's mayor and councilwoman and a stint as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
"Sarah Palin for her entire political career has been underestimated," said Paulette Simpson of the Alaska Federation of Republican Women. "She's tough, she's tenacious. I believe that she does have what it takes to get out there. Again, her ability to connect with voters and make a case is very, very, very strong."
The Palins have five children: Track, 19; Bristol 17; Willow 14; Piper, 7, and Trig, who was born in April.
Track enlisted in the Army in 2007 on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and has been assigned to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks.
Palin was born Feb. 11, 1964, in Idaho, but her parents moved to Alaska shortly after her birth to teach. She received a bachelor of science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987.
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gopanthers
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08-29-08 7:41 PM
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A taste for mooseburgers!!! The NRA will endorse her!!! She catches fish!!! Bassmasters will endorse her. She doesn't wear fur, But I don't think PETA will endorse her!! You Go Girl!!!
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