McCain Chooses Alaska Governor Palin as Running Mate

McCain Chooses Alaska Governor Palin as Running Mate
Palin Will Be the First Woman Nominated to the Ticket by the Republican Party

By Robert Barnes and Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, August 29, 2008; 11:18 AM

DAYTON, Ohio, Aug. 29 -- Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain has chosen first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, according to a senior McCain adviser.

Palin, 44, will be the first woman nominated to the ticket by the Republican Party, and is a surprise choice after McCain considered more experienced politicians, including several of his former rivals for the GOP nomination. Palin was elected in 2006, and before that was mayor of tiny Wasilla, population 6,715.

She is a favorite of conservatives, who say she brings a reform-minded agenda and is what one called a "feminist for life.'' She is the mother of five; her youngest child, born in April, has Down's syndrome.

Palin had been before mentioned as a dark-horse candidate for the pick, but speculation in recent days had focused on McCain's primary rival Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and on Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The choice--to be announced at a noon rally here--was kept secret by the McCain campaign despite a frenzy of speculation from the 24/7 world of cable news and political blogs.

Early Friday, three senior Republican sources said they had been told Palin was McCain's choice. That came after a morning in which the names on McCain's publicly talked-about short list appeared to quickly drop off. Romney has told others he will not be in Dayton for the rally at Wright State University where McCain is expected to announce his running mate.

Likewise, Pawlenty--another conventional wisdom favorite--told a Twin Cities radio station this morning that he would be at the state fair.

"You can draw your own conclusion from that," Pawlenty said.

One potential candidate who has not been heard from Friday: McCain's close friend Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), a former Democratic who had been strongly opposed by GOP conservatives as a vice presidential choice. Even as attention turned to Palin, rumors swirled that Lieberman had arrived in Dayton from Long Island, where he had been vacationing with his family, sparking a new round of speculation that McCain might pick his buddy instead.

But Lieberman is often by McCain's side, traveling with him on foreign trips and joining him on the stump. His possible presence at the Dayton rally appeared to be nothing more than Lieberman's way of supporting his friend and colleague.

McCain's communications director, Jill Hazelbaker, playfully declined to provide any confirmation Friday morning. Speaking on CBS' "Early Show," she provided only a vague sense of the motivation that has driven McCain's decision. "John McCain is going to make the choice from his heart," she said.

"He's going to choose someone who can be a partner in governing. He's going to choose someone who brings character and principle to the table and who shares his priorities. And I'm confident that he's going to make a great pick."

But with less than two hours before McCain's official announcement in Dayton, a senior McCain adviser made official the speculation with a single word in an email.

"Confirmed," the adviser said.

The speculation reached fever pitch earlier Friday, when Atlantic blogger Marc Ambinder noted this morning that a private plane connected to a McCain fundraiser had traveled to an airport near Dayton yesterday from Anchorage. The plane's flight information and registration can be found using freely available flight tracking tools on the Internet. They show that the plane, a Gulfstream IV, landed at Hook Field municipal airport about a half-hour outside of Dayton at 10:07 pm last night.

Republicans struggled Friday morning to come to grips with what appeared to be McCain's surprise pick.

Former Romney spokesman Kevin Madden called the possibility of a Palin choice "quintessential John McCain. He's trying to make a play for independent voters . . . trying to bring in energy from outside Washington to try to reform Washington."

Karl Rove, President Bush's former top political advisers, said on Fox News that picking Palin would "shake up" the traditional coalitions in both parties. He called Palin a "breath of fresh air," and said picking her would be an indication that McCain is hoping to make a direct appeal to women voters, especially those who voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton, not Sen. Barack Obama, during the Democratic primary.

"It would be a clear sign by the McCain campaign that they would be making a bid" for women voters, Rove said. "In the last 24 hours, we've seen both campaigns refocus themselves in a powerful way on the Hillary Clinton supporters."

One GOP source who said McCain had chosen Palin call it a "stunning pick" and said he was still trying to get his arms around it. The source, who did not want to be named since McCain has not commented publicly, said conservatives will be pleased since she is an anti-abortion Republican.

But he acknowledged that Palin is "not really that well known."

Aides to Obama said they are salivating at the prospect of a Palin pick, readying talking points to question McCain's choice. With 18 months in office, little foreign policy experience -- or experience of any kind -- Palin would be, in the words of one senior Obama adviser, "a gift."

Democratic officials expressed surprise about Palin but predicted that she will make it more difficult for McCain to use one of his central attacks on Obama: that the first-term senator lacks the experience the White House requires.

"He cannot say any more that Barack Obama doesn't have the experience to be commander in chief when he chooses a woman whose signature achievement two years ago was that they won an award from the National Arbor Day Foundation," a Democratic operative said.

Democrats began quickly scouring Palin's past. They pointed out that she had once raised the sales tax to support construction of a recreation center in her city. And they noted that Palin has been accused of improperly using her office to have her ex-brother-in-law fired from his state trooper's job.

"She's under investigation right now," the Democrat said.

Staff writers Dan Balz and Anne E. Kornblut in Denver contributed to this report.

Palin Will Be the First Woman Nominated to the Ticket by the Republican Party

By Robert Barnes and Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, August 29, 2008; 11:18 AM

DAYTON, Ohio, Aug. 29 -- Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain has chosen first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, according to a senior McCain adviser.

Palin, 44, will be the first woman nominated to the ticket by the Republican Party, and is a surprise choice after McCain considered more experienced politicians, including several of his former rivals for the GOP nomination. Palin was elected in 2006, and before that was mayor of tiny Wasilla, population 6,715.

She is a favorite of conservatives, who say she brings a reform-minded agenda and is what one called a "feminist for life.'' She is the mother of five; her youngest child, born in April, has Down's syndrome.

Palin had been before mentioned as a dark-horse candidate for the pick, but speculation in recent days had focused on McCain's primary rival Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and on Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. The choice--to be announced at a noon rally here--was kept secret by the McCain campaign despite a frenzy of speculation from the 24/7 world of cable news and political blogs.

Early Friday, three senior Republican sources said they had been told Palin was McCain's choice. That came after a morning in which the names on McCain's publicly talked-about short list appeared to quickly drop off. Romney has told others he will not be in Dayton for the rally at Wright State University where McCain is expected to announce his running mate.

Likewise, Pawlenty--another conventional wisdom favorite--told a Twin Cities radio station this morning that he would be at the state fair.

"You can draw your own conclusion from that," Pawlenty said.

One potential candidate who has not been heard from Friday: McCain's close friend Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), a former Democratic who had been strongly opposed by GOP conservatives as a vice presidential choice. Even as attention turned to Palin, rumors swirled that Lieberman had arrived in Dayton from Long Island, where he had been vacationing with his family, sparking a new round of speculation that McCain might pick his buddy instead.

But Lieberman is often by McCain's side, traveling with him on foreign trips and joining him on the stump. His possible presence at the Dayton rally appeared to be nothing more than Lieberman's way of supporting his friend and colleague.

McCain's communications director, Jill Hazelbaker, playfully declined to provide any confirmation Friday morning. Speaking on CBS' "Early Show," she provided only a vague sense of the motivation that has driven McCain's decision. "John McCain is going to make the choice from his heart," she said.

"He's going to choose someone who can be a partner in governing. He's going to choose someone who brings character and principle to the table and who shares his priorities. And I'm confident that he's going to make a great pick."

But with less than two hours before McCain's official announcement in Dayton, a senior McCain adviser made official the speculation with a single word in an email.

"Confirmed," the adviser said.

The speculation reached fever pitch earlier Friday, when Atlantic blogger Marc Ambinder noted this morning that a private plane connected to a McCain fundraiser had traveled to an airport near Dayton yesterday from Anchorage. The plane's flight information and registration can be found using freely available flight tracking tools on the Internet. They show that the plane, a Gulfstream IV, landed at Hook Field municipal airport about a half-hour outside of Dayton at 10:07 pm last night.

Republicans struggled Friday morning to come to grips with what appeared to be McCain's surprise pick.

Former Romney spokesman Kevin Madden called the possibility of a Palin choice "quintessential John McCain. He's trying to make a play for independent voters . . . trying to bring in energy from outside Washington to try to reform Washington."

Karl Rove, President Bush's former top political advisers, said on Fox News that picking Palin would "shake up" the traditional coalitions in both parties. He called Palin a "breath of fresh air," and said picking her would be an indication that McCain is hoping to make a direct appeal to women voters, especially those who voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton, not Sen. Barack Obama, during the Democratic primary.

"It would be a clear sign by the McCain campaign that they would be making a bid" for women voters, Rove said. "In the last 24 hours, we've seen both campaigns refocus themselves in a powerful way on the Hillary Clinton supporters."

One GOP source who said McCain had chosen Palin call it a "stunning pick" and said he was still trying to get his arms around it. The source, who did not want to be named since McCain has not commented publicly, said conservatives will be pleased since she is an anti-abortion Republican.

But he acknowledged that Palin is "not really that well known."

Aides to Obama said they are salivating at the prospect of a Palin pick, readying talking points to question McCain's choice. With 18 months in office, little foreign policy experience -- or experience of any kind -- Palin would be, in the words of one senior Obama adviser, "a gift."

Democratic officials expressed surprise about Palin but predicted that she will make it more difficult for McCain to use one of his central attacks on Obama: that the first-term senator lacks the experience the White House requires.

"He cannot say any more that Barack Obama doesn't have the experience to be commander in chief when he chooses a woman whose signature achievement two years ago was that they won an award from the National Arbor Day Foundation," a Democratic operative said.

Democrats began quickly scouring Palin's past. They pointed out that she had once raised the sales tax to support construction of a recreation center in her city. And they noted that Palin has been accused of improperly using her office to have her ex-brother-in-law fired from his state trooper's job.

"She's under investigation right now," the Democrat said.

Staff writers Dan Balz and Anne E. Kornblut in Denver contributed to this report.