McCain Picks Palin

DENVER -- John McCain has selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate, according to the McCain campaign, a surprise pick sure to shake up the race and reinforce the idea of the Arizona senator as a reformer.

The news that Palin, the mayor of a small town in Alaska just two years ago, was the pick came after CNN reported that a private plane had traveled from the Last Frontier to Dayton, Ohio where McCain is set to unveil his vice presidential pick later today. The Palin news came after the two supposed frontrunners -- Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- each confirmed he would not be traveling to Dayton today.

In picking Palin, McCain is taking a calculated risk. She is totally unknown and untested on the national stage but also has impressive credentials in her short time in public life.

Of Palin, former White House political svengali Karl Rove said this morning on Fox News Channel: "It would be a clear sign from the McCain campaign that they were going to be making a very strong bid for the women whom they see up for grabs -- both the traditional, swing independent suburbanites and then the Hillary Clinton supporters who remain disillusioned."

Palin was a star at a young age in Alaska -- a member of the Wasilla basketball team that won the state championship (her aggressive style won her the nickname "Sarah Barracuda") in 1982 and Miss Wasilla two years later.

Palin's political career began a decade later when she was elected to the Wasilla City Council and, four years after that, in 1996, she won the mayorship -- knocking off the incumbent by just a handful of votes.

After a near-miss run in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor in 2002, Palin set her sights on the state's top office four years later. She campaigned on a platform of reform and was aided by the fact that the public had tired of Gov. Frank Murkowksi, and that the looming Veco scandal, which would come to badly imperil the state's Republicans, had begun to get real traction.

Palin won the Republican primary overwhelmingly (Murkowski finished third) and went on to defeat former Gov. Tony Knowles (D) in the general election.

In her two years in office, she has largely made good on her promises of reform -- and watched as her constituents have made her the most popular governor in the country.

Palin is a mother of five -- including a newborn with special needs -- which led many people to speculate that she would not ultimately be the pick. During an interview with washingtonpost.com earlier this year in Washington, Palin said being picked as the vice president was an "impossibility" but that the idea of serving in national office intrigued her.