Shocker: Sara Palin chosen by McCain for VP slot

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Governor Sara Palin rolling out the new Alaska quarter...

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor


Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain shocked almost everyone by choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. Campaign officials fed the news to NBC News this morning. Senator McCain passed over Mitty Romney, Kay Hutchinson, Joe Lieberman, and Tim Pawlenty when he opted for Palin. Alaska Governor Sara Palin has only occasionally been mentioned as a VP possibility, and has not really appeared on the leaked "short lists" of late. What seemed to tip the scales is a) the female factor; b) her pro-life position; c) the babe factor; and d) the "common folk" factor ("Well, shucks, she's just people like you and me"). The anti-abortion governor has less experience than Barack Obama and is virtually unknown outside Alaska and the northwest. But she is Christian, she was mostly unexpected, she's pro-life, she's not a Mormon, was never a Democrat, and has never feuded with John McCain (which sank Hutchinson's chances).

Palin is also currently under investigation by an independent investigator the state legislature hired to find out whether she tried to have a state official fire her ex-brother-in-law from his job as a state trooper.

In an August interview with CNBC’s Larry Kudlow, she could not answer the question of whether she wanted the VP slot:

“until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day. I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here….”

She is the first woman and the first Alaskan on a Republican presidential ticket. Palin, 44, was elected Alaska's first woman governor in 2006.

Sara Palin has made at least one previous appearance on All This Is That: http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2007/04/salute-to-two-political-milfs-governor.html


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