MAT-SU, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin has made Alaska history Friday after Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain formally picked the Wasilla, Alaska, resident as his vice-presidential running mate.
 Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Lt. Governor Sean Parnell talk to the media after winning the November 2006 election. (Robert DeBerry-Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman/Wick News Service) |
“I have found the right partner to help me stand up to those who value their privileges over responsibilities,” McCain said at the announcement rally. “She’s exactly who I need.”
“I will be honored to be chosen as your running mate,” Palin said. “I will be honored to serve next to the next president of the United States.”
News of Palin’s possible vice-presidential candidacy swept across Alaska early Friday after national news outlets began reporting it. Palin’s new national position as a vice presidential candidate has set the Mat-Su Valley buzzing.
At Wasilla High School, principal Dwight Probasco said he made an announcement to students on Friday morning. Palin is a 1982 graduate of Wasilla High.
Probasco said the school has been inundated by calls from national media about Palin. Wasilla high plans to make T-shirts commemorating the school’s newest star graduate.
Probasco said the shirts will read “Wasilla High School, home of Sarah Palin and the Warriors.”
At least one local legislator couldn’t be more thrilled with Palin’s elevation to the national platform. State Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer, a three-term state House member, said Palin’s nomination is great for Alaska, long considered a political “orphan child.”
If McCain wins the presidency, taking Palin to Washington, D.C., with him, Gatto said the state might lose a lot of good people the governor could take with her.
Palin’s successor at Wasilla City Hall, Mayor Dianne M. Keller, said on Friday that she’s a very happy to be from the Last Frontier.
“This is a great day to be a female Alaskan, any Alaskan,” Keller said. Keller served on the Wasilla City Council with Palin from 1996 to 2002 and said Palin has more administrative experience than Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
After watching Palin in action locally and at the state level, Keller said she’s confident Palin would make a good vice president. “I have no doubt she is going to do a great job,” she said.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in an official statement called McCain’s vice president pick a “bold choice.”
“Gov. Palin has risen to every challenge she’s faced, and her choice is historic for Alaska and for the women of America,” Murkowski said.
U.S. Senate candidate and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich released a statement calling McCain’s choice of vice president a reason to be proud.
“This is a proud day for the people of Alaska. Congratulations to Governor Palin for making history for women, our state and our country,” Begich said.
Palin, who is nearly three decades younger than McCain, is a former Wasilla mayor, high school basketball standout and was runner-up in the 1984 Miss Alaska beauty pageant. She server two terms on Wasilla City Council and two as mayor before a failed attempt at lieutenant governor in 2002. She rebounded to win the governor’s seat in 2006, running largely on a reform platform.
During her appearance at the McCain rally today, Palin touted what she called McCain’s leadership.
“If you want change in Washington, if you hope for a better America, then we’re asking for your vote on the Fourth of November,” Palin said.
Palin had previously said she was not pursuing the vice presidency and felt the position wouldn’t be offered, Palin’s press secretary Bill McCallister said.
At that time, McCallister said she had things to do in Alaska. But on Friday, Palin and McCain put to rest any speculation about her position on McCain’s ticket.
“When the presidential candidate says, ‘Join me,’ it’s something you have to think seriously about,” McCallister said. “And obviously she did.”
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