If you missed the introduction today....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/29/AR2008082901112.html


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

Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain announces that he has chosen first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
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By Robert Barnes, Michael D. Shear and William BraniginWashington Post Staff Writers Friday, August 29, 2008; 5:06 PM
DAYTON, Ohio, Aug. 29 -- Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain introduced first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential choice here Friday at a raucous rally before thousands of his supporters, saying she is the "running mate who can best help me shake up Washington.''

The selection of the little-known 44-year-old governor shook up the presidential race as well. It was a startling choice that McCain said would reinforce his reputation as a maverick but that Democrats quickly criticized as not meeting McCain's stated goal of picking someone who would be ready to assume the presidency at a moment's notice.

"She's got the grit, integrity, good sense and fierce devotion to the common good that is exactly what we need in Washington today,'' McCain said. "She knows where she comes from, and she knows who she works for.''

Palin (pronounced PAY-lin) was poised in her first turn on the national stage, and she left no doubt that being the first woman named to the Republican ticket would be part of her appeal.
She mentioned former Democratic vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro, as well Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), who sought to become the nation's first woman president but lost the Democratic nomination to Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

"It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America,'' Palin said. "But it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all.''

Obama's campaign seemed as startled by the choice as anyone.

As soon as the McCain campaign made it official, Obama spokesman Bill Burton put out this statement: "Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same."

An hour and a half later, Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), issued a congratulatory statement that called the choice "yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics."

Obama subsequently told reporters while campaigning in Pennsylvania that he has never met Palin but that "she seems like a compelling person . . . with a terrific personal story." He dismissed his campaign's initial statement about Palin that criticized her inexperience, saying that campaigns tend to get "hair triggers" and that the statement he and Biden issued "reflects our sentiments."

Obama also said: "I'm sure that she will help make the case for Republicans. Unfortunately the case is more of the same, and so ultimately John McCain is at the top of the ticket. He wants to take the country in the wrong direction. I'm assuming Governor Palin agrees with him and his policies."

President Bush said in a statement that McCain made "an exciting decision" in choosing Palin, calling her "a proven reformer" and "champion of accountability in government."