John McCain has chosen the current Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as presumptive 2008 Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States. Palin, 44, gained attention for publicizing ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders. She is thus the first female Vice Presidential candidate representing the Republican Party and only the second female vice-presidential candidate representing a major political party.

A self-proclaimed hockey mom, Palin holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and is married to her high-school sweetheart, Todd, who is now a commercial fisherman. They have five children. The eldest, Track, joined the Army and now serves in an infantry brigade. Their youngest son has Down syndrome. She decided to keep the baby although genetic testing revealed he had the disease early in her pregnancy.

The Charismatic Alaskan governor also posed for a photo spread in the fashion magazine Vogue in 2007. It is quite clear that John McCain's image needed a fresh infusion, and Palin was just the man (sorry!) WOMAN to do it. Palin is Alaska's most popular politician, even though she might not be that well-known to the rest of the American voters. Her being a woman might attract some of Clinton's crowd.

Obama's campaign hit her quick and hard over Palin's obvious lack of foreign policy experience. Indeed, she IS a former mayor of a town of 9,000, but that's exactly what makes McCain's choice clever. McCain, criticized for being too old for the job, needed to show he can still be bold, and can still take reformative decisions.