"What exactly does the VP do everyday?"
Myyy goodness!
From The Caucus: Convention Edition
McCain V.P.: It's Palin
2:29 p.m. | On the Other Hand… Mrs. Palin was fairly unenthusiastic about the vice presidency when she was asked about it during an Aug. 1 interview with Larry Kudlow on CNBC.
I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the V.P. does everyday? I'm used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that V.P. slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we're trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.
1:40 | Ethics Probe: An independent investigator is looking into whether Mrs. Palin dismissed a top law enforcement official in her administration because he failed to fire a state trooper, Mike Wooten, who went through a messy divorce with Mrs. Palin's sister. Michael Luo has more on that.
To read more of New York Times' The Caucus real time correspondence and analysis, please go to this blog's comments section.
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1:28 p.m. | Keeping the Secret: Elisabeth Bumiller sends the following dispatch:
Unknown to all but Mr. McCain, his family and his closest aides, Ms. Palin flew into Dayton on Thursday evening for a final meeting with Mr. McCain. One adviser suggested that although Mr. McCain was sure about his choice, he wanted to sit down with Ms. Palin one last time before he made what he knew would be an astonishing announcement the next morning.
A chartered Gulfstream jet from Anchorage that was spotted near Dayton on Friday morning, the subject of much media speculation that it might be carrying Ms. Palin, was in fact carrying members of her family, a McCain adviser said.
Mr. McCain's most senior advisers cast Ms. Palin as a break-through choice who would bring excitement and life to what had been shaping up as a highly traditional and safe Republican campaign. They also asserted that even though Ms. Palin opposed abortion rights, she would appeal to a broad array of women.
"About 8 per cent of the people in this country have a litmus test that you have to be pro-choice and a larger number impose the test that you have to be pro-life, but the other 80 cent might take it into consideration that it's not a defining issue,'' said Charles Black, one of Mr. McCain's top advisers.
2:42 p.m. | Sarah Barracuda: Elisabeth Bumiller sends the following: Ms. Palin has the kind of colorful personal story that appeals to Mr. McCain. In 1982, she was given the nickname "Sarah Barracuda'' for leading her high school basketball team to the state championship, and in 1984 she won the beauty pageant – as well as the title of Miss Congeniality – in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. She is also a hunter, fisher and member of the National Rifle Association.
12:43 p.m. | More Reaction: Senator Barbara Boxer sent a strongly worded statement calling Mr. McCain's choice "dangerous."
The Vice President is a heartbeat away from becoming President, so to choose someone with not one hour's worth of experience on national issues is a dangerous choice.
If John McCain thought that choosing Sarah Palin would attract Hillary Clinton voters, he is badly mistaken. The only similarity between her and Hillary Clinton is that they are both women. On the issues, they could not be further apart.
Senator McCain had so many other options if he wanted to put a women on his ticket, such as Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison or Senator Olympia Snowe – they would have been an appropriate choice compared to this dangerous choice. In addition, Sarah Palin is under investigation by the Alaska state legislature which makes this more incomprehensible.
12:42 p.m. | Appealing to Women, Independents: More From Katharine Q. Seelye: In an appeal to independents, and women, she added: "As governor, I've stood up to the politics as usual, lobbyists, and the good old boy network." That was just a prelude though to the most direct appeal not just to women but to any disgruntled supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton. She noted that she was picked close to the 88th anniversary of when women won the right to vote. Then she honored the achievements of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Hillary Rodham Clinton, "who showed such determination and grace in her presidential campaign." She adds, with fervor: "It was rightfully noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all!" (Video | Transcript
In Mr. McCain's introduction of her, he used the word "tough" several times and cast her as a fighter. All the language reinforces this image:
He said he had picked someone who has fought corruption and the failed policies of the past, stopped government from wasting taxpayers' money on things they don't want, she has tackled tough problems, "especially our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and she has a "fighting spirit and deep compassion."
He noted that she and her husband, Todd, an oilfield production operator, are union members "and understands the problems, the hopes, the values of working people." He said she knows what it's like to worry about mortgage payments and health care, and is also a member of the P.T.A. She has "fought oil companies and party bosses and do-nothing bureaucrats," Mr. McCain said. "She's exactly who I need.".. -->more-->
12:36 p.m. | Hockey Mom: From Katharine Q. Seelye:
Mrs. Palin comes out, striding confidently to uplifting trumpets, with her family in tow. She looks a little like Tina Fey. Mr. McCain and she hugged and kissed. She introduces her family: Todd, her husband, a lifelong commercial fisherman and production operator in oil fields of the North Slope and a member of the United Steelworkers Union, with whom she is celebrating her 25th anniversary today; our daughter Bristol, willow, piper and son Trig, born in April with Down's syndrome. Their oldest son, who is not present, enlisted in the Army last Sept. 11 and will be deployed as part of an infantry brigade in Iraq at about the same time Senator Joseph R. Biden's son, Beau, will be sent there.
"I was just your average hockey mom in Alaska," Mrs. Palin says, recounting her maternal chores — coaching basketball and joining the PTA. She was elected to city council, elected mayor of her home town on a platform of stopping wasteful spending and cutting property taxes. She was appointed an ethics commissioner and fought against corruption in the oil industry."
12:12 p.m. | The Announcement: John McCain is introducing Sarah Palin to a crowd in Dayton, Ohio. Michael Cooper has the following dispatch from the scene:
The crowd waved "Country First" signs — there were no McCain-Palin signs yet, in an indication of how tightly held the secret of Gov. Sarah Palin's selection as Senator John McCain's running mate was kept.
Then the arena at the Ervin J. Nutter center went dark, and the crowd waved red, white and blue glow sticks in the dark. As Mr. McCain, who turned 72 on Friday, took to the stage with his wife, Cindy, and his daughter Meghan, and the crowd cheered and sang "Happy Birthday'' to him.
"I'm very happy today to spend my birthday with you, and to make a historic announcement in Dayton,'' said Mr. McCain, who turned 72 Friday, explaining that he had been looking for the running mate who can "best help me shake up Washington.''
"She's not from these parts, and she's not from Washington, but when you get to know her, you're going to be as impressed as I am,'' Mr. McCain said as he introduced Ms. Palin to a crowd that his campaign estimated at 15,000.
Then Ms. Palin, 44, took the stage with her husband, Todd – noting that they are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary – and four of their five children, explain that her oldest is in the Army, and that he is heading to Iraq on Sept. 11.
"Senator, I am honored to be chosen as your running mate,'' she said. "I would be honored to serve next to the next president of the United States.''
She described herself as "just your average hockey mom,'' who had joined the P.T.A., was then elected to the City Council, served as Mayor and then as governor, adding that she did not get into government to take the safe course.
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why the ship is built,'' she said, adding that she would challenged the status quo to serve the common good.
11:56 a.m. | Hill Reaction: Carl Hulse sends the following:
Republican Congressional leaders praised the choice and sought to answer the question of her experience.
"Gov. Palin is a very bright leader who will bring a fresh perspective to a ticket that already has the experience and judgment necessary to lead our country from day one," said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader.
Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader, called her "a popular and proven reformer with a record of accomplishment and real executive experience."
But Democratic reaction to the pick was swift and sharp. Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that "after the great success of the Democratic convention, the choice of Sarah Palin is surely a Hail Mary pass."
Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that "after the great success of the Democratic convention, the choice of Sarah Palin is surely a Hail Mary pass."
11:50 a.m. | More Reaction: Jodi Kantor sends the following dispatch:
Carrie Hollier, 27, is an Alaskan and a supporter of Mr. Obama. But this morning, she felt some wistfulness about not voting for the governor she admires. "It definitely makes it difficult, because you can't help but love Sarah Palin," she said.
In November, Ms. Palin spoke at a redeployment ceremony for the company of her husband, Daniel Norman, an Army sniper who was awarded a Purple Heart for shrapnel he took from a roadside bomb in Iraq. The governor spoke so warmly to the assembled families, said Ms. Hollier, "there wasn't one person who wasn't crying."
Under other circumstances, Ms. Hollier might consider voting for Ms. Palin. "She never comes across as full on Republican," she said.
"But Obama is the one who is going to bring everyone home."
11:44 a.m. | Obama Campaign Statement: The campaign has now released a 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," said Bill Burton, Obama campaign spokesman.
11:40 a.m. | Obama Reaction: The Times's Jeff Zeleny has the following dispatch:
The Obama campaign had no immediate response to reports that Senator John McCain has selected the little-known Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, as his running-mate. Neither Mr. Obama nor Mr. Biden talked to reporters, but Mr. Biden could be seen wearing a wide smile in the front cabin of the plane.
Ms. Palin came as a surprise not only to many Republicans and journalists, but also to the Obama team. The campaign has been busily preparing TV commercials to run against Mitt Romney — with aides gleefully watching hours of footage of Romney-McCain exchanges from the primary — but far little opposition research had been prepared about the Alaska governor. And aides said no commercials were ready to be immediately released, which the McCain campaign did when Mr. Biden was chosen.
The takeoff of the Democratic campaign plane was delayed for about 30 minutes, so aides were busily trying to learn all they could about the Palin pick.
With the Democratic ticket in the air for the next four hours, the new Republican team will own the television coverage for nearly half the day.
Should Democrats have anticipated this and left Denver sooner, so the Obama-Biden duo could be seen campaigning on a split TV screen with the McCain-Palin pair? Or was it wise to simply let Republicans spend the day airing out their views of this very unexpected choice?
11:16 a.m. | More Reaction: House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel issued the following statement after news reports indicated that Mr. McCain has selected Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate:
"After trying to make experience the issue of this campaign, John McCain celebrated his 72nd birthday by appointing a former small town mayor and brand new Governor as his Vice Presidential nominee. Is this really who the Republican Party wants to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency? Given Sarah Palin's lack of experience on every front and on nearly every issue, this Vice Presidential pick doesn't show judgement: it shows political panic."
She preserves his reputation as an independent thinker and an opponent of the status quo in Washington and keeps the right wing happy," said Ed Rogers, former White House official under the first President Bush and President Reagan. "It says a lot about McCain. Perfect for the moment but it is a gamble. Her first words will be important. The most exciting thing in American politics is when someone goes from nowhere to somewhere in a hurry."
11:15 a.m. | McCain Statement: The McCain campaign has released a statement. Also the McCain Web site has been updated.
10:59 a.m. | Reaction to Palin: The conservative Pat Buchanan called this the "biggest political gamble I think in American political history." Speaking on MSNBC, he described her as "a reformer with guts," a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and as a "right-to-life feminist" who would energize the Republicans' conservative base.
He contended that even in a debate with Senator Joseph Biden, where her lack of foreign policy experience would be exposed,
"She's probably a lot better on trade, on jobs going overseas, on drilling than a lot of Republicans," Mr. Buchanan said.
Mike Murphy, who had worked for Senator McCain in 2000, chimed in on MSNBC and agreed with Mr. Buchanan that choosing Governor Palin was risky. With two months left in the campaign season, Mr. Murphy said it would be a "jump ball" between the parties to try to define her as a candidate.
Updated 10:32 p.m.: Senator John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate, shaking up the political world with a surprise pick at a time that his campaign has been trying to attract women, especially disaffected supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
With Mr. McCain's choice of Ms. Palin – a 44-year-old conservative Christian and self-described "hockey mom" who has been governor for a mere two years – he reached very far outside the Beltway in an election where the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama, is running as part of a new generation of change.
The pick was a role of the dice, a gamble that the infusion of new leadership, and the Republican party's first woman to run as vice president, would more than compensate for the risk that she would undercut one of the McCain campaign's central arguments, which is their claim that Mr. Obama is too inexperienced to be president.
But Ms. Palin ran as a change agent when she was elected as governor of Alaska, and in a move that might have appealed to Mr. McCain, she took political heat from members of her own party for turning the spotlight on the failure of Alaska Republicans, some of whom have been beset by corruption scandals.
She opposes abortion rights, which could help pacify social conservatives who were wary as rumors swirled that Mr. McCain might pick a running mate who supports them. But she differs with Mr. McCain on one of the most prominent Alaskan issues: she supports drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. Mr. McCain opposition to doing so – even after he changed positions and began advocating for off-shore oil drilling – has upset many Republicans, who favor doing so.
Her pick was a closely guarded secret, and she flew under the radar for months as Mr. McCain conducted his search for a running mate – a search in which much of the public discussion in recent days focused on Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor; Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota; Tom Ridge, the former Homeland Security secretary, and even Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, the Democrat-turned-independent who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000.
Social conservatives, who had feared that Mr. McCain might chose a running mate who favored abortion rights, were relieved and highly pleased.
"They're beyond ecstatic,'' said Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition. "This is a home run. She is a reformer governor who is solidly pro-life and a person of deep Christian faith. And she is really one of the bright shinging new stars in the republican firmament.''
Ms. Palin is known to conservatives for opting not to have an abortion after learning that she was carrying a child with Down's Syndrome. "It is almost impossible to exaggerate how important that is to the conservative faith community,'' Mr. Reed said.
Mrs. Palin was already set to be honored by the Republican Coalition for Life at the party's convention in St. Paul.
On its Web site, the group singled out the decision by Mrs. Palin and her husband, Todd, to go ahead and give birth to their now five-month old son, Trig, even though he was diagnosed in the womb with Down's syndrome.
The site featured a statement from Mrs. Palin, released after she gave birth: "Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed."
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