Republican McCain gambles on Palin pick
DENVER (Reuters) - Republican John McCain plucked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin out of relative obscurity as his vice presidential running mate on Friday, a high-stakes move aimed at shaking up a presidential race in which he is the underdog.
McCain's selection was guaranteed to generate excitement in the Republican Party ahead of its convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, at a time when many Republicans see gloom and doom facing them in the November 4 election.
But Palin's pick also raised some questions, since she has only been governor of Alaska for less than two years. At 44, Palin is younger than Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, 47, who is frequently accused by McCain of lacking experience to be president.
And with no foreign policy experience, it will take quite a deal of preparation to get her ready for an October 2 debate with Obama's running mate, veteran Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Nonetheless, political analysts thought she was a good choice for a presidential candidate who turned 72 years old on Friday and needed to make a move to do something dramatic in a race that favors Obama.
While running even with Obama in opinion polls, McCain is facing a difficult environment in trying to extend Republican control of the White House to three straight four-year terms, with unpopular President George W. Bush leaving a weak U.S. economy and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Look, I don't know if she's a game-changer, but she is certainly a good strategic chess move," said Larry Sabato, political science professor at the University of Virginia.
"She changes the image of the Republican Party from purely white male to more diverse, and that's good for the party in a year in which the Democrats have the first African-American nominee."
McCain picked Palin, who could attract some of the votes of disaffected supporters of defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton, over safer choices such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who lost to McCain in the primary battle and has been a strong campaigner for the Arizona senator since.
A RISK
Romney was gracious in a statement issued after McCain announced Palin. "Gov. Palin's story is one that all Americans will find inspiring. She's a Washington outsider with a commitment to the conservative principles that will make our nation stronger," he said.
New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer called McCain's choice a "Hail Mary pass" -- a desperate last-minute play in American football -- and the Obama campaign was equally dismissive.
"Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency," said Bill Burton, Obama campaign spokesman.
Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar and professor at George Washington University, said McCain's pick showed that he is a gambler willing to take risks.
"I think it's absolutely fascinating," he said. "But one of the fascinating things is what it may tell us about John McCain. We now know, if we didn't before, that John McCain is a gambler. This is high stakes, this is rolling the dice, and that's very interesting."
Previous candidates have made surprise choices in past elections. Republican George H.W. Bush's choice of Dan Quayle in 1988 paid off and he won, while Democrat Walter Mondale's selection of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 fizzled and they lost to Ronald Reagan.
Palin, a devout Christian and mother of five, campaigned as an outsider in the clannish world of Alaskan politics and defeated the state's incumbent governor in 2006.
Palin will also allow McCain to rebut Obama's argument that Washington needs fresh blood to bring about change.
"She's exactly who I need," McCain said in announcing her in Dayton, Ohio. "She's exactly who this country needs to help me fight the same old Washington politics of me first and country second."
(Editing by Anthony Boadle)
