US Presidential hopeful John McCain on Friday, August 29, 2008 surprised everyone by declaring that he had chosen Sarah Palin, a vaguely known Alaska governor and mother of five with scanty foreign policy experience, as his running mate on the Republican presidential ticket.

The announcement took the political world by surprise as the 44 year-old Palin, a social conservative and former union member, did not feature in the list of vice-presidential candidates that McCain had compiled. Addressing a rally at Dayton in Ohio, John McCain told the 15,000 people that he was confident that they would be as impressed by Ms Palin.  

'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,' said McCain before Ms. Palin with her husband and four of her children walked out onto the dais. Mr Barack Obama too conveyed his regards to Palin from his campaign bus.