Sarah “Barracuda” Palin has posed nude before, has powerful allies in Alaska’s corrupt political establishment, and smoked Marijuana when it was legal in Alaska — but ‘didn’t like it.‘. Her husband Todd is a fish-monger, and Mrs. Palin is a right-wing ‘THUGGESS‘

Reported: Right-wing zealots, religious nutbags and NRA gun-runners are ecstatic!

AP – John McCain tapped little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate on Friday in a startling selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

Two senior campaign officials disclosed McCain’s decision a few hours before the Republican presidential nominee-to-be and his newly-minted running mate appeared at a rally in swing-state Ohio.

Palin, like McCain, is a conservative with a maverick streak who has shown a willingness to clash with others in her own party. A self-styled hockey mom and political reformer, she has been governor of her state less than two years.

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Palin’s selection shocked numerous Republican officials.

She is a former mayor of Wasilla (population 8,471) who became governor of her state in December, 2006 after ousting a governor of her own party in a primary and then dispatching a former governor in the general election.

More recently, she has come under the scrutiny of an investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that she ordered the dismissal of Alaska’s public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper.

Palin has a long history of run-ins with the Alaska GOP hierarchy, giving her genuine maverick status and reformer credentials that could complement McCain’s image.

Two years ago, she ousted the state’s Republican incumbent governor, Frank Murkowski in the primary, despite having little money and little establishment backing.

She had earned stripes — and enmity — after Murkowski made her head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. From that post, she exposed ethical violations by the state GOP chairman, also a fellow commissioner.

She and her husband Todd Palin, have five children. The latest, a baby, was born with Down syndrome.

   Cartoon By: Gary Varvel

References:

1. Paul Begala – McCain is out of his mind? — John McCain needs what Kinky Friedman calls “a checkup from the neck up.” Palin is a first-term governor of a state with more reindeer than people, will have to put on a few pounds just to be a lightweight.

2. Ed Rollins: Sarah “Barracuda” Palin is a strong choice by McCain but risky

3. Majority Whip Jim Clyburn – McCain has rolled the dice. Speaking to South Carolina ETV Radio, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn likened the choice of Palin to Walter Mondale’s choice of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and George H.W. Bush’s pick of Dan Quayle in 1988. Both picks — relatively unknown political figures at the time — generated initial excitement but were ultimately deemed poor choices by many political observers.

FlashBack: George H.W. Bush’s V.P. pick – Indiana’s Dan Quayle in 1988.

   What A Terrible Mismatch? LOL!

Jon Stewart’s Take!