MINNEAPOLIS8212;John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidency, selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Aug. 29 to be his running mate. Palin was a surprise pick as she was not on the short list of vice presidential candidates for most news and political outlets.
“It is no secret that the selection of a vice president is a way to appeal to voters,” said Leslie Heath, a junior in political science. “Obviously Sarah Palin was meant to attract women to vote Republican, but most women will see right through that. They aren’t going to vote for John McCain just because Sarah Palin is a woman. They are smarter than that.”
Sen. McCain explained his choice at a press conference in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday saying Palin was exactly who he needed as a running mate.
Palin has been the governor of Alaska for nearly two years. She is anti-abortion and favors gun rights. She has also strongly promoted drilling for oil and building a natural gas pipeline in Alaska.
Before being governor, she was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town with a population of fewer than 7,000. Palin served as the ethics commissioner and chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. On Friday, Palin said she worked hard to take down corruption in the Alaskan government.
However, at the same time, Palin is under investigation for using her position to attempt to fire her former brother-in-law from his state trooper job. Palin has also recently taken flak for accepting the endorsement of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, when she ran for governor in 2006. Stevens was indicted in July for allegedly lying on Senate disclosure reports to conceal more than $250,000 in home renovations and gifts from oil executives.
In the hours and days after the announcement, students reacted differently to the choice.
“My mom is excited, but I do not know what to think,” said Tim Hawes, a student from Bloomington, Minn. “I think it is cool she is a woman, but that doesn’t mean I will vote for her.”
Andrew Smith, a Colorado State sophomore, said he was pleased with McCain’s selection.
“If I were a Republican, I would be angry,” he said. “But as a Democrat, this is the greatest news I have heard all day.”
“She’s not from these parts, and she’s not from Washington,” McCain said. “But when you get to know her, you’re going to be as impressed as I am.”
Tess Kinghorn, a student from Texas Community College, watched a replay of Friday’s press conference at the Denver International Airport. She said she hopes Palin will bring in more women voters.
“I am thrilled,” she said. “I was going to vote for McCain anyway, but now I want to vote for him to get a woman into the White House.”
Palin reached out to women voters in Dayton on Friday by mentioning the run of Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton this year, even referencing a part of Clinton’s Tuesday night Democratic Convention speech.
“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,” Palin said.
Angela Diaz, a senior at the University of Iowa, knows firsthand that this political maneuver is already working. Her friends woke her up Friday morning after a night of partying in Denver with the news that McCain had selected a woman.
“They wanted Clinton the entire time she was running,” she said. “But now they are going to vote for McCain. If they want to do that, they can, but I do not think she is someone I want to be vice president.”
Yusuf Qasim, a student at Normandale Community College in Minnesota, said he was more interested in whether or not Palin was qualified to be vice president.
“I hope that the America public analyzes who she actually is rather than just voting for her because of her sex,” he said.
Critics have speculated that Palin does not have enough experience to run the country if McCain were to die while in office8212;he turned 72 the day he announced Palin as his running mate. In his defense, the McCain campaign has countered recently by saying Democratic cantidate Barack Obama is less experienced.
At Friday’s press conference, McCain said Palin had “fought oil companies and party bosses and do-nothing bureaucrats and anyone who puts their interests before the interests of the people she swore an oath to serve.”
However, Smith disagreed and said that Palin’s selection was just a tactic to get the attention away from Obama’s Democratic National Convention speech.
“It got great press initially, but eventually it is going to affect their campaign in a negative way,” he said.
The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
Editor’s Note8212;Jed Layton is reporting from the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis through the Hinckley Institute of Politics and Shantou University Political Journalism Program.