Palin takes chance to stake her claim for Republicans
Republican presidential candidate John McCain greets Levi Johnston, the boyfriend of Bristol Palin (second left), while vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin looks on as he arrives in Minneapolis to attend the Republican National Convention yesterday
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SARAH Palin was striding out on the national stage last night to seize the spotlight from a succession of ageing white men at a Republican convention already smitten by John McCain's fresh-faced, female, and -- above all -- aggressively right-wing running-mate.
The 44-year-old Governor of Alaska has taken only six days to smash her way into the American public's consciousness, having being virtually unheard-of until last Friday.
As the first woman on a Republican presidential ticket, Mrs Palin could have expected to have been the object of fascination. But, in the past week, her family life and short political career have been subjected to the most intense scrutiny, amid well-sourced claims that Mr McCain had made a panic choice.
She spent two days since her arrival in St Paul on Monday with the cream of Mr McCain's team -- drafting last night's address with Matt Scully, a former White House aide, and taking a crash course on policy.
Outside, there has been a flurry of rumours and revelations about her teenage daughter's pregnancy, as well as embarrassing details about a palpably thin 18-month record as governor and a stint as a small-town mayor.
The Republicans' socially conservative wing, exhausted by eight years of President Bush and suspicious of Mr McCain's commitment to their cause, appears captivated by the story of this moose-hunting, snowmobile-riding mother-of-five.
Richard Land, of the Southern Baptist Church, said: "It was as if the whole Republican convention had started drinking Red Bull." And the McCain campaign has fallen into line behind her, launching an aggressive counter-attack against that favourite target of the conservative movement -- liberal bias in the media.
The chief strategist, Steve Schmidt, accused it of being "on a mission to destroy" Mrs Palin. He released a dossier of smears, including claims that she had faked a pregnancy to cover up for her daughter, saying that some reporters were even demanding Mrs Palin submit to a DNA test to prove she is the mother of four-month-old Trig.
On his arrival in St Paul, Mr McCain was greeted by the Palin family, where he twice hugged 17-year-old Bristol -- now pregnant herself - and spoke to her boyfriend, Levi Johnston. He is the self-styled "f****** redneck" who declares in his Facebook entry that he does not want to have children.
Troubles
Their much-publicised troubles have propelled issues such as abortion and marriage up the political agenda. Mrs Palin herself is energising the convention's activists in a way that the men in their sixties, who made the headline speeches on Tuesday night, could not.
Mr Bush addressed delegates by satellite link, adding real distance to that which Mr McCain is metaphorically seeking to place between himself and a tainted White House. Joe Lieberman, the former Democratic vice-presidential nominee, delivered a low-key speech about putting "country first".
He is thought to have been Mr McCain's initial choice for running-mate and it is a sign of how far the script has been rewritten in the past week that he felt obliged to include lines about how the woman who pipped him for the post would "shake up Washington".
The most thunderous applause was for Fred Thompson, who had largely slumbered through his presidential campaign earlier this year, as he defended Mrs Palin, saying: "She is from a small town, with small town values, but that's not good enough for those folks who are attacking her and her family."
Mrs Palin's speech was expected to drive home the credentials of both her and Mr McCain as reformers prepared to take on the political establishment in Washington.
Reservations
Some party elders are continuing to express reservations about whether, with Mr McCain trailing in the polls, the inexperienced and sharp-edged Mrs Palin can reach beyond the Republican base to voters watching on TV.
But others are licking their lips at the arrival of some real Republican red meat. "It's going to be a wild ride," said Newt Gingrich, the former House of Representatives Speaker. (© The Times, London)
- Tim Reid in St Paul
