Maverick McCain

You'd think, following Obama's speech to over 80,000 loyal Democrats, that all attention would be on America's first African-American presidential candidate - but in a perfectly executed manoeuvre, rival John McCain just yanked the carpet out from under Obama's feet by announcing his surprising pick for Vice President.

It wasn't Lieberman or Romney, like people suspected. In fact, McCain gave the nod to a little known Alaskan politician who has proven herself to be almost as much of a maverick as he is.

The Republican Vice Presidential Nominee is Sarah Palin, the current Governor of Alaska.

Both the left and the right are going to be reeling from this decision, but I think McCain's hit a home run. Palin is an incredibly shrewd choice - notching up the rivalry between the Obama and McCain camps.

Don't know anything about Sarah Palin? You're not alone. Despite being governor of the largest state in the union, not that many people are familiar with her. For the benefit of the uninitiated, therefore, here's a very brief bio:

Sarah Palin was born in Idaho, but moved to Alaska when she was an infant and has never looked back.

She grew up in the small town of Wasilla, where she hiked and hunted with her father and earned the nickname 'Barracuda' on the basketball court, where she captained the team and won the championship in 1982 despite playing on a broken ankle.

As charming and beautiful as she was competitive and athletic, Sarah came second in 1984's Miss Alaska competition and won a scholarship to college and the title of Miss Congeniality. Her degree in Journalism, combined with her good looks, rewarded her with a sports reporter job on local television, before she entered local politics as a councillor in Wasilla.

This is the point at which Sarah's story really gets interesting - and her strengths as a VP become apparent.

Palin complained of corruption and wasteful spending by Wasilla's mayor and challenged his for his seat in the 1996 election - winning the close race based on her promise of reducing property tax in the town by 60%. Unlike most politicians, Sarah actually made good on her election promise and was voted in for a second term by a huge margin.

Palin's political star rose stratospherically. Shortly afterwards, she became Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission - a position she was meant to keep nice and quiet in. Instead, Palin fulfilled her duties admirably, exposing the corruption of Republican state chairman Randy Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes.

They both resigned - and Palin cemented her reputation as a scrupulously principled politician who didn't mind facing off against corrupt elements within her own party.

It was that reputation that allowed her to defeat incumbent Governor Murkowski in the gubernatorial primaries - and then claim the position herself despite being outspent and outmaneuvered by her Democratic rival. In 2006, Palin became Alaska's youngest governor at just 42 years old.

Since then, she's been exemplary in that position - killing wasteful projects like the famous Bridge to Nowhere and showing that same maverick spirit by distancing herself from fellow Republican politicians like Ted Stevens (which was an excellent decision, since he's being indicted on federal charges for financial indiscretion.)

In Alaska, Sarah Palin is a well respected - and well loved - figure. I don't think it'll take long for the rest of America to share that opinion of her.

McCain's Maverick

The biggest weakness in McCain's current campaign are the accusations that he's 'Bush 2.0.' The appointment of Sarah Palin to his campaign will help deflate that accusation, since she's about a removed from the Republican party elite as it's possible to get.

Her career has been fueled by throwing corrupt or lazy Republican colleagues onto the fire. She's illustrated time and time again that she has zero tolerance for party political bullshit.

That being said, her appointment will also be an olive branch to the more conservative elements of the Republican party, who are concerned about McCain's stance on abortion rights and same-sex marriages. Sarah Palin is staunchly pro-life, pro death penalty and helped push for an amendment to the Constitution of Alaska that defined marriage as between 'a man and a woman.'

That being said, she's also in support of equal rights for gays and mentions that she has 'several gay friends,' which might go some way towards placating any moderates scared off by the more bigoted extremes of the Republican party.

On a more personal level, Sarah Palin is simply a great gal. She's a good Christian lass, which will appeal to the evangelical voters, and is a huntin', fishin', meat eating outdoors girl with a lifetime membership to the National Rifle Association.

Plus, did we mention that she's really rather yummy? Tall, slender, athletic and brunette. I think I share the opinion of many red-blooded men - we wouldn't be too upset if we were trapped on a mountain with Sarah Palin and had to snuggle with her for warmth.

The Election

Sarah Palin is an astoundingly astute choice for McCain's VP. A capable, confident woman with good, old fashioned Republican ideals. Once people get wind of her colourful life story, I wouldn't be surprised if a few of Hillary's supporters lean towards voting for her.

Could she tip the balance in McCain's favour? Probably not - history has shown that the Vice Presidential nomination rarely makes much of an impact on the election.

Regardless of what happens during this election, though, I think it's raised an interesting possibility. Hillary Clinton was determined to be America's first woman president. My bet is on Sarah Palin instead.