Conventions bring national political frenzy closer

Palin pick for VP draws enthusiastic praise from GOP

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008

The reaction was different where House Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell was.

‘‘It’s a master stroke of political genius,” O’Donnell (R-Calvert, St. Mary’s) said on Friday from Minneapolis, several days before the start of the Republican National Convention. ‘‘When you look at what she brings to the ticket in terms of balance ... there are people high-fiving here.”

Palin is in some ways, McCain’s opposite. At 44, she is 28 years younger than McCain; she was a small-town councilwoman and mayor for 10 years before becoming governor in 2006 and is about as far removed from Washington, D.C., as possible. Yet she also has shown a maverick streak similar to McCain’s, having taken on the GOP establishment in defeating a veteran Alaska senator in the gubernatorial primary.

Palin, a former beauty pageant winner, enjoys an 80 percent approval mark in her home state and will likely appeal to conservatives who were lukewarm toward McCain, who is considered more of a moderate, and independent voters who have not settled on a candidate.

‘‘You’re going to pick a person that complements you and I think this person complements him very well,” said Charles County Republican Central Committee member Bruce Wesbury.

St. Mary’s County Republican Central Committee Chairman Samuel ‘‘Tom” Haynie sees the age disparity as a positive. ‘‘It’s a balancing act,” he said. ‘‘Between the two of them, you’re going to have a generation gap to share and meld [their] ideas together.”

Palin could also appeal to disenchanted women still upset that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton did not win the Democratic nomination.

‘‘It’s a different perspective from the predominantly white male perspective and that definitely adds another dimension,” said Calvert County Commissioner Susan Shaw.

‘‘The things that Governor Palin has accomplished are things that women have worked for a long time and it would be nice to see there would be some independent thought and support for that,” echoed Charles County Republican Central Committee Vice Chairwoman Carolyn Lees.

O’Donnell was giddy when talking about Palin’s political attributes and her personal background as he learned more on Friday. ‘‘When I first heard, I was skeptical,” he said. ‘‘The more I see, the more I like.”

He noted that she is the only one of the four candidates on the Democratic and Republican ticket with executive-level experience.

And her youth will reinvigorate supporters who said Palin provides a much-needed spark to counter Sen. Barack Obama’s youthfulness on the Democratic side. As a mother of five, she can also relate to the challenges of everyday Americans, said Calvert County Commissioner Gerald Clark.

Palin is ‘‘someone that’s down to earth and is away from the Washington political system and I think she understands what the average citizen out there is up against trying to make a living,” he said. ‘‘She knows what it is to make a monthly budget and to pay bills and I think that’s the problem with most politicians that they don’t understand what the average citizen goes through.”

News that Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant out of wedlock will not impact the race and should not be subject to public scrutiny, he added, calling it ‘‘disgraceful” that certain media outlets have focused on it for several days. ‘‘Obama was right when he said families are off limits,” Clark said.

At the end of the day, however, the No. 2 pick rarely impacts the outcome of the election, Clark said. ‘‘These two gentlemen have to run on their own merits, their own experiences and their own abilities and John McCain’s experience is tremendously more than Obama’s at this time.”