Maverick To Running Mate: McCain Introduces America To Sarah Palin

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin instantly became one of the faces of the Republican party when she was selected to serve as Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) vice presidential running mate. Palin, 44, is Alaska's youngest governor and first female executive. Palin came to Juneau in 2006 and is best known outside of the state for pushing an aggressive ethics reform bill that earned her an over 80 percent approval rating among Alaskans.

Almost unknown outside her home state, Palin rose from winning the Miss Wasilla pageant in 1984 to becoming Mayor of Wasilla twelve years later. Born February 11, 1964 in Idaho, Palin's family moved to Alaska when she was an infant. However, years later Palin would return to the University of Idaho where she would earn a bachelors degree in journalism.

Palin made an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2002, but a year later Gov. Frank Murkowski appointed her Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Palin wouldn't hold the office long; a year later she resigned to protest a corruption case involving a close Murkowski supporter, Randy Ruedrich.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, Ruedrich's questionable activities involved more issues than the partisan matters cited in the ethics charges and made public, including conflicts of interest with oil companies. Palin quit the commission in frustration, months before the state's secret investigation and its formal charges became public.

In the end, the scandal forced Ruedrich to resign and pay $12,000 in fines. It also forced Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes from office, who was forced to resign.

In 2006, Palin unseated incumbent Gov. Murkowski in a daring primary challenge, going on to defeat former Democratic. Gov. Tony Knowles in November. A year into office Palin enjoyed soaring approval ratings and grew her reputation as a reformer.

Palin killed the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" - a proposed $398 million bridge that would have replaced a ferry service between Ketchikan and the Ketchikan International Airport on Gravina Island. After it was profiled on ABC's '20/20,' the bridge became a symbol of federal pork-barrel spending. It was also closely linked to Alaskan Republicans, namely Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young who were the main sponsors of the project when it was added to the 2005 Transportation Equity Act.

"Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer... and it's clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island," Palin said in September 2007.

Politically, Palin is a fiscal and social conservative. A mother of five, including a son in the U.S. Army and another son with Down Syndrome, Palin opposes abortion and same-sex marriage.

Palin gave birth to her youngest son, Trig, in April. In an interview, she talked about raising a child and running Alaska.

"It's a sign of the times to be able to do this," Palin explained in an interview with the AP. "I can think of so many male candidates who watched a families grow while they were in office... There is no reason to believe a woman can't do it with a growing family. My baby will not be at all or in any sense neglected."

Palin, a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), also took aim at American oil companies. She snubbed big oil producers such as BP PLC and ConocoPhillips when she proposed awarding a $30 billion contract to build a natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to a Calgary energy company, TransCanada.

Still, before her selection as McCain's running mate, Palin was a virtual unknown outside of the Last Frontier.