McCain Picks Palin

Photo: Getty Images

Palin becomes the second woman to be on a major party presidential ticket, joining Geraldine Ferraro who was Vice President Walter Mondale's running mate in 1984. Sitting President Reagan (with VP Bush the elder) was re-elected in a landslide. (Ironically, Ferraro's birthday was Tuesday; she was 73. McCain's birthday is today; he is 72.)

Palin, the first woman to be elected Governor of Alaska, came to office in 2006 after the Department of Justice began an investigation into kickbacks in the Alaska legislature. The Seattle Times reports that she has "a reputation as a reformer who worked with both Democrats and Republicans to overhaul the state oil-tax system and to restore confidence in state government shaken by political-corruption scandals."

She has a background steeped in one of the issues certain to be top of mind this fall: oil. Palin served as chair of of Alaska's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (2003-2004) and served on the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. In 2007, she pushed through a state windfall profits tax, over the protests of the oil industry lobby.

Aside: to see how the short-lived federal windfall profits tax from the 1980s affected US oil production, see this post by the Angry Bear (an economist):

I keep seeing at various blogs the claim that the 1980s windfall profits tax caused oil production to fall when the facts clearly show that claim is completely untrue.

Actually, since US oil output peaked in 1970s about the only time that US oil production rose was when the Windfall Profits tax was effective.

In June, Congressional Republicans successfully blocked a windfall profits tax.

Palin is not a lawyer; this is "news" as most politicians these days are lawyers. She studied journalism and political science at the University of Idaho, where she graduated in 1987. And like Joe Biden, the Democratic VP candidate, she has a son en route to Iraq. This, alone, make these two VPs unique in the field of US politicians.

Does the choice of VP matter to you? (poll)

• State Politics At A Glance: Alaska - US Politics Guide
• Profile: Sarah Palin - US Conservatives Guide
• Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin: The Right Partner & The Right Running-Mate - US Conservatives Guide
• Alaska Senator Ted Stevens Indicted - US Politics Guide
• Alaska Governor Fails In Renomination Attempt - US Politics Guide
• Sarah Palin and Foreign Policy - Foreign Policy Guide
• Draft Sarah Palin (June 2008) - US Conservatives Guide
• The Benefits of ANWR: The Case For Offshore Drilling In Alaska - US Conservatives Guide
• Obama Wins MS, Blogosphere Erupts Over Ferraro - US Politics Guide
• McCain's VP Pick Sarah Palin No Friend T Animals - Animal Rights Guide
• Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and the Economy - US Economy Guide
• Environmentalists Blast McCain’s Choice of Palin as VP - Environment Guide
• Historic VP Selection Puts Her in the Spotlight - Womens Issues Guide