Palin not widely known among area pols

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GOP TICKET: Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain smiles after introducing his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in Dayton.

While local Republican leaders acknowledge they are unfamiliar with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, selected by U.S. Sen. John McCain to be his vice presidential running mate, they say they are excited by the choice.

“I’m not familiar with her, but I really like what I’m learning about her,” said Columbiana County Republican Chairman Dave Johnson. “I couldn’t be more pleased. It was a bold and courageous decision to pick a female, a conservative female, which pleases me. It’s an out-of-the-box decision.”

Mark Munroe, Mahoning County Republican vice chairman, also isn’t familiar with Palin, a surprise pick by McCain.

But Munroe praised McCain for the selection.

“It should help McCain attract dissatisfied [Hillary Rodham] Clinton supporters,” he said.

When asked to elaborate because the politics of Clinton, a Democratic U.S. senator, and Palin are so different, Munroe said some women “supported Hillary because she was a woman and not her politics. This makes the McCain ticket more attractive to some women who supported Hillary. This will make the Republican ticket more attractive to women in general.”

Also, Palin’s political experience is relatively minimal, something pointed out by the campaign of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee. She’s served about two years as governor of Alaska, and before that she was the mayor of a small town.

“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency,” said Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman.

Local Democrats were equally surprised by McCain’s choice and said the decision to add Palin to the ticket does nothing to help the Republicans capture the presidency.

Also, McCain and his supporters have hammered at Obama’s lack of national political experience; he’s served less than two years in the U.S. Senate.

“They can’t bring up experience anymore when you have a vice presidential candidate with less high-level experience than Sen. Obama,” said state Rep. Tom Letson of Warren, D-64th.

State Rep. Robert F. Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, said until today he’s never heard of Palin.

“It’s such a blatant appeal to women,” Hagan said. “It’s obvious [McCain] didn’t care about the security of the nation with this selection. He only cares about the women vote and winning this election.”

Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan, who unsuccessfully ran as the Democratic nominee for governor in 2002, said Republicans think this decision will help attract Clinton supporters, but the effort will fail.

“They’re taking a shot with a woman, but she’s no Hillary Clinton,” he said.

For the complete story, read Saturday’s Vindicator or vindy.com