Maryland Republicans - especially women - applauded the addition of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to their party's presidential ticket yesterday, saying she delivered strong conservative credentials and a youthful complement to John McCain's maverick reputation.
"I think she is a great choice," said former Republican gubernatorial candidate Ellen R. Sauerbrey, saying the 44-year-old mother of five, abortion opponent and lifetime National Rifle Association member would "do a great deal to shore up the conservative base."
Former Rep. Helen Delich Bentley of Baltimore said Palin "should appeal tremendously to all of the mothers, the women."
Sauerbrey lauded Palin's anti-corruption positions in Alaska, and predicted the selection would prove attractive to female voters, including Democrats still struggling with the defeat of Hillary Clinton.
"The big group that is up in the air as to who Republicans can go out and get is female voters," Sauerbrey said. "John McCain was not my first choice - but I am a lot more excited today than I was yesterday."
As moderate potential running mates such as Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge were floated, "like a lot of conservatives, I was holding my breath," Sauerbrey said. "I can speak as one conservative woman: This energizes me quite a bit."
In introducing Palin to the nation yesterday, McCain called the former television broadcaster and small-town mayor, who has a son deploying to Iraq and another recently born with Down syndrome, "exactly what the country needs."
The announcement came the morning after Democrat Barack Obama accepted his party's nomination with a speech at a Denver football stadium that was equal parts rock concert and rapturous revival.
The surprise pick seemed designed to deflate Obama's post-convention bump, setting up the first female nominee since 1984, when Walter Mondale selected Geraldine A. Ferraro.
Palin, in remarks at McCain's side in Dayton, Ohio, acknowledged Ferraro and Clinton for paving the way for her selection.
"The women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all," Palin said.
Watching the speech from the site of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., McCain delegate Carmen Amedori, a former lawmaker from Carroll County, said she was in tears.
