"It's going to really boost the ticket and the energy of the base, wherever it was lacking, because it is a first for the Republicans, and a good pick," Amedori said. "We've gone out of the realm of the manly look of the Republican Party. We have a pretty face on the Republican Party, and not just a pretty face, but a woman who is accomplished in many ways."
Palin was elected Alaska governor two years ago, with 48 percent of the 238,307 votes cast - fewer than the 282,537 votes cast in Baltimore County alone in the Maryland gubernatorial race that year.
Her selection by McCain turned the heads of some prominent Republicans after weeks of chatter had focused on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
During a taping of a television show at the Tribune Broadcasting studio in Washington, former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. declined to give a full-throated backing of her candidacy, saying on air that he didn't know much about her.
Afterward, speaking with acquaintances, he said: "I gotta go digest this choice."
Maryland Republican Party Chairman Jim Pelura called Palin a "phenomenal pick" who echoed one of McCain's central messages of bucking against party and Washington interests.
"The common theme from Obama and Biden is that for every problem, government is the solution," Pelura said. For McCain and Palin, he said, "the common theme is that solutions reside in American citizens."
Pelura rejected concerns that voters would think twice before electing a ticket that includes a relatively young and inexperienced politician as second to a person who would be older than any other candidate on first election to the office. "The top of the ticket still pulls the votes," Pelura said.
Former Maryland GOP Chairman John M. Kane called Palin a "game changer" who brings much-needed management experience to the ticket.
"He's taken an executive who has 15,074 employees [in Alaska], which is probably 15,000 more employees than Obama and Biden combined."
Sauerbrey, the former congresswoman, said she appreciated the toughness that earned Palin the nickname "Barracuda" on her high school basketball team. "I relate to that because I played basketball," Bentley said. "I was a mean barracuda."
Like Ehrlich and some other Republicans, Bentley said she had not been planning on attending the St. Paul convention. But because of the Palin pick, "I might even take a day and go. ... I'm very proud of the party."
Daniel Clements, an Obama campaign leader in Maryland, said that by selecting Palin, McCain "can no longer question Obama's experience."
"He's picked a running mate who has far less," Clements said.
Chicago Tribune reporter Andrew Zajac and the Capital News Service contributed to this article.
