THE 2008 VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
Palin's relative obscurity outside Alaska ended abruptly on August 29, 2008, when Republican presidential nominee John McCain announced her as his running mate. The choice stunned much of the political world — Palin was a little-known governor of a state with a tiny population, chosen to run alongside a veteran senator with decades in national politics. She became the first woman ever nominated for vice president by the Republican Party, and only the second woman to appear on a major-party presidential ticket, following Democrat Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.
Her debut at the Republican National Convention was widely regarded as electrifying, energizing the party's base and drawing enormous media attention almost overnight. McCain introduced her to voters as someone unafraid to speak her mind and unwilling to be told to sit down, a framing that matched the "hockey mom" persona Palin cultivated throughout the campaign. She was, at the time, the mother of five children, including an infant son with Down syndrome, and her family life became as much a part of the national conversation as her policy positions.
