URGENT: McCain Announces VP Running Mate

John McCain announced his vice presidential running mate Friday morning.
She is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
 
  Earlier, an associate of Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty said
Pawlenty had been informed he’s not McCain’s pick. Associates close
to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney were saying the same
thing.

  Paulin is a self-styled “hockey mom”—but she’s also
known as a Republican iconoclast who’s battled against the state GOP establishment.
    It started in 2004, when Palin was chairwoman of the Alaska Oil
and Gas Conservation Commission. Palin exposed Alaska Republican
Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich for ethical violations when he was a
commissioner.
    Then in 2005, Palin teamed up with Eric Croft, a Democratic
legislator and gubernatorial candidate, to file an ethics complaint
against Governor Frank Murkowski’s longtime aide and then attorney
general, Gregg Renkes, who ended up resigning.
    During her gubernatorial campaign in 2006, Palin cast herself as
a Republican maverick.
    Palin was born in 1964. She graduated from the University of
Idaho in 1987 with a degree in journalism. She’s worked as a sports
reporter for two Anchorage TV stations and has been a
businesswoman.
    Palin served as chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas
Conservation Commission, two terms as mayor of Wasilla and two
terms on the city council.
    Palin is married, with five children.