Published: August 29, 2008 10:38 pm            

Area GOP hails McCain's choice

John McCain’s surprise vice-presidential pick sparked debate among local political leaders Friday.

Some say Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is an asset for the GOP senator and could help lure voters who earlier this year supported Democrat Hillary Clinton

– especially in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state.

Others, though, do not believe a relatively young politician who has not held a national office will bolster McCain’s chances.

GOP leaders greeted the choice with enthusiasm.

“I’m thrilled,” said Johnstown City Councilwoman Ann Wilson, who serves as McCain’s Cambria County campaign chairwoman.

“I think she’s an outstanding candidate who also happens to be a woman.”

Wilson noted that Palin has five children and is described both as a “hockey mom” and a political reformer, qualities that could help her connect with working-class voters.

“This is a woman who has worn many hats, as most of us do,” she said. “She knows the balancing act. It keeps her rooted in reality.”

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge reportedly had been one of McCain’s possible running mates. But Wilson said she believes the McCain-Palin ticket will work well in the Keystone State.

Democrats were skeptical of the choice.

“(McCain is) going to pick up some votes that he wouldn’t have had,” said John Vatavuk, a Somerset County commissioner who leads that county’s Democratic committee.

“On the other hand, there might be people who say, ‘Hey, she has no experience.’ ”

Palin, 44, is 28 years younger than McCain and three years the junior of Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee.

She has served less than two years as Alaska’s governor.

Rob Gleason, who chairs the Cambria County and state GOP committees, said McCain’s selection “was the best choice for his campaign, our nation and most certainly is the best choice for Pennsylvania.”

Gleason also took a shot at Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, who Obama chose as his running mate.

There has been speculation that Biden, who grew up in Scranton and is sometimes called “Pennsylvania’s third senator,” could help Obama grab votes in this state.

“While Barack Obama chose the consummate Washington insider as his running mate, John McCain decided to select a reform-minded maverick to run on the GOP ticket,” Gleason said in a written statement.

That argument doesn’t fly with Democrat Ed Cernic Jr., Cambria County’s controller and a featured speaker when Obama’s Johnstown office opened this month.

In the wake of the Democratic National Convention, Cernic said he does not believe former Clinton supporters will defect to the GOP because of Palin’s presence.

“With the Clinton speeches (this week) and the unity of the party right now, I think (Obama and Biden) are going to be a tough ticket to beat,” Cernic said.

McCain announced Palin’s selection Friday at a rally in Dayton, Ohio.

        

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