DAYTON (Ohio), Aug 29: Republican John McCain made a surprise choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate on Friday, adding a political unknown to the presidential ticket who could help him appeal to women voters.

Palin, 44, a self-described “hockey mom,” is a conservative first-term governor of Alaska with strong anti-abortion views, a record of reform and fiscal conservatism and an outsider’s perspective on Washington.

“She’s exactly who I need. She’s exactly who this country needs to help me fight the same old Washington politics of me first and country second,” McCain told a roaring crowd of 15,000 supporters in Dayton, Ohio.

Palin was chosen over a list of more experienced and better known contenders as the Arizona senator grabbed the political spotlight away from Democratic rival Barack

Obama one day after Obama accepted his party’s presidential nomination.

“Senator, I am honoured to be chosen as your running mate. I will be honoured to serve next to the next president of the United States,” Palin said, joined on stage by her husband and five children ranging in age from 18 years to five months.

“As governor, I’ve stood up to the old politics as usual,” she said. “This is a moment when principle and political independence matter.”

McCain and Palin will face Obama and his No 2, Joe Biden, in the Nov 4 presidential election.The pick followed days of speculation about McCain’s choice, with most of the better-known contenders like former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty slowly eliminated over the last 24 hours.Palin, former mayor of the town of Wasilla, is almost unknown nationally. That could hurt McCain’s argument that Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, is too inexperienced to handle the White House.

But she could help him appeal to disaffected supporters of Democrat Hillary Clinton, who lost a bruising primary to Obama.

Palin is an avid sportswoman who would bring youth and vitality to the ticket. McCain turns 72 on Friday and would be the oldest person to take office for a first term in the White House if elected.

“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

“Governor Palin shares John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies — that’s not the change we need, it’s just more of the same,” he said. Roe v. Wade was a landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that overturned many state and federal laws against abortion.

—Reuters