Aug 29, 2008 6:05 pm US/Central
Selection Of Palin Generates Buzz In Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin signs one of the three budget bills into law in Anchorage, Alaska, June 29, 2007.
Al Grillo/AP/Getty Images
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's big V.P news traveled fast across the country and in Chicago.
CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports McCain's choice of a woman as running mate had special resonance at the all-girl St. Scholastica Academy.
"The principal came in to tell me -- I was awestruck," said Currency Kerndt, a teacher at St. Scholastica. "This is an unusual choice."
One, she said, for the history books.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is only the second woman in U.S. history to rise to vice presidential candidate status on a major party ticket.
"To me it was a magic moment whether Republican or Democrat," Kerndt, a social studies teacher, said.
Her students weren't born in 1984 when Geraldine Ferraro was the Democratic vice presidential pick. She and Walter Mondale didn't win, but Ferraro cracked the glass ceiling.
Sen. Hillary Clinton did the same with her run for the presidency this year. And now, Palin said it's her turn to take a stab at it.
"It turns out the women of America aren't finished yet and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all," she said Friday.
Convention delegate Stephanie Hitt calls Palin a fighter, and a draw to the McCain ticket. She believes some women who hoped to vote for Clinton in the general election will cross over to McCain's camp now.
None of that's lost on the students at St. Scholastica.
"I think it was a powerful political move," one student said.
"People have this thing where women will make the world pink and pretty and nice...we're not just that...we're way more," another girl said.
Palin's selection as McCain's running mate comes 88 years, almost to the day, women in America gained the right to vote.
As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, Palin is young, has executive experience, and has conservative credentials. State Rep. Jim Durkin, the Illinois co-chair for McCain, says Palin is a real game-changer.
"I kind of expected McCain's pick was not going to be something that was going to be the conventional pick. Knowing him the way I know him, it was going to be an out-of-the-box type of selection, and this caught everybody by surprise," Durkin said. "Her name wasn't mentioned. It came down to the Tim Pawlentys, the Mitt Romneys. But I think that whatever bounce the Obama campaign gets – and they will – it's going to be deflated quickly with Sarah Palin when she's introduced."
Kevin Du Jan is a former Hillary Clinton supporter, but has switched sides with his group, "DeMcCrats for McCain." He said that even though Palin is pro-life, pro-gun, and a self-admitted social conservative, she would still play well with Democratic women.
"Last night, Senator Barack Obama had a chance to address all the sexism and misogyny that was leveled in this campaign against Hillary Clinton, and he chose not to take that," Du Jan said. "So in terms of sitting well with women on the Democratic side, we see that John McCain gets it. John McCain selected a qualified woman with a lot of experience and accomplishments to be his running mate, as opposed to Barack Obama, who chose against the person that got more votes than anyone in history. So I think that that's actually what's sitting poorly with women right now."
Du Jan said Palin's conservative views were irrelevant.
"Actually, when you look at Sarah Palin, you see that she is a family woman. She's a mother of five. You see that in Alaska, she has an incredibly strong record as a reformer," Du Jan said. "So I think that's where people's concern is going to be, that it's a person with accomplishment and experience who's been chosen. She just happens to be a woman as well."
Palin is also known for standing with McCain in opposing the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere," the multimillion-dollar pork barrel project for a bridge to connect Ketchikan with Gravina Island, where only 50 people live. The project was ultimately canceled.
CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman and Mike Parker contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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