Palin: I was just a hockey mom

Dayton - Flanked by her husband and four of five children, Sarah Palin presented herself as a "hockey mom" who entered politics to fight corruption after being unveiled on Friday as Republican John McCain's vice presidential pick.

The telegenic governor of Alaska got some of her loudest cheers when touching on her modest, middle-class background and the fact that her eldest son would soon be deployed to Iraq.

But what got the sold-out crowd of 15 000 flag-waving fans to their feet was Palin's promise to achieve what Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton had failed to do when she lost her party's primary: put a woman on the ticket and win the White House in the November 4 election.

"It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America," Palin told the enthusiastic crowd gathered in an arena in Dayton, Ohio.

"But it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all."

'Stands up for what's right'

McCain, hoping to both appease wary conservatives and capture disenfranchised Clinton supporters, introduced Palin as "a devoted wife and mother of five" who "understands the problems, the hopes, the values of working people".

"She stands up for what's right and she doesn't let anyone tell her to sit down," McCain said, noting that he was particularly proud to make the announcement on the 88th anniversary of the day US women won the right to vote.

"She's fought oil companies and party bosses and do-nothing bureaucrats, and anyone who puts their interests before the people of whom she swore an oath to serve," McCain said.

At 44, Palin's youth will also help balance McCain's age. The Arizona senator celebrated his 72nd birthday on Friday with help from the crowd who burst into a chorus of Happy Birthday to You after McCain took the stage.

Palin, meanwhile, was celebrating her 20th wedding anniversary to her husband Todd, a commercial fisherman who also works in the Alaskan oilfields and is a member of the Steelworkers Union.

Average hockey mom

"I was just your average hockey mom in Alaska," Palin said as she described how she first got involved in politics when she joined joining the local school parent-teacher association. She then ran for mayor of her hometown Wasilla "to stop wasteful spending and cut property taxes".

Upon being elected governor on an anti-corruption platform, Palin said she "stood up to the old politics as usual, to the special interests, to the lobbyists, the big oil companies, and the good-old- boy network."

This determination will make Palin a great vice president, said Terri Monnin, 36, a homemaker who brought her two young daughters to the rally.

"She's a strong woman who can stand up with any man - like the rest of us - and she's a mother so she can understand the issues facing families with the troubled economy," Monnin said as her younger daughter played with glow sticks.

"I think the country is ready for a woman."

- AFP