McCain Announces Female V.P.

G.O.P. Presidential candadate John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has his Vice Presidential choice. She already has energized conservative religious leaders who had fretted that John McCain would pick an abortion rights supporter as his running mate. The Alaska governor was raised in a Pentecostal church and has called herself "as pro-life as any candidate can be."

Gary Bauer, one of McCain's most enthusiastic evangelical supporters, said the Arizona senator had hit a "grand slam home run" and that adding Palin to the GOP ticket is "guaranteed to energize values voters."

The 44-year-old mother of five, who led her high school chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, was baptized as a teenager at the Wasilla Assembly of God Church, where she and her family were very active, according to her then-pastor, Paul Riley.

As a politician, Palin has sided with the majority evangelical view in opposing gay marriage and expressing a desire to see creationism discussed alongside evolution in schools. She supports equal protection of gays and is a well known reformer.

During a 2006 debate, she said she was a proponent of teaching both evolution and creationism in schools. She later clarified her stance in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News, saying that she doesn't think creationism needed to be part of the curriculum and that she would not push the state Board of Education to add such alternatives to the state's required curriculum.

Not only does Palin oppose abortion as a matter of policy, but she chose to give birth to her youngest child, a son, after a prenatal exam indicated Down syndrome. Studies show that about nine in 10 pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis have chosen to have an abortion. When she found out her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant, she also supported having the baby (though political opponents have tried to use that against her).

Staver called Palin a "a woman of faith who has a strong position on life, a consistent opinion on judges. ... She's the complete package."

Former KKK grand wizard convert to Christianity and now a civil rights preacher, Johnny Lee Clary, has said, "That Mac Daddy (Obama) and Plagiarizer (Biden) are going to be beaten to a pulp come November! Jesus has picked McCain and Palin and we need to honor that. I want you to let everyone know that McCain/Palin is God’s ticket and Obama/Biden is Satan’s ticket!"

Chick fan club president Richard Lee used to attend Palmer Assembly of God near Wasilla in Alaska. He never became a politician as Gov. Palin did, but a lawyer and preacher instead. How life takes us in different directions! See Chick's "BABY TALK"