Barack Obama

When U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced this morning that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) will be his running mate, the Maine Fair Trade Campaign immediately looked into her record on trade issues.

"She has no record. She's never taken a position on trade agreements," said Sarah Bigney of the MFTC.

The Obama campaign is not giving an inch when it comes to John McCain choosing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. In a statement released Friday, there was no warm language about the first female Republican vice presidential nominee, just a straightforward hit.

The Massachusetts Republican Party had only praise for presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain's choice of  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate.

"Sarah Palin is a terrific pick for John McCain and the entire country," Chairman Peter Torkildsen said in a statement.

"Sarah Palin took on the old-boy network in Alaska and won.To change Washington, it's going to take a team of Mavericks who have a record of accomplishment in shaking up the status quo."

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With U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) having officially been nominated for president and both candidates set to campaign heavily in Pennsylvania in the coming weeks, the Obama campaign is continuing to grow its massive ground operation in the state.

The Democratic nominee will open another 28 field offices in the coming weeks, and will soon have a 57 offices throughout the state, the campaign said today.

New offices are being opened everywhere from Philadelphia, Ambler and Pottstown to Gettysburg, Hazleton and Milford.

DENVER  – John McCain’s  Kentucky presidential campaign chair, state Sen. David Williams (R-Burkesville), sees the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the Arizona lawmaker’s vice presidential running mate as a welcome addition to McCain’s ticket that solidifies core Republican support.

“She brings the Republican base, unlike some of the other candidates who were similarly qualified,” said Williams.

Contrasted to rumored potential picks such as U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.) and former Gov. Tom Ridge (R-Pa.), Palin favors an anti-abortion position. Williams also noted she was a member of the National Rifle Association.

Williams argued that Palin’s political experience proves she will be a strong campaigner, given her success in unseating Governor Frank Murkowski in 2006.

“She has strong campaigning experience,” said Williams. “In a state like Alaska, where the population is relatively spread out, you have to be a skilled politician to beat incumbent governors.”

The Maine Democratic Party says it is hypocritical that John McCain criticized opponent Barack Obama for his inexperience, then picking an inexperienced running mate.

John Knutson, chairman of the Maine Democratic Party, issued the following statement:

DENVER--The Oregon Democratic Party said Friday that the addition of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Ak.) to the Republican presidential ticket would only push more voters toward Democratic candidate Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

DENVER – Republican strategist Scott Jennings, a Dawson Springs native, believes Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s addition to Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential ticket will “play very well in Kentucky.”

“She’s pro life, pro-Second Amendment, is a sportsmen herself and certainly can relate to many Kentuckians who share those values and attributes,” Jennings told PolitickerKY.com.

Jennings, who served as a special assistant to President Bush and as a deputy to White House political strategist Karl Rove, contrasted Palin’s background to that of the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.

“This was an attention-grabbing selection for McCain versus Obama’s rather conventional, boring pick,” said Jennings. “I also find it interesting that on the first major decision made by these candidates as nominees of their party, Obama looked to a Washington insider and McCain chose a decidedly out-of-Washington person.”

DENVER -- Reacting to news this morning that presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin over former Gov. Mitt Romney as his running mate, local analysts in Massachusetts said the pick has distinct pluses and minuses.

The most glaring reason why the pick is a mistake for McCain is Palin's inexperience, said Jeff Berry, a political scientist at Tufts University. "The cardinal sin of vice presidential selection," Berry said, "is picking someone whose qualifications dominate the storylines."

Berry said Palin's lack of experience - she was mayor of small-town Wasilla, Alaska, before winning a bid for governor in 2006 -- rivals that of former U.S. Sen. Dan Quayle's (Ind.) when he was picked by George W. Bush in 1988 and former Maryland Gov. Spiro Agnew when Richard Nixon tapped him in 1968. And while both Bush and Nixon won those elections, "they won in spite of their selections," Berry said.