John McCain pulled off a slam dunk today by naming a former point guard and the Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin as his running mate.

McCain took the wind right out of Obama’s sails after his charismatic acceptance speech last night and stole the headlines today, by naming the first female Governor of Alaska to the GOP VP slot.

This move also gives McCain a greater opportunity to pick up the disenfranchsed Hillary Clinton supporters as well as to capturing the national female vote.

By moving rapidly, it is anticipated that McCain will be blunting the bump Obama might have expected from his Hollywood extravaganza of the night before.

Palin, 44, was elected the first female Governor of Alaska in 2006.  She is a religious conservative, pro life and the mother of five children.  She gave birth to her second son Trig Paxson Van Palin, in April.  He has Down syndrome.  She refused to let the results of a prenatal genetic testing change her decision to have the baby.

She is a journalism graduate from the University of Idaho where she also minored in politics.  Palin was first runner-up in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant, winning a scholarship to help pay her way through college.  She played the flute and also won Miss Congeniality.

Aside from being younger than Obama, she also has something else in common; she led her high school basketball team to the State Championship playing point guard.  She was nicknamed “Sarah Barracuda” because of her intense play.

She came to statewide attention by exposing ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders and she won election in 2006 by first defeating the incumbent governor in the Republican primary and then a former Democratic Alaskan governor in the general election.

 McCain’s selection couldn’t geographically be further away from Washington DC and its beltway politics.

While Obama touts the message that he is not and insider in DC, all the more reason he can effect change, yet he picked Sen. Joseph Biden, a 40-year insider in Washington politics for his running mate.

McCain pulled off a few head fakes of his own in his point guard selection and proved once again that he can live up to his maverick label.