Palin to try to silence media storm in debut
Sarah Palin has dominated the Republican convention for days without making a public appearance but on Wednesday she takes the spotlight with a prime-time speech that will introduce her to American voters.
Brown says judge me on my recordSince John McCain made the nearly unknown Palin his No. 2, the Alaska governor has been at the centre of a media storm fuelled by disclosures about her unmarried teenage daughter's pregnancy, a probe into her role in an Alaskan official's firing and questions about the her political record.
McCain, 72, an Arizona senator, and Palin will be nominated by the convention on Wednesday to face Democrat Barack Obama and his vice presidential running mate, Joe Biden, in the November 4 presidential election.
Palin's anti-abortion and pro-gun record have excited conservatives and party activists but the appearance on Wednesday will be her first chance to directly tell American voters her life story and philosophy.
It comes just five days after McCain shocked the U.S. political world by introducing the 44-year-old first-term governor as his running mate at an Ohio rally.
"She made her first impression on Republicans in Ohio on Friday when McCain introduced her," said Fergus Cullen, chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. "Now she can make a first impression on the rest of the country."
Palin, the first female Republican vice presidential nominee, has stayed out of the public eye in Minnesota for two days while the revelations about her family and her record in Alaska surfaced.
She has been preparing her address with speechwriter Matt Scully, who drafted her speech in Ohio. "We're just going to rock 'em, sock 'em - we kind of like it when people underestimate us," a McCain campaign official said of the speech.
Her speech, when she will accept the nomination, may give the public a chance to assess her familiarity with domestic and foreign policy issues. She may address the issue of her 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy and the investigation into whether she abused her power in having a public safety commissioner fired in Alaska.
Palin made her walk-through of the convention hall early on Wednesday, carried live by the morning news programs, shuffling papers at the podium and chatting with aides.
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