US: SARAH PALIN addresses the Republican national convention in St Paul tonight amid mounting questions about how thoroughly John McCain vetted her before selecting her as his vice-presidential running mate, writes Denis Staunton in St Paul
Mr McCain's campaign said he knew last week that the Alaska governor's 17-year-old daughter was pregnant, although the news appeared to take many of his advisers by surprise.
"The vetting process was completely thorough and I'm grateful for the results," Mr McCain said yesterday.
"America is excited and they're going to be even more excited once they see her tonight. I'm very, very proud of the impression she's made on all of America and I look forward to serving with her," he stressed.
Ms Palin has undoubtedly excited the conservative Republican base, which has welcomed her anti-abortion, anti-taxation credentials with a flood of donations to the McCain campaign.
The news that Ms Palin's daughter plans to keep her baby and to marry the child's father has pleased social conservatives and Barack Obama has told his campaign staff that the story is strictly off-limits.
Some Republican officials in St Paul acknowledge privately, however, that they are anxious about Ms Palin's capacity to produce further surprises that could overshadow this week's convention.
They recall how the excitement that surrounded Walter Mondale's selection of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 was quickly replaced by negative headlines about her husband's business dealings.
Ms Palin faces an investigation in Alaska over her dismissal of the state's public safety commissioner, apparently over his refusal to fire her former brother-in-law, a state trooper.
Mr McCain has hailed Ms Palin's opposition to the "bridge to nowhere", a congressionally-funded bridge to an island with a population of only 50.
Alaskan newspapers have reported, however, that Ms Palin campaigned in favour of the bridge before she opposed it.
As mayor of Wasilla, a city of fewer than 9,000 people, Ms Palin engaged a lobbyist to win more than $47 million (€32.3 million) in federal funds for her community, an action that sits uneasily with her claim to favour local self-sufficiency. Former Hewlett Packard chief executive and senior McCain advisor Carly Fiorina claimed yesterday that Democratic criticism of Ms Palin was rooted in prejudice against women.
"Because of Hillary Clinton's historic run for the presidency and the treatment she received, American women are more highly tuned than ever to recognise and decry sexism in all its forms.
"They will not tolerate sexist treatment of Governor Palin," she said.
Republicans argue that Democratic complaints that Ms Palin lacks experience serve to highlight Mr Obama's brief record in national public office, a charge the Democratic candidate rejected last night, pointing to his management of a two-year election campaign.
"My understanding is that Governor Palin's town, Wassilla, has I think 50 employees. We've got 2,500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million (€8.2 million) a year - we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. Our ability to manage large systems, and to execute, I think has been made clear over the past couple of years," Senator Obama said.
Bookies meanwhile have shortened the odds on Ms Palin being dropped as Mr McCain's running mate in the next two weeks.