A surprise choice by the US Republican presidential candidate John McCain — his running mate in the race for the White House is Sarah Palin, the governor of the state of Alaska.

The announcement — at a rally in Dayton, Ohio — pulls the political focus back to McCain’s campaign – one day after Democrat Barack Obama accepted his party’s presidential nomination.

Adding Sarah Palin to the ticket could increase McCain’s appeal to female voters and might even help him win the votes of disaffected supporters of Democrat Hillary Clinton. A former television sports journalist, Palin is little known in national US politics. McCain and Palin will face Obama and his running mate Joe Biden in the US presidential election on 4 November.

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