Hurricane Gustav has shifted the media’s attention almost completely from the Republican National Convention and John McCain’s surprise selection of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. The two appeared together during a rally Friday in Ohio.

Sarah Palin: “It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all.”

The forty-four-year-old Palin has been governor of Alaska for less than two years. Prior to that, she served as mayor of Wasilla, a town of less than 10,000 people. The selection of Palin shocked much of the political establishment. Even members of her own party and family questioned her experience. The Republican president of Alaska’s state senate, Lyda Green, said she thought it was a joke when someone told her the news. Green said, “She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?” Palin’s mother-in-law said, “I’m not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she’s a woman and a conservative.” John McCain praised Palin’s background.

John McCain: “She is exactly who I need. She is exactly who this country needs to help me fight — to help me fight the same old Washington politics of me first and country second.”