Alaskans praise 'hockey mom' Palin

The choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's running mate has turned the spotlight on her remote state.

The BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani travelled to Mrs Palin's hometown of Wasilla to find out more about her from the people who know her.

The rat race is a favourite for thousands at Alaska's state fair

"The wheel goes round, the rat comes out, here we go!" the man running a stall at the Alaska state fair shouts. There are whoops and cheers from the crowd.

A horizontal wooden disc starts to spin; it is painted in multi-coloured segments, each with a hole at the outer edge.

The man pulls a cord and a fluffy, covered cage lifts up from the middle of the wheel, revealing a rat. A rather perturbed-looking rat.

This is the rat race. Among the prize-winning vegetables and tractor competitions, it is a favourite of the thousands who come to the fair each year.

People bet on which hole the poor animal will dash into as the wheel spins. Some might call it cruel. Few in Alaska would.

'Chicks rule!'

This is a state of superlatives. America's largest, northernmost and emptiest.

Alaskans are very proud of their fair and state

It covers an area equal to a fifth of the rest of the US, but is home to only 750,000 people. Its mountains are its skyscrapers, wild roaming moose the likely cause of traffic jams.

But clearly, as the state fair shows, you can't entirely escape the rat race.

Alaskans are very proud of their land, and of their governor too, Sarah Palin, who could become America's next vice-president.

At the fair in Palmer, some 40 miles (64km) north of Anchorage, the T-shirt stall sold 600 "McCain - Palin" designs in a few hours.

"Chicks rule!" one woman said as she bought hers.

A couple walk through the crowd with brand new sweatshirts with "Go Sarah!" logos.

'Best thing'

Another woman, with her young son, described Mrs Palin as "honest and hard-working".

She's a breath of fresh air as the governor John Wedin, Democratic supporter

"She understands the plight of the American family. She speaks our language, basically," the woman said.

"[Sarah Palin is] the best thing that ever happened to Alaska... if we ever want to have a lady Number One or Number Two, now's the chance," a man in the crowd said.

Republican campaigners hope she can appeal to wavering Democrats, especially Hillary Clinton supporters.

Democrats are something of a rare breed in Alaska.

At the fair, their tent was a quiet haven. John Wedin and Cheri Gillian - two Democratic supporters wandering in the crowd - admitted that Mrs Palin had an appeal.

"She's a breath of fresh air as the governor," said Mr Wedin. "I'm a Democrat, I didn't vote for her, but you know [she is] definitely better than the alternatives on the Republican side."

Ms Gillian wondered about Mrs Palin's ability to cope with the role she may be elected to perform.

"The vice-presidency and the candidacy for the vice-presidency is a demanding job. So is she a politician or is she a mom?" she asked.

'Hockey mom'

Mrs Palin would say she is both.

Mrs Hugli and Mr Schulz praise Mrs Palin for her "team spirit"

She is also a keen hunter and member of the National Rifle Association.

Her husband (and childhood sweetheart) Todd is a snowmobile champion.

They have five children: their eldest son Track will deploy to Iraq next week. They are deeply religious, Mrs Palin opposes abortion.

She calls herself "a hockey mom": family-focused with the same hopes and fears as ordinary folk.

Another hockey mom is Sheree Hugli who, with her husband William Schulz, has been running a food stall at the state fair for more than 20 years. They enjoyed school sports events with the Palin family.

"She's always either in the score-keeper's box or at the spirit table selling sweatshirts," says Mrs Hugli of Mrs Palin. "She shows a lot of team spirit and enthusiasm."

Pregnancy issue

Mrs Palin's strong family values have gone down well in Alaska and, Republican campaigners hope, will appeal nationwide, particularly to conservative Christians.

But how does that square with the revelation that her unmarried teenage daughter is pregnant?

Mrs Hugli and Mr Schulz agree with Mrs Palin that it is a private matter that, in the long run, won't matter.

"I don't think it would reflect on her moral stability," says Mr Schulz. "Just because her family member has a mishap...

"I believe that she gives her daughter strong beliefs too, to keep the baby," he adds.

"It's something that happens everyday, maybe that's where her daughter was at. You know, it's not my place to judge," Mrs Hugli agrees.

Credentials 'beyond doubt'

But Americans will judge Mrs Palin on every aspect of her life, as they decide how to vote in two months' time.

Dwight Coppock says Mrs Palin has transformed Wasilla

Of particular interest will be her leadership ability. That can be traced back to Wasilla, a town 14 miles (23km) from the fairground, with a population of 6,715.

Sarah Palin was a basketball star while at Wasilla High School, then spent a decade in local government, first as a city councillor, then as mayor.

The majority of her political experience comes from running this town, where "total local city annual revenue" is $12.7m (£7m).

In Wasilla, no building is more than two storeys high and the sparse urban area soon gives way to pine forests and mountains.

It sits in one of Alaska's fastest-growing regions, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, some 30 miles (48km) north of Anchorage, and is home to many commuters.

The town is sliced nearly in half by the Parks Highway and the railroad. Strip malls, motor repairs and tiny coffee shacks are a familiar sight.

Mrs Palin built a reputation here for not always going by the book to get things done.

She went against traditional Republican principles and persuaded townsfolk to accept a small increase in sales tax, in order to pay for a new multi-use sports centre.

She is currently being investigated over the sacking of a public official with links to her family. She says she has nothing to hide in the matter.

In the Windbreak diner, more commonly known as Trout's House, after the owner who was a keen fisherman, I met Dwight Coppock, who was president of the local Chamber of Commerce while Palin was mayor.

He told me, whatever her faults may be, her economic credentials are beyond doubt.

"Wasilla, under her administration, became a city that no longer operated on revenues it projected it would be receiving, say, next year," Mr Coppock says.

"They built their budget... on money... they already had in the bank. Frankly, I don't know of another city or government agency that operates that way."

In more ways than one, Wasilla is about as far from Washington as you can get.

For many Republicans, that's the point. And for many Alaskans, at least, that's part of the appeal of Sarah Palin.