ST PAUL (Minnesota) - VICE-PRESIDENTIAL pick Sarah Palin emerged from a political storm to bask in a rapturous welcome from the Republican convention on Wednesday, and took a swift swipe at Barack Obama.

Alaska Governor Palin, who will be formally anointed as Mr John McCain's running mate on Thursday, styled herself as a scourge of the Washington elite in her high-stakes convention debut.

'I will be honoured to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States,' Mrs Palin said at the convention in Minnesota, after receiving a raucous standing ovation of several minutes.

'I accept the call to help our nominee for president to serve and defend America,' she said.

She painted herself as an outsider, and a maverick in Mr McCain's image, primed to go to Washington to launch a wave of reform.

'I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment and I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.

'But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country.'

Democrats have questioned whether Mrs Palin has enough experience to serve a 'heartbeat' from the presidency, but she defended her credentials, saying she was steeped in executive leadership experience.

'Here's how I look at the choice Americans face in this election,' the 44-year-old mother of five said in her intensely anticipated address, the highlight of day three at the convention.

'In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.'

The speech represented a key moment in a Republican bid to quell a personal and political storm raging around Mrs Palin, which led Democrats to question Mr McCain's judgment and the extent to which he vetted his shock choice.

Mrs Palin also noted she had served as a smalltown mayor in her native Alaska, saying in another swipe at Democratic presidential nominee Obama that the job was like being a community organiser 'except that you have actual responsibilities'.

Mr Obama got his start in politics as a community organiser in Chicago after law school.

Since she was picked on Friday, Mrs Palin has disclosed that her unwed teenage daughter was pregnant, faced claims she abused her power as governor and mayor of a small town, and sought federal cash for programmes opposed by Mr McCain.

But Mrs Palin has managed to do what Mr McCain could not in 18 months on the stump - electrify the crucial core conservative base of the Republican Party, based on her staunch opposition to abortion and position on key social issues.

Mr McCain flew into Minneapolis-St Paul airport on Wednesday, and gave Mrs Palin a warm embrace, and in full view of television cameras hugged her pregnant daughter Bristol and shook hands with the father of her child, Levi Johnston.

Republicans meanwhile rode to Mrs Palin's defence.

'Governor Palin represents a new generation,' said former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, describing Mr McCain as a 'true American hero'.

'She already has more executive experience than the entire Democratic ticket. She's led a city and a state.'

But just before Mrs Palin was due to speak, new revelations about her past made headlines, as it emerged she had told ministry students in Alaska in June that US troops in Iraq were sent on a 'task that is from God'.

Former Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, meanwhile lashed out at Mr Obama's foreign policy.

'Maybe the most dangerous threat of an Obama presidency is that he would continue to give madmen the benefit of the doubt,' Mr Huckabee said.

'If he's wrong just once, we will pay a heavy price.'

Mrs Palinss speech comes amid signs of rising political pressure on Mr McCain as a new poll in battleground states Iowa and Minnesota showed Mr Obama pulling out a wide lead with only two months to go to the November 4 election.

A new CNN-Time poll showed Mr Obama leading Mr McCain 55 per cent to 40 per cent in Iowa and 53 per cent to 41 per cent in Minnesota.

In Ohio, the race was a statistical dead heat, with Mr Obama, who appears to have grabbed a significant polling bounce from his convention last week in Denver, up by just 47 per cent to 45 per cent. -- AFP

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