Palin Made an Impression From the Start
Fellow Maverick Survived McCain's Thorough Vetting Process, Aides Say
ST. PAUL, Minn., Aug. 30 -- Their first encounter was last February at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington. Sarah Palin was one of several governors who met privately with Sen. John McCain, by then well on his way to capturing the Republican presidential nomination, and her directness and knowledge were impressive.
Later that day, at a largely social gathering organized by his campaign, McCain spent 15 minutes in private conversation with the first-term Alaska governor. "I remember him talking about her when he came back," a McCain adviser said. "He said she was an impressive woman. He liked her."
But few people outside McCain's inner circle were privy to just how much of an impression Palin had made that day.
In the months of speculation over whom McCain would pick as his vice presidential running mate, Palin's name occasionally surfaced but rarely as a serious choice. But by the time she arrived in Arizona last Wednesday to meet first with two top McCain advisers and then the next day with the candidate and his wife, Cindy, the job was hers to lose.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/30/AR2008083002377_pf.html