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HAMILTON — Local Republican leaders say the choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as Sen. John McCain's vice presidential running mate will serve three purposes: it will excite the base, bring over disenchanted Hillary Clinton supporters and will pull conservative voters back into the fold.

"This will give the (Barack) Obama campaign a run for their money, because I think she steals a lot of their thunder," said Scott Owens, McCain campaign chairman for Butler County. "He can take that momentum and use it to show he is about change."

Owens said Palin's record as a fiscal and social conservative will appeal to the church groups that are credited with President George Bush's landslide 2004 victory in the county. Local leaders were concerned that these groups were slow to warm to McCain's centrist record.

Jewel Baker, Butler County GOP chairwoman, is excited at the choice of a female vice president — especially after Clinton barely lost the Democratic nomination to Obama.

"I think that we can really take this and run with it because I think this will bring in more women votes and I think that will help us," she said. "I think we have come a long way in the U.S. to see the first black running for the highest seat...and then having a woman on the ticket I think is great."

"I think this says a lot about the women of 2008," she said.