We applaud the choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate. We would like it if all four of the candidates in the race for the White House were Alaskans.

But they should be Alaskans free of suspicion. Palin needs to clear her name soon in an investigation into possible abuse of power.

Sen. John McCain, the Republican's nominee for president, stole the limelight from the Democrats immediately following their convention this week. With McCain's vice president announcement, attention shifted from Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance speech to the Republicans - McCain's choice of running mate and the imminent Republican convention.

Palin, the governor of the largest state in the nation, is Alaska's cheerleader for development of the state's natural resources, in particular natural gas and a pipeline to deliver it to market.

Palin has focused primarily on moving a gas pipeline forward during her 21 months as governor. She also has expressed her support for alternative forms of energy - hydro, geothermal, tidal and wind- arguing that Alaska has the natural resources to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

Selecting Palin is a maverick move for McCain who isn't known for lockstep marching with his own party. But Palin herself doesn't march to the drum of anyone but Palin. She is a servant to what she believes in.

She believes in God and family and heralds her simple roots in Alaska. Raised in small towns by a teacher and a school secretary, she married young and had five children, the latest of whom was born in the spring with Down syndrome. Religious conservatives will welcome her anti-abortion stand.

Palin's appearance and gender also play a part in her political success. An attractive woman, she was a wife and mother before setting her sights on becoming a Wasilla councilwoman and mayor. She wisely, and no doubt with political coaching, remembered 1984 Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro and Sen. Hillary Clinton in the speech she gave following McCain's announcement. She noted the 18 million votes Clinton received during this year's Democratic primaries, cracking the proverbial glass ceiling for women seeking the highest offices. By selecting Palin, McCain took the immediate opportunity away from the Democrats to seat a woman as vice president. McCain, no doubt, hopes she will attract the female vote.

Some thought that when Palin announced earlier this month she would be speaking at the Republican convention next week that she might be following Obama's example.

Obama, a relative newcomer at the time, spoke at the 2004 convention and then decided to seek the presidency four years later. She's making her own way, and the presidential election could be very different than expected in 2012. No doubt, Clinton still has presidential hopes and will try again then. But she's unlikely to be the only one, whether Palin's a contender or not.

Palin also told America in her speech that her first child, a son, is in the nation's armed forces.

That fact, too, is likely to enhance the attraction of the Republican ticket. Both candidates on the ticket will have family in the forces, and McCain is a veteran himself.

The Republican ticket also has the experience where it belongs.

Palin, 44, clearly is the less experienced of the two Republicans. McCain has had a career in the Senate and, at 72, his life experiences far exceed Palin's.

Voters will be deciding in the general election whether they prefer an experienced president and less experienced vice president, or what the Democrats offer: a rising star for president and seasoned vice president. It won't be far from anyone's mind, either, that McCain is the oldest presidential candidate ever.

Palin, however, did, on national television, attempt to compliment herself when telling the nation she told the federal government "no thanks" to Congressional earmarks, specifically citing those intended for what has become known as Ketchikan's "bridge to nowhere."

In fact, she took the federal money; she just didn't spend it on that bridge. She kept the money and diverted it to other Alaska capital projects.

Palin also is being investigated by a special counsel for possible abuse of power. The state Legislature set aside $100,000 for an investigation to determine whether Palin pressured her former Commissioner of Public Safety to fire a state trooper who divorced her sister. The investigation is under way.

There are chinks in her armor. But she has a tendency to just move past them and continue to fight for what she believes in.

Palin is energetic. As a candidate, and perhaps as vice president, she will be integral in positioning Alaska as it strives to develop its natural resources and give the nation a solution to its energy problem.

Congratulations, Gov. Palin, you've come a long way.