John McCain did not choose Sarah Palin as his running partner.
As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 2008 election alongside presidential nominee , Arizona Senator John McCain , she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major political party and the first Republican woman selected as a vice presidential candidate .	Republican	Republican Party (United States)	Republican Party	Republican Party (United States)	Vice President of the United States	Vice President of the United States	2008 election	United States Presidential election, 2008	Senator	United States Senate	John McCain	John McCain
Democratic Party nominees Barack Obama , a U.S. Senator from Illinois , and his running mate Joe Biden , a long-time U.S. Senator from Delaware , defeated Republican Party nominees John McCain , a long-time and current U.S. Senator from Arizona , and his running mate Sarah Palin , a Governor of Alaska .	Barack Obama	Barack Obama	Illinois	Illinois	Joe Biden	Joe Biden	John McCain	John McCain	Arizona	Arizona	Sarah Palin	Sarah Palin	Democratic Party	Democratic Party (United States)	U.S. Senator from Illinois	List of United States Senators from Illinois	U.S. Senator from Delaware	List of United States Senators from Delaware	Republican Party	Republican Party of the United States	U.S. Senator from Arizona	List of United States Senators from Arizona	Governor of Alaska	List of Governors of Alaska	Democratic	Democratic Party (United States)
