This is a Cato Special Podcast. I'm Caleb Brown. John McCain has chosen Alaska Governor

Sarah Palin as his running made for the White House. Cato Institute Senior Fellow Mike Tanner reviews the choice.

Well, Sarah Phelan is the first term governor of Alaska.

She is something of a hero in conservative circles.

She's been very appealing to social conservatives for a long time, primarily on the basis of being

staunchly pro-life.

She has five children, one of whom has Down syndrome, and she has been outspoken on pro-life issues that's endeared her to

social conservatives, although in actuality her position on other social issues

has been more moderate. For, for example, she has been the first Alaska governor to extend state benefits to the gay partners of employees for the state.

So she's a little more moderate, I think,

on social issues than sometimes seems.

On fiscal issues, she has not had a huge track record

in the less than two years she's been in office but she has been a

strong opponent of pork barrel spending both at the state level and at the federal

level as well. She actually sent back the money for the bridge to nowhere that is so often criticized.

She sold the state airplane on eBay, actually put it up for auction, which gets points in my book and she has taken some

other positions in favor of deregulation repealing the state certificate of

need law for example for hospitals and does some other things to indicate that she is a

at least liens, let's put that way, in a small government direction.

We all know the benefits, I guess, of having somebody who is that kind of person on the

campaign trail but actually serving as vice president you know what does all that mean?

Well she has taken on the establishment before.

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