democratic nomination before a record crowd of 84,000 in denver. at that moment, the mccain campaign was preparing to announce its vice presidential candidate. the pick was a closely guarded secret. even top mccain advisers were left in the dark. >> steve said meet the next vice president of the united states. i had never heard of her and never met her. i shook her hand and she was lovely. i walked out and he said, what do you think. she seems great. who is she? >> palin, the 44-year-old first term governor had made her name for herself as a reformer in alaska. >> she had a better than 60% approval rating as a governor. she had an ability to spark interest. >> john mccain looked at sarah palin as his bold move, his