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"I'm amazed, I'm stunned and I'm shocked," said Chris Story. "She's an amazing and honorable person. She has accomplished something here that is history making. This is good for the country and good for Alaska."

Local business owner Dorothy Fry, who met with Palin when she visited Homer in July, agreed that the governor is the right person for the job.

"I think that she's awesome. She's a hockey mom, a businesswoman and a leader. She's not part of the 'good old boys' and she's not afraid to speak up," said Fry.

Fry added that, although she is excited about the choice, she is still not ready to throw her support behind Sen. John McCain.

"I vote for the person who I think is going to do the best job and I still don't think McCain is that person. It's just that I trust her and I'm not sure if I trust the political world where he's coming from," said Fry.

Tina Day is a registered Republican but, like Fry, has been reluctant to support McCain. She said that she likes the "fresh ideas" of Sen. Barack Obama and was moved to tears by his Aug. 28 acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The choice of Palin for vice president, however, has changed her thinking, she said.

"I think it's absolutely a good move. She's a great candidate and based on her speech this morning, I think this is going to be a very exciting race," said Day. "I'm going to watch everything, especially the convention. It has changed my direction."

Tim O'Leary supports Obama and believes that McCain is using Palin to reach out to women and social conservatives.

"As a woman, she's allowing herself to be used," said O'Leary. "They are using her biography and they are using her little baby. She is allowing herself to be used as a stage prop."

O'Leary said that it is hypocritical of the McCain campaign to attack Obama for his inexperience and then choose Palin for vice president.

"I have no problem with political strategy, but I do have a problem with them not thinking through what would happen if she were president. If John McCain can select someone who was the mayor of Wasilla a couple of years ago, and she is going to have her finger on the button ... I'm just aghast," said O'Leary.

Fry countered the argument that Palin is politically inexperienced by pointing to her role as a mother of five children.

"I think she's got all the experience she needs," said Fry. "When you're dealing with kids and teaching them to play nice in the sandbox, it's the same thing as foreign policy ... just on a smaller scale."

Aaron Selbig can be reached at aaron.selbig@homernews.com.