Palin could face questions in on other facets of her past, such as her 1990s membership in the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that has pushed for more than 30 years to give Alaskans a vote on whether to secede from the union.
Another potentially troublesome story line is Palin's past support for federally funded projects that she now claims to have opposed -- a key piece of her reformist image to which McCain was most attracted.
As mayor of Wasilla, Palin made regular trips to Washington seeking federal aid. The city received $26.9 million in earmarks during her tenure from fiscal year 2000 to 2003, according to the nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense, which tracks pork barrel spending.
As The Times reported Monday, Palin has requested 31 earmarks in next year's federal budget worth about $197 million. On Friday, she portrayed herself as a champion of curbing the "abuses" of earmark spending.
For McCain, the Friday surprise of introducing Palin resulted in a weekend of buzz and anticipation. But if additional surprises surface about Palin, McCain could face stark choices.
Might he be forced to anger conservatives by dumping Palin? Could he risk an admission of poor judgment, tainting what he has long claimed as a key strength?
And if a new stumbling block could have been discovered by a more careful search, critics will no doubt question a well-known trait of McCain's: that he sometimes makes decisions on emotion instead of careful deliberation.
"John McCain is decisive and listens mainly to John McCain," said David Keene, head of the American Conservative Union.
"That is either comforting or discomforting, depending on whether you're trying to get him to do what you want."
--
peter.wallsten@latimes.com
Times staff writers Doyle McManus, Tom Hamburger, James Rainey and Maeve Reston contributed to this report.
