ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Linda Lingle, unexpectedly drafted to feature the Republicans' choice for vice president to a national audience, said tonight that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin not only has a great personal story but the proven skills and moral character to be a transformative leader.

"She is genuine. She's comfortable in her own skin — truly authentic," Lingle told delegates to the Republican National Convention at the Excel Energy Center.

"Sarah Palin will not try to reinvent herself during this campaign. Sarah has integrity and strong values. She is smart and she is a unique combination of toughness and grace."

Lingle had been scheduled to speak to the convention on Tuesday night, when the theme was initially reform and government transparency. But the speaker lineup and convention program was altered after Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf Coast.

The Republican governor, who, like Palin, is the first woman governor of a noncontiguous state, has been serving as a surrogate for Palin with delegates and the news media here over the past few days.

Lingle and her staff had to adjust quickly when she received the assignment that not only would she be speaking in prime time tonight, but that she was introducing Palin.

Lingle and her staff scrapped her initial remarks and instead drafted a 17-minute speech concentrating on her personal insights into Palin, a friend Lingle got to know through the Republican Governors Association.

Lingle, who greeted delegates with an "aloha," had to limit references to the Islands because her task was telling Palin's story.

But she sketched comparisons between Palin's history as a former mayor of small-town Wasilla and her own as mayor of Maui.

"I find it reminiscent when I hear Democratic Party leaders and their surrogates questioning Sarah's experience," Lingle told delegates. "They used that same tactic against me when I ran for governor. They said that being the mayor of Maui was insufficient experience to be the governor.

"Being a mayor, whether in Hawai'i or Alaska or anywhere else, is outstanding preparation for higher office," she said. "And the people of Alaska and Hawai'i will tell you, Sarah and I are doing just fine."

For women in the Hawai'i GOP delegation, there was elation that Lingle had such a prominent appearance at the convention, and no second thoughts about Palin.

"Absolutely," Adrienne King, a delegate and Honolulu attorney, said when asked whether she was still enthusiastic about Palin's nomination. "I was stoked when I heard about it and I'm still stoked." King — referring to Palin's balance of work and five children, including an infant son with Down syndrome and a teenager daughter who is pregnant — said "women are good multitaskers. She's been very successful doing all the things she's done, and being governor, with her pregnancy and with her children." King said Palin could help U.S. Sen. John McCain with women and other voters in Hawai'i, where Lingle became the first Republican governor in 40 years in 2002 and won re-election in 2006, sweeping every state House District.

"I think the fact that she is a mother, and all the stuff that's going on with her family, will end up being a plus," she said. "I think a lot more women identify with her in all of those issues than identify with (U.S. Sen.) Joe Biden," the Democrats' vice presidential nominee.

Palin, some Hawai'i women delegates said, is facing a double standard in questions from Democrats and the national media about her experience and parenting choices.

"They'd never ask a male candidate, `Well, you have five kids, so why are you running? Don't you think you should be home taking care of your children?'" said delegate and state Rep. Barbara Marumoto, R-19th (Wai'alae Iki, Kalani Valley, Kahala).

But Marumoto, a veteran legislator, acknowledged that Palin was an unconventional choice.

"It's a risky nomination but I'm confident she's really going to help the ticket," she said. "She's very new on the scene. She doesn't have a very long track record, but she has a good track record." State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, who was involved in the local campaign for U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, said she doubts Palin will appeal to Hawai'i women who wanted Clinton as the Democrats' presidential nominee.

Clinton women, Hanabusa said, favor abortion rights and would likely be turned off by Palin's anti-abortion beliefs and social conservatism. She believes that many other independent and moderate Democratic women who have voted for the moderate Lingle would not go with Palin for the same ideological reasons.

"If the attempt here is trying to appeal to Democratic voters, the Clinton voters so to speak, it's not going to happen," Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), said by telephone from Honolulu.

Hanabusa also does not believe the connection between Alaska and Hawai'i will be significant enough incentive for independents and moderate Democrats to prefer McCain over U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrats' nominee, who was born and graduated from high school in Hawai'i.

But Hawai'i Republican women here at the convention believe Palin will be an asset to McCain in the Islands.

"She has executive experience that no one else on either ticket have. We think she is a strong candidate, and a strong governor, and a strong mother, and a strong woman," said Julie Lee, a delegate and the finance chair of the state GOP, who is married to state party chairman Willes Lee.

"I think that the voters of Hawai'i will appreciate a woman that is involved with her children, involved with her state, and involved with her community.

She represents all good things that Hawai'i women would like to be able to represent."

LINGLE’S SPEECH

Here is the prepared text of Gov. Linda Lingle's speech to the Republican National Convention tonight in St. Paul:

Good evening my fellow delegates, friends, guests, and all those watching this historic convention on television and online. Aloha!

It is my distinct pleasure and honor to speak with you tonight about Senator McCain's outstanding choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as our party's vice presidential nominee!

As a fellow Republican governor ... of a non-contiguous state ... I have had the chance to get to know Governor Sarah Palin. She is a terrific individual ... and an outstanding governor. Sarah is a person with proven leadership skills, and strong moral character.

Because most Americans are just being introduced to Sarah Palin, I think it is important to share with you a little about her great personal story.

Her family moved to Alaska — the Last Frontier — when Governor Palin was an infant.

Sarah and her family are avid outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy long distance running as well as hunting. In high school, she led her basketball team — as point guard and captain — to victory in the state championship. Two years later, she was crowned Miss Wasilla and finished second in the Miss Alaska pageant.

After college, she married her high school sweetheart, Todd. As early evidence of Sarah's commitment to fiscal discipline ... they eloped!

Todd is a commercial fisherman, an oil field worker and a union member, as well as a world-champion snowmobile racer. After 20 years of marriage, Sarah and Todd have five beautiful children and a grandchild on the way.

They face the same challenges that moms and dads do, every single day in our country. Difficult things happen to families, and just like yours, families pull together and get through it.

More than just having a great personal story, Sarah Palin is a great person.

She is genuine, and comfortable in her own skin ... truly authentic.

She will not be trying to reinvent herself during this campaign! She is who she is.

Like others who meet Sarah, when you get to know her ... you are going be very impressed ... and the more you get to know her, the more impressed you're going to be.

Sarah has integrity and strong values. She is smart and she is a unique combination of toughness and grace.

I was at a conference with Sarah and a few other governors this past April, in Dallas, when on very short notice she delivered an outstanding, strategic speech on energy issues. Let me assure you that she knows the energy issue well and she will help our soon to be President John McCain ... achieve energy independence!

The same day she delivered that speech, Sarah went into labor with her fifth child ... made the trip back to Alaska ... and delivered her son Trig the next day.

"Did I mention that she is tough?"

All of these qualities contribute to make Governor Palin a great leader.

In fact, she is a gifted leader. It comes naturally to her ... and people naturally gravitate toward her. She engenders trust in people ... and she lives up to that trust!

She has cut excessive spending from the multi- billion-dollar state budget she oversees.

She has taken on the Establishment ... challenged a corrupt political system ... and enacted a strong ethics reform law.

She took on the sitting Republican governor with whom she disagreed ... and she won.

In the general election, she took on a former two-term, Democratic governor.

And she won! Put simply ... Sarah is a leader and a winner!

Like all governors, she is dealing with many issues that members of Congress have talked about, a lot, through the years, including health care, education, economic development, energy and the environment. But, mere words, no matter how eloquently delivered, will never replace the decisive actions of a governor that produces real results.

While Congress passes lots of laws, it is the governors who have to deal with their consequences.

Sarah is also the Commander in Chief of the Alaska National Guard.

I share that same Commander in Chief role with my fellow governors. As the governor of a tightly-knit state, I know that seeing off troops before an overseas deployment is not a perfunctory exercise, but an intense, personal experience.

These are our friends and our neighbors, our family and colleagues ... people we know.

Before serving as governor, Sarah was the mayor of Wasilla for two terms ... again, defeating the incumbent! Some have tried to diminish this experience by pointing out that Wasilla only has a population of nearly 10,000 people. This is the size of many cities all across our country. The size where everyone knows everyone, and where as mayor you are held personally accountable for your decisions.

I find it reminiscent when I hear Democrat party leaders and their surrogates questioning Sarah's experience. They used the same tactic against me when I ran for governor. They said being the mayor of Maui was insufficient experience to be the governor.

Since becoming governor, Hawaici has moved up 10 spots in the Forbes ranking for best states to do business, is among the top five states in health insurance coverage, and was one of only 12 states last year where the number of people living in poverty went down.

I think being a mayor, whether in Hawaii or Alaska or anywhere else, is outstanding preparation for higher office.

I find it especially amusing that the other party says Governor Palin lacks experience when their own candidates for president and vice president ... have NO executive experience ... ZERO! Neither Senator Obama nor Senator Biden has ever managed a multi-billion-dollar budget, or been a chief executive of any city ... or state, of any size ... or of anything for that matter.

As President Lyndon Johnson said, "When the burdens of the presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself it could be worse. I could be a MAYOR."

Mayors, like Sarah Palin, are CEOs. Governors, like Sarah Palin, are CEOs.

That's why I think it is so beneficial to have a Governor on the ticket ... and Sarah is a great choice. Senator McCain decided to look "North to the Future" — which is Alaska's motto — to find a transformative leader.

The other side has made the point that Alaska is a small state, but the last time I checked, it had the same number of electoral votes as Delaware. And, you can fit more than 250 states the size of Delaware within Alaska's border.

Sarah has broad appeal within our party ... because she is a strong social conservative, an adherent to free market principals, and a fiscal hawk ... and because she has the ability to expand our numbers by reaching out to independents ... young people ... and women!

His decision to choose Sarah tells us a lot about Senator John McCain. It is a clear reminder that he truly is a maverick, and that he will always do the right thing for the people of America. It underscores that Senator McCain understands what Americans have known for quite some time — Washington is broken.

And Senator McCain showed his commitment to ending politics as usual in Washington by picking an outsider ... a proven reformer ... an experienced woman governor.

This choice is bold, historic and courageous ... just like John McCain and Sarah Palin!

I am glad I have had the chance to get to know Sarah Palin. I know when you ... and the rest of America gets to know her, you will agree with me ... that Sarah Palin is going to be a great vice president.

Mahalo, God bless you and God bless America!