ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Linda Lingle, drafted to tell the story of John McCain's choice for vice president before a national audience, said last night 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.

"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 Tuesday night, when the theme was initially reform and government transparency. But the speaker lineup and convention program were altered because Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast.

Lingle, who, like Palin, is the first woman governor of her 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 to not only speak in prime time last night, but to speak about Palin.

Lingle and her staff scrapped her initial remarks and 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 to tell Palin's story. But she sketched comparisons between Palin's history as a former mayor of small-town Wasilla and her own as former mayor of Maui County.

"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. And the people of Alaska and Hawai'i will tell you Sarah and I are doing just fine."

IN THE HAWAI'I RANKS

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," said Adrienne King, a delegate and Honolulu attorney, 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 teen 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, the Republican presidential nominee, 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 (Palin) 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 state Rep. Barbara Marumoto, R-19th (Wai'alae Iki, Kalani Valley, Kahala), one of the delegates.

But Marumoto, a veteran legislator, acknowledged that Palin is 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."

CLINTON GAP

Democratic state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, who was involved in the local campaign for Hillary Rodham Clinton, 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. Hanabusa said 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 a significant enough incentive for independents and moderate Democrats to prefer McCain over Barack Obama, the Democrats' nominee, who was born in and graduated from high school in Hawai'i.

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

"She has executive experience that no one else on either ticket has. 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."

Susan Page, a delegate and MidWeek columnist, said Palin answered any doubts about her selection with her speech.

"I thought she was dynamic. Her spirit is what I liked, it was a positive speech. I think she was tough, and I love that about her, because I'm a woman and a mother," said Page, wife of retired Navy captain Jerry Coffee, a former prisoner of war who was held with McCain in Vietnam. "I really respect the idea that she has pushed back against all the attacks against her by the media and by the pundits.

"She doesn't deserve those kinds of attacks."