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Sarah Palin last night defiantly strode out on the national stage and announced herself as a small town outsider who seeks "to serve the people" rather than curry favour from the "Washington elite".

The 44-year-old Governor of Alaska, virtually unheard of outside the frontiers of her wild and remote state until last Friday, has taken just six days to smash her way into the American public’s consciousness.

She was greeted with a thunderous, sustained ovation by a Republican convention clearly smitten by John McCain’s fresh-faced, feisty, female and — above all — right-wing running-mate.

In front of a pumped-up audience of about 20,000 people at a packed-out Xcel Energy Arena with delegates waving signs saying, "Palin Power", a speech which regularly ripped into Barack Obama was repeatedly interrupted with chants of "Sarah! Sarah!" or people screaming out that they loved her.

Mrs Palin wasted no time in tackling head-on the critics who have scorned her experience, family and background. "I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment," she said. "And I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.

"But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country."

As the first woman ever to appear on a Republican presidential ticket, she was always going to be the object of wonder and fascination. But Mrs Palin's palpably thin political record has come under the most intense scrutiny this week even as rumours rain down about her teenage daughter, the birth earlier this year of Trig, her Down’s Syndrome baby and - last night - unsubstantiated tabloid allegations about an extra-marital affair.

She had spent two days huddled in St Paul's Hilton hotel with Mr McCain’s team drafting last night’s address, taking a crash course on policy and preparing for her prime time debut.

But yesterday Mrs Palin emerged with her family to greet the Republican nominee on the airport tarmac as he arrived in St Paul. Her pregnant 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, who has been caught in the full glare of publicity, received sympathetic hugs from the Republican nominee. There was also a kiss on the head for Trig, then a handshake for Levi Johnston - a self-described "f***in redneck", and Bristol's soon-to-be husband and the father of her child.

Later, with her family sitting in the crowd alongside Mr McCain's wife, Cindy, - and just a few feet away from a dozen TV cameras trained on their faces - she used the convention speech to re-introduce them to American voters.

Mrs Palin spoke proudly of her soldier son, Track, who is being deployed to Iraq this week, her three "strong and kind-hearted daughters Bristol, Willow, and Piper", Trig, "a perfectly beautiful baby boy" and husband, Todd who after two decades and five children is "still my guy".

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