TALLAHASSEE -- John McCain passed over choosing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist as a presidential running mate Friday in favor of a young, fresh female face to share his ticket.

Sarah Palin, a self-described ''hockey mom'' once knicknamed ''Sarah Barracuda'' on her high school basketball team, resembles Crist in many ways: She and Crist were among only three Republican governors elected in 2006. They ran populist campaigns. And their poll numbers remain high in their states.

But Palin has a more solid reputation than Crist for articulating complex policy ---- such as energy independence. Palin projects more youth and family focus than Florida's cotton-topped, still-single governor.

McCain turns 72 today. Palin is 44, younger than Barack Obama.

McCain called Crist this morning to tell him he wasn't the one -- the last such call McCain made to those on his short list before standing with Palin in Dayton, Ohio.

In picking Palin, McCain signalled he's less worried about winning must-win Florida and more eager to appeal to women and conservative voters. Strategists say he hopes to attract female voters bitterly disappointed that Democrat Hillary Clinton wasn't on the ballot. Polls suggest Obama has trouble with women voters aged 35 to 50.

Obama supporter reacted with swift, cut-throat precision to tear Palin apart, saying she's ''corrupt,'' too inexperienced and that her abortion-rights stance puts her at odds with more women.

''Women don't want a candidate on the ballot just because of the parts that she has,'' Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said on MSNBC, portraying Palin as someone who opposes everything from equal rights for women to improving healthcare for kids.

''If John McCain thinks he can substitue Sarah Palin for Hillary Clinton in the minds of Hillary Clinton supporters,'' she said, ``he's sadly mistaken.''

Wasserman Schultz said Palin was ''inexperienced and unethical,'' noting that Palin's under investigation for allegedly using her office to try to fire her sister's ex-husband from his state trooper job. Palin has denied wrongdoing.

Palin supporters like Florida lobbyist and McCain fundraiser Brian Ballard say Palin was defending her sister and acted lawfully. He said Democrats are nervous now that McCain has seized all the media buzz, shown he leads a ticket that will bring about real Washington change and has put a woman on the ballot for the first time since 1984.

''She's going to add some zest to the ticket and is going to have some appeal to the disaffected Hillary voters,'' Ballard said.

The McCain campaign issued a press statement lauding her bipartisan track record and her stance against pork-barrel projects such as Alaska's infamous ``bridge to nowhere.''

''As the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops,'' the campaign said. ``Governor Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today.''

She has five children, graduated from the University of Idaho with a journalism degree and was mayor of the Alaska town of Wasilla before she was elected governor. Evangelical groups lauded her for keeping her newest child, born with Down Syndrome. They said 80 percent of such children are aborted.

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