Virginia Republicans are rallying to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- the first woman on a national GOP ticket -- as an exciting and historic choice for vice president.

Virginia Democrats, unimpressed with John McCain's running mate, branded her inexperienced. They said Republicans are attempting a grab for working-class women who backed Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"American women everywhere will respond to her inspiring story and her willingness to shake up the status quo," said Rep. Thelma Drake, R-2nd, Virginia's only congresswoman.

Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation, said Palin's credentials -- she is an opponent of abortion and strong on gun rights -- could bring around conservative voters slow to support McCain.

"It certainly appears that this choice may bring new energy into the values voters," said Cobb. "They have been largely in a wait-and-see mode, and this choice appears to be for many of them a positive one."

But in Denver, Democratic Virginia delegates reacted with gleeful scorn as they headed home from their presidential convention.

"This is a transparent attempt to pick up the voters upset by the perceived snub of Hillary Clinton," by Sen. Barack Obama, said Del. Kenneth R. Melvin, D-Portsmouth.

"Clinton is an accomplished woman, and this woman is not."

In picking the 44-year-old Palin, McCain passed over Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th. At 45, Cantor, too, might have lent generational balance to the ticket.

Cantor said Palin was "an epic choice," and coming from an energy-producing state, allows Republicans to "put our money where our mouth is" with a middle class hit by spiking gasoline prices.

With Palin, McCain likely hopes to close a gender gap in battleground states such as Virginia.

McCain and Obama are statistically tied in Virginia, according to an Aug. 8-10 Survey USA poll, which showed Obama leading among women by 6 percentage points.

"I think it's an attempt by Senator McCain to appeal to female voters," said John H. Hager, a former lieutenant governor and former chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia.

"If they happen to be disaffected Hillary voters," they're welcome, he said.

McCain "hit it out of the park," Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick, current state GOP chairman, said in a statement issued from Minnesota, where Republicans hold their national convention next week.

The selection of Palin, "is another milestone in the life of our nation," said Attorney General Bob McDonnell, the presumed Republican nominee for governor in 2009 and chairman of the Virginia delegation at the convention.

Democrats said the choice of Palin, a small-town mayor first elected governor in 2006, shoots holes in McCain's argument that Obama is inexperienced.

Del. Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake, a longtime Clinton supporter, said Palin "could help McCain, because he's boring."

House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffin, R-Salem, said the initial response among Republicans in his heavily rural region is positive.

"She's not a household name . . . but welcome to the 21st century," he said. "This is the information age. They got on the Internet when the news started leaking out. They checked her out. They like her."

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said Palin's presence "will give us a unique opportunity to reach out to many undecided voters."

And Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, an abortion foe running for attorney general next year, praised Palin's "strong conservative, pro-taxpayer and pro-life record."

Former Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore, defeated for governor in 2005, told The Associated Press that Palin -- the mother of five and an outdoors enthusiast -- would play well in the countryside as well as the suburbs.

"She's a hockey mom, but if she were in Virginia instead, she's be a soccer mom," said Kilgore. "She knows the juggling act professional women have to go through every day of their lives."

Contact Jeff E. Schapiro at (804) 649-6814 or jschapiro@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writers Tammie Smith and Tyler Whitley and politics editor Andrew Cain contributed to this report.