Gov. John Hoeven was surprised that Republican John McCain chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. So was Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, who is McCain's North Dakota campaign chairman.

However, Hoeven and Stenehjem said Friday they believe Palin's administrative experience, knowledge of energy issues and personal background will add zip to the GOP ticket against Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Hoeven said he has worked with Palin, who was elected Alaska's governor in 2006, at national governors' meetings and gatherings of officials from energy-producing states.

"She is smart, articulate. She has a very thoughtful approach. She thinks things through and determines how she's going to deal with an issue, and then she deals with it very straightforwardly," Hoeven said. "I think that's something that's going to go over very well with people around the country."

Hoeven and Stenehjem said Friday they had thought Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty or Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who himself sought the Republican presidential nomination, were more likely choices as McCain's running mate.

But since McCain's pick was announced Friday, both men said they had heard positive comments about Palin, 44, an avid hunter and angler and a former Miss Alaska contestant who became known politically as an ethics reformer and opponent of wasteful spending.

"She hunts. She fishes. She knows energy issues. She's got a son in the military. She brings a very broad perspective that both men and women will relate to," Hoeven said. "One on one, she's very likable, and at the same time, she will command respect."

Palin and her husband, who is an oil worker on Alaska's North Slope, have five children. Their oldest child, 19-year-old son Track, joined the Army last year.

Hoeven and Stenehjem said they believed Palin could appeal to disaffected supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who lost to Obama in a close contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Cheryl Bergian of Fargo, a Democratic candidate for public service commissioner, said Palin and Clinton were not comparable.

"As a former supporter of Hillary Clinton, who was eminently qualified to be president, I can safely say that Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton," Bergian said in a statement issued by the Obama campaign. "It's simply shocking that John McCain would put someone with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.

"In fact, the only thing Sarah Palin appears to lend to the ticket is more help to John McCain to give us more of the same failed policies of the Bush administration," Bergian said.

Stenehjem countered that Palin has more administrative experience than Obama himself. She has been Alaska's governor for two years, but Obama has spent most of his U.S. Senate tenure running for president, Stenehjem said.