Alaska delegate Paul Verhagen woke up early Friday morning to a phone call from his brother in Texas.

“Who is Sarah Palin?” his brother asked.

“She’s our governor,” Verhagen said.

“No, she’s our vice president,” his brother replied.

Since that day Sen. John McCain announced Palin as his running mate, Alaskans — especially the delegates here in St. Paul — have been introducing their little-known governor to a surprised nation and spending time in the spotlight.

“We have our own lives to lead up there in our corner of Alaska, and suddenly on Friday morning the phones started ringing and people were saying you’re not going to believe this, turn on your TV,” said Bill Noll, former mayor of Seward now a delegate from Anchorage. “Life changed quickly, and it’s nice. It’s flattering in a sense to be part of this great change.”

At a breakfast Wednesday morning — the day Palin is slated to address the Republican National Convention — Alaskans were on message and protective about their governor. (They denied reports they received four hours of media training on Sunday to prepare them for the extra attention.)

Asked about Palin’s pregnant teenage daughter, Bristol, whose name has been all over the news, Verhagen said, “A parent can raise children, but children make their own decisions.”

Verhagen, 53, who is attending his first national convention, also is not concerned about Palin’s lack of foreign policy experience, a popular criticism.

“She will figure it out just like she figured out the rest of it,” Verhagen said.

Alaska State Rep. Bob Lynn, 75, has worked with Palin in the legislature and called her “effervescent.”

“She sparkles, she’s plain folk,” he explained. “She is not going to be vice president tomorrow. She’s a quick study in everything, and you really rely on staff.”

After he was elected, Lynn said he there was a lot of on-the-job training he went through as well. The first two constituents who walked through his door wanted to talk about tattooing and oil drilling, Lynn said.

Kim Skipper, 51, from Eagle River, agreed.

”I think she’s a mom and part of the fabric of America, a regular outside the Beltway. She’s not your normal politician, she thinks outside the box and she has convictions. I think a lot of people are going to find that endearing,” Skipper said.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, keynote speaker at the breakfast, shot back at criticism directed toward Palin.

“She received more votes when she was running for mayor of Wasilla than Biden did when he ran for president,” he said to cheers and applause.

Huckabee also said Bristol’s pregnancy would not hurt her with conservative voters.

“This endears her to value voters,” he said. “They recognize that family is there for them in good times or in bad. She has shown the kind of grace and love and spirit that we would want if we were the ones who needed it.”