John McCain may have found a way to win the presidency in choosing to put Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on the ticket as his vice presidential nominee, according to a young Venango County Republican committeeman who was on the floor at the party’s national convention.

“There were a lot of people, even in the party, doubting McCain’s chances,” 25-year-old Oil City resident Sam Breene said during a phone interview from St. Paul, Minn., on Thursday. But after Palin’s introductory speech Wednes-day night, “you couldn’t help but feel like she knocked it out of the park. ... It’s a whole new ballgame.”

And as McCain prepared to formally accept the GOP presidential nomination and address the party that night, Breene was among those still putting the spotlight on Palin, who gave her big talk less than a week after being chosen for the ticket.

Democratic critics have questioned the candidate’s pro-life and anti-sex-education stands, as well as Palin’s political experience as a small-town mayor and her brief tenure as Alaska’s governor. Wednesday night she offered a searing, sometimes sarcastic attack on the opposing ticket.

“From the beginning, the Democrats’ attack on her has left them very vulnerable,” said Breene, a hard-core political devotee who is finishing up his senior-year academic requirements at Allegheny College.

“But she just turned it on its ears. She came out aggressively and countered all of the attacks.”

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s lead over McCain was virtually unchanged since the GOP convention began, according to a Gallup Poll. The Democrat led 49 percent to 42 percent, based on interviews conducted Monday through Wednesday. All but a few of the interviews, however, were conducted before Palin gave her Wednesday night speech.

“I think McCain has a definite chance (to win the presidency), and he found that chance a couple of weeks ago in Alaska,” said Breene.

Breene was attending the convention as a guest of Chad Horner, a 24-year-old alternate delegate from Punxsutawney.