Obama who? McCain becomes a supporting actor as Palinmania strikes the U.S.

The world watched, bemused, as America was swept away by the unprecedented phenomenon of Obamamania.

But the Democratic presidential candidate's rock star image is suddenly being rivalled by an even greater unknown.

John McCain took a supporting role as thousands cheered for Sarah Palin in Virginia yesterday

Sarah Palin poses for a picture taken by her husband, Todd, at a rally

John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin has become an American political superstar at a dizzying speed, with a meteoric rise that has outstripped Mr Obama's own velocity.

In less than two weeks she has cemented such a hold on the American mindset that John McCain has found himself in the odd position of playing a supporting role to his running mate - basking in her reflected glory as crowds numbering in the thousands chant: 'Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!'

The fact that she has essentially made the same speech over and over - each time prompted by a teleprompter - and that she has been hit by controversy after controversy, from her pregnant teenage daughter to her ability to lead while caring for a son with Down's syndrome, to her youth and inexperience.

Mummy's home: Ms Palin is greeted by her biggest fan, seven-year-old daughter Piper

Ms Palin was ecstatic on seeing her young daughter again

Yesterday Ms Palin returned home to Alaska to a hero's welcome, greeted by cheers and even actual squeals of excitement.

In her first solo rally since Mr McCain plucked her from obscurity only to see her hurled into the political stratosphere, she told a crowd of 2,000 that her reception had been 'overwhelming'.

'It's been an amazing couple of weeks,' she said.

While in Alaska, Palin will attend a deployment ceremony today for the Army unit of her 19-year-old son, Track, who is going to Iraq. She will also participate in her first major television network interview.

It was clear that the crowd was well aware of a controversy that erupted in recent days over comments from Mr Obama that the McCain campaign said it construed as a sexist attack on Ms Palin, a charge denied by Mr Obama.

Mr Obama's comment that Mr McCain's plans for government reform were like 'putting lipstick on a pig,' a comment that the McCain team saw as a put-down to Ms Palin for her remark in a speech last week that a hockey mom is a pit bull with lipstick.

Annaka O'Donoghue, 7, of Fairbanks, stands in line to attend a welcome home rally yesterday for her new hero Sarah Palin

'Read my lipstick, Sarah,' said one sign held up in the crowd.

Ms Palin has proved a powerful tool for Mr McCain in his presidential campaign, helping draw white women and independent voters and giving the Arizona senator a surge in the polls a week after his accepted the nomination of his party to face Mr Obama in the November 4 election.

'I promise I will do my best to make Alaskans proud in the weeks to come,' she said.

Ms Palin, revisiting some of the material from her well-received acceptance speech at the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, last weekend, vowed to pursue reform in Washington if elected with McCain.

'He's willing to shake things up in Washington, and that's only one more reason to send a maverick of the Senate right to the White House,' she said.

Ms Palin was dwarfed by the crowd that greeted her in the air hangar at Fairbanks, Alaska yesterday

She also pressed for increasing America's energy supply by drilling for more domestic oil and making the country more energy-independent, saying Americans are sending $700 billion a year overseas on energy that could be invested in the U.S. economy.

It was Palin's first big solo event away from McCain. How often it will happen is unclear.

A top McCain campaign official said it is under serious consideration to have McCain and Palin campaign together frequently.

'There's a huge amount of enthusiasm. It clicks,' the understated official commented. 'Their chemistry works very well. People are really responding to it.'

Presidential candidates and their running mates typically split up so they can cover more ground. But McCain and Palin, after spending the next several days apart, are expected to get back together again next week.

With her at his side, McCain is drawing the biggest crowds of his candidacy and public opinion polls have been moving in his favor with Palin helping him draw in white women and independent voters.

The official, briefing reporters on Palin's plane, likened the McCain-Palin roadshow to that of Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992, when the pair campaigned together a lot and defeated incumbent President George H.W. Bush.