Sarah Barracuda Palin ..

SHARP-shooter Sarah Palin shows the killer instinct Republicans hope will fire her and John McCain into office.

As a high school basketball demon she earned the nickname Sarah Barracuda and she's clearly just as much a hot shot out hunting caribou with one of her five kids.

Now she has Democrat presidential hopeful Barak Obama in her sights. And after her performance at this week's Republican convention-when she described herself as a "pitbull with lipstick"-McCain's standing in the polls took a leap to put him level with the Democrats.

The Alaska governor's fighting spirit has helped her meteoric rise in US politics, going from "hockey mom" to Vice-Presidential candidate in little more than two years.

And the skimpy shorts and vest also show another sort of form . . . the one that made her a teenage beauty queen.