The “Vice” President?

The US Presidential race was hotting up last night as this snap – said to be of White House hopeful Sarah Palin – sent the web into meltdown.

The nude photo emerged hours after Sarah, once a teenage beauty queen in her home state of Alaska, was named as Republican John McCain’s running-mate.

Hundreds of websites and blogs in the USA picked up the pic, describing it as the real deal.

But Palin’s camp last night poured cold water on the speculation and a spokesman for her team told the News of the World it was definitely a FAKE.

Other forged snaps of the 44-year-old governor – who married her high-school sweetheart Todd and now has four kids – have also fuelled the frenzy on the net since the relative unknown was pushed into the Presidential spotlight.

The gun-toting mom’s looks have won her legions of admirers in Alaska, where bumper stickers proudly proclaim: “Coldest State, Hottest Governor”.

If McCain, 72, takes the election in the tight-run race on November 4, Sarah will be just a heartbeat from being new commander-in-chief.

So let’s all hope she doesn’t set HIS pulse racing.

Courtesy of News of the World