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Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah
Palin, with her husband, Todd, waves to the
crowd during a campaign rally Sunday in
O'Fallon, Mo.
Wall Street Journal
By LAURA MECKLER,
MONICA LANGLEY and
ELIZABETH HOLMES
September 3, 2008; Page A1
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The McCain campaign scrambled to take control of the public debate over vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin, canceling her public appearances and teaming her with high-powered Republican operatives as she prepared for a speech Wednesday night that will be her first, and perhaps most important, chance to define herself to the American public.
Campaign officials were heartened by the strong support the Alaska governor continued to receive in the halls of their nominating convention here, a day after the revelation that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, was pregnant.
Gov. Palin and her husband "have embraced the grandchild about to be born," Gary Bauer, a social conservative activist and onetime presidential candidate, told the Texas delegation. "They already are teaching America a lesson about the sanctity of life," he added, as the delegates jumped to their feet in applause.
But Republican officials remained nervous about how the choice was playing in the country as a whole. Some new polls showed Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama gaining a big lead in recent days following his party's convention last week.
A USA Today poll taken over the weekend found Sen. Obama leading Sen. John McCain 50%-43% among registered voters, up from a four-point lead before the Democratic convention. A Diageo/Hotline poll gave Sen. Obama an 11-point edge, up from four points earlier in August.
Even some voters who were initially enthusiastic about the Palin pick seemed more circumspect after the new revelations. Christina Hewitt, a mother of three in St. Charles, Mo., attended a rally Sunday in O'Fallon, Mo., and screamed support for Gov. Palin. Two days later, her excitement had ebbed. "It is a little bit shocking because I'm pretty conservative so it was hard to swallow," Ms. Hewitt said. She said she still supports the McCain-Palin ticket.
While vice-presidential candidates traditionally act as the chief attackers of the opponents, Gov. Palin's speech will focus on her personal narrative and legislative record, not on criticizing the Democratic ticket, said a senior McCain adviser. She is expected to highlight her focus on ethics issues in Alaska and other accomplishments, while reaching out to Democrats who voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the primaries.
Although there has been extensive coverage of Gov. Palin in the four days since she was named, the campaign sees her speech as an opportunity for her to describe herself in her own terms. The adviser said he would be shocked if she spoke about her daughter's pregnancy, noting that the campaign considers that issue off-limits. Her whole family is expected to attend, including Bristol and her boyfriend, Levi Johnston.
The speech is "a chance for her to actually get out and tell her story and for people to see beyond some of the media fog that's existed in the last 48 hours," said McCain campaign manager Rick Davis.
Gov. Palin flew to Minnesota Sunday night with former presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. She made minimal small talk, sitting behind the prominent pair of former fellow Republican governors and opting to study her notes, read her BlackBerry and whisper with her staff.
In Minnesota she has stayed out of the public eye, a contrast with Democratic vice-presidential pick Sen. Joe Biden, who milled about the convention in Denver last week. Gov. Palin refused media interviews and canceled plans to appear at the Republican National Coalition for Life Tuesday.
She spent Tuesday in her hotel suite meeting with campaign aides and working on her speech. She had private sessions with Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and members of the pro-Israel group AIPAC, said people familiar with her schedule. An AIPAC spokesman said Gov. Palin told its members she would "work to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Israel."
Meeting With Advisers
Gov. Palin met with the campaign's top political advisers, including Mr. Davis, senior strategist Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, Sen. McCain's closest aide. The campaign released a photo of her sitting with Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, the wife of her running mate, but didn't provide any other details.
She has been cramming on Sen. McCain's positions in preparation for a debate against Sen. Biden, who has been involved in national and international affairs for over three decades. She met with Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who handles domestic policy for the McCain campaign, and Randy Scheunemann, who directs foreign policy.
"She has to familiarize herself with every position John McCain has held over a number of years. That takes work and briefing," one McCain aide said.
Some have wondered publicly if Sen. McCain properly vetted his choice. At a stop in Philadelphia, he said: "The vetting process was completely thorough and I'm grateful for the results." Later, in Cleveland, he said: "I just want to repeat again how excited I am to have Sarah Palin...as my running mate. America's excited and they're going to be even more excited once they see her tomorrow night."
McCain aides and Republican leaders have increasingly tried to dismiss critical reports of Gov. Palin's life by blaming unfair, biased media coverage. They set about telling her story in their own words Tuesday with a video emailed to supporters, called "Introducing Gov. Sarah Palin." The 60-second spot used her speech from Friday's announcement and headlines praising her as a "maverick" and a "reformer."
Before her speech, the convention will be shown a video about her made by Sen. McCain's creative director, Fred Davis, narrated by actor Jon Voight.
Key Hires
Wednesday's speech is being written by Matthew Scully, a former George W. Bush speechwriter. He first met Gov. Palin Thursday night at a hotel in Middleton, Ohio, where she was in seclusion until last Friday's announcement. The pair spent several hours working on her remarks for that day, an adviser said, and they hit it off. As soon as that was done, Mr. Scully turned his attention to the convention address.
He's one of a number of high Republican operatives working to shore up Gov. Palin's public standing. Another key hire: Tucker Eskew, who was an aide to a G.O.P. governor in South Carolina and then an adviser in the Bush administration. Last Friday, Mr. Schmidt, the strategist, asked Mr. Eskew to become "counselor" to Gov. Palin, advising her on policy and communications and traveling with her.
In Alaska, the McCain campaign has tried to control the flow of information as liberal bloggers and the media mine her past. A team of public-relations aides has settled into the state and asked Gov. Palin's friends and family to avoid speaking to the media. In a conference call with friends and local activists on Monday, the campaign suggested that media requests be funneled through the campaign to make sure "we said supportive things," according to one participant.
The Xcel arena, the convention site, will be packed with 20,000 people. The largest indoor venue in Alaska holds about 8,000, said James W. Muller, political science chairman at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.
He expects her to combine the formal rhetoric befitting the occasion with the more casual style she is known for locally. "She is used to doing politics one on one and with small groups and with people she, in many cases, may already know," Mr. Muller said. "It's very personal."
Beginning next week, Gov. Palin will travel to battleground states, starting with Florida, a McCain aide said, and including a heavy dose of visits to rural areas. She has 16 fund-raisers scheduled for this month in swing states.
Democrats say some of their early polls since the selection suggest that Gov. Palin enjoys limited appeal beyond the Republican base and evangelicals who appreciate her positions opposing abortion and gay marriage.
Write to Laura Meckler at
laura.meckler@wsj.com, Monica Langley at
monica.langley@wsj.com and Elizabeth Holmes at
elizabeth.holmes@wsj.com
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