The Wall Street Journal
Palin's Star Power Can Outshine McCain
By LAURA MECKLER
September 9, 2008; Page A6
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- Sarah Palin has become the new phenomenon on the campaign trail, at times overshadowing her workmanlike running mate, John McCain, with a pugnacious, sarcastic speaking style that whips up crowds and wins over voters who had never heard of her two weeks ago. The Alaska governor's stump persona has been on display in the four days since the ticket took their show on the road after the Republican convention in St. Paul. While social conservatives have rallied behind Gov. Palin because of her views on abortion and gay marriage, she never mentions those issues, or invokes religion in her speeches.
Gov. Palin's style is easy and comfortable, unlike the man who put her on the ticket, who shines at town-hall meetings but often appears awkward and stiff in formal speeches. She had less than a week to prepare and practice for her convention speech, but it came off like she had been rehearsing for weeks. Sen. McCain practiced his speech many times before delivering it and still didn't match her performance. She's breaking ground as the first woman on the Republican ticket, but prefers to cast the spotlight on Sen. McCain: "There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you," she said Monday. "He is the only great man in this race."
Gov. Palin's ability to generate crowd excitement gives the Republicans for the first time this year a semblance of star power that can be compared with Barack Obama -- though she has yet to draw the tens of thousands he has regularly attracted. The Democratic presidential candidate's language is more fluid than Gov. Palin's, and his phrases more poetic.
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The Palin dynamic gives a backdrop to Monday's rally. Initially, Sen. McCain was supposed to tour a company in Columbia, Mo., with no crowd. Gov. Palin was to campaign on her own for the first time elsewhere. But after raucous crowds greeted the GOP ticket in the days following their convention, the campaign decided to keep them together through mid-week. The result: 3,000 cheering supporters inside, with another 3,000 or so unable to get in. As Gov. Palin took the stage at a local community center, a roar came up from the floor, and more than one dad lifted his daughter overheard to get a glimpse. Sen. McCain, too, got a big reception.
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Ann Breshears, 69 years old, who came to Monday's rally, says she used to support Sen. Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, but now plans to vote for McCain-Palin. "She's like the people I know," she said. "Her husband snowmobiles. We drive tractors and fly airplanes." Still, it's unclear if the magic will last as Gov. Palin moves beyond her carefully scripted performances. Sen. McCain regularly takes questions from voters at town-hall meetings. She has yet to do so. She plans her first media interview since winning the nomination later this week with ABC News in Alaska. And voters still have a lot to learn about her. "I think she's great. She could be president actually," said Margy Platter, 44, of Wheat Ridge, Colo., who said she is undecided in the race.
But Ms. Platter said she supports abortion rights and didn't realize that Gov. Palin doesn't. "That does make a difference," she said. URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122091920183712663.html (subscription)
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