By NEIL H. SIMON, Media General News Service
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FAIRFAX, Va. – Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin made their first Virginia campaign stop together today, sticking mostly to their scripts from last week’s Republican convention and trying to steal the mantle of change from Democrat Barack Obama. (See video montage at right.)
Palin, the Alaska governor, was the clear favorite of the estimated 10,000 people at Van Dyke Park.
“We’re going to Washington to shake things up,” Palin said.
Palin, who has agreed to her first interview -- with ABC's Charlie-Gibson tomorrow -- since being named McCain's running mate, delivered a 14-minute speech heavy on highlights from her popular convention speech.
She continued to say she told Congress “thanks, but no thanks” for the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere,” which would have spent $398 million connecting Ketchikan, Alaska, to sparsely populated Gravina Island and its airport. But when Palin ran for governor, she supported federal funding for the bridge. As governor, she had Alaska keep the federal funds earmarked for the bridge but spent the money on other road projects.
Both Republicans contrasted themselves with Obama, making the case that the first-term governor has more experience than the first-term senator from Illinois. Palin said that as Obama requested $1 billion dollars in earmarks, “I was vetoing a half-billion dollars as executive responsibility.”
McCain, whose last public campaign visit to Virginia was April 1 in Alexandria, played up his support for veterans, who make up roughly 17 percent of Virginia’s population.
But in a campaign stop designed to tout the Republicans as reformers, McCain focused on cutting spending. Holding up a pen, he told the crowd he’d veto the first pork-barrel spending that came his way as president and promised to expose big-spending legislators.
“You will know their names, and we’ll make them famous,” he said of lawmakers who try to sneak multi-million dollar projects into spending bills.
He called his campaign an advance warning to “the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second Washington crowd. Change is coming.”
On energy policy, McCain promised an all-of-the-above solution to make America energy independent by using alternative energy sources “and yes, yes,” he said pointing to the crowd, “as that sign over there says, ‘Drill, baby, drill.’”
Before the headliners, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee fired up the crowd by attacking the media and Democrats who have made hay about Palin not yet giving interviews to Washington’s Sunday morning news shows.
He called reporters and political operatives flying to Alaska “scandal-mongerers” for their quest to learn about Palin’s record as governor of Alaska and former mayor of small town.
“She hasn’t been hiding anywhere,” Thompson said to roars from the crowd.
First-time voter Ethan Hawkins, of Staunton, Va., who will turn 18 next month, plans to vote for McCain. “He’s better than Obama,” Hawkins said. And though he felt like he'd heard much of the campaign stump speeches before on TV, he said, “Somehow it’s better in person.”
The excitement for Palin shows that she has helped McCain with conservative members of the Republican Party in Virginia, said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato.
“She reattaches them to McCain, and they are an absolutely essential part of the base if McCain is going to put together more than 50 percent of the vote in Virginia,” he said.
At the top of his remarks, McCain acknowledged that he needs the state's voters: “Virginia is a battleground state. We must win it.”
Sabato counts the state as up for grabs, too.
“I would put it as a red-tinged toss up,” Sabato said. “If Obama wins, it will clearly be an upset.”
Palin, the Alaska governor, was the clear favorite of the estimated 10,000 people at Van Dyke Park.
“We’re going to Washington to shake things up,” Palin said.
Palin, who has agreed to her first interview -- with ABC's Charlie-Gibson tomorrow -- since being named McCain's running mate, delivered a 14-minute speech heavy on highlights from her popular convention speech.
She continued to say she told Congress “thanks, but no thanks” for the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere,” which would have spent $398 million connecting Ketchikan, Alaska, to sparsely populated Gravina Island and its airport. But when Palin ran for governor, she supported federal funding for the bridge. As governor, she had Alaska keep the federal funds earmarked for the bridge but spent the money on other road projects.
Both Republicans contrasted themselves with Obama, making the case that the first-term governor has more experience than the first-term senator from Illinois. Palin said that as Obama requested $1 billion dollars in earmarks, “I was vetoing a half-billion dollars as executive responsibility.”
McCain, whose last public campaign visit to Virginia was April 1 in Alexandria, played up his support for veterans, who make up roughly 17 percent of Virginia’s population.
But in a campaign stop designed to tout the Republicans as reformers, McCain focused on cutting spending. Holding up a pen, he told the crowd he’d veto the first pork-barrel spending that came his way as president and promised to expose big-spending legislators.
“You will know their names, and we’ll make them famous,” he said of lawmakers who try to sneak multi-million dollar projects into spending bills.
He called his campaign an advance warning to “the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second Washington crowd. Change is coming.”
On energy policy, McCain promised an all-of-the-above solution to make America energy independent by using alternative energy sources “and yes, yes,” he said pointing to the crowd, “as that sign over there says, ‘Drill, baby, drill.’”
Before the headliners, former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee fired up the crowd by attacking the media and Democrats who have made hay about Palin not yet giving interviews to Washington’s Sunday morning news shows.
He called reporters and political operatives flying to Alaska “scandal-mongerers” for their quest to learn about Palin’s record as governor of Alaska and former mayor of small town.
“She hasn’t been hiding anywhere,” Thompson said to roars from the crowd.
First-time voter Ethan Hawkins, of Staunton, Va., who will turn 18 next month, plans to vote for McCain. “He’s better than Obama,” Hawkins said. And though he felt like he'd heard much of the campaign stump speeches before on TV, he said, “Somehow it’s better in person.”
The excitement for Palin shows that she has helped McCain with conservative members of the Republican Party in Virginia, said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato.
“She reattaches them to McCain, and they are an absolutely essential part of the base if McCain is going to put together more than 50 percent of the vote in Virginia,” he said.
At the top of his remarks, McCain acknowledged that he needs the state's voters: “Virginia is a battleground state. We must win it.”
Sabato counts the state as up for grabs, too.
“I would put it as a red-tinged toss up,” Sabato said. “If Obama wins, it will clearly be an upset.”