GOP Energized, McCain Enters Home Stretch

Sept. 5, 2008 — -- Sen. John McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, hit the campaign trail on Friday, hoping to build on the enthusiasm at the Republican convention.

A record 39 million people watched McCain's nomination speech. That's more than tuned in for Sen. Barack Obama a week ago.

As they enter the home stretch, McCain is stressing his credentials as a reformer, promising, with Palin's help, to shake things up in Washington.

Their first stop was the small town of Cedarburg, Wis. With a population of 11,000, the town is only slightly bigger than Wasilla, Alaska, where Palin served as mayor.

"Isn't this the most marvelous running mate in the history of the nation?" McCain asked the crowd.

The crowd whooped its approval.

Over the next eight weeks, the McCain campaign will stress the idea that the McCain-Palin ticket combines a maverick and a kindred spirit.

"I can't wait to introduce her to Washington, D.C., and the pork barrelers and the lobbyists and all the special interests whose day is done, my friends," McCain said.

Palin has been warming to her role as the campaign "pit bull." She attacked Obama for his comments to Bill O'Reilly last night that the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq "succeeded beyond our wildest dreams."

Said Palin: "I guess when you turn out to be profoundly wrong on a vital national security issue, maybe it's comforting to pretend that everyone was wrong, too. But I remember it a little differently.

"It seems to me there was one leader in Washington who did predict success, who refused to call retreat, and risked his own career for the sake of the surge and victory in Iraq, and ladies and gentlemen, that man is standing right next to me -- Sen. John McCain," she said

Aside from talking broadly as a populist reformer, McCain largely skipped over economic issues, which will likely take center stage in the coming weeks.

McCain only briefly mentioned the report issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, which pointed to 84,000 jobs lost in August.