McCain Crowds Dwindle Without Palin
NEW YORK — If there were any doubts that the sidekick was stealing the show, they were put to rest when Sarah Palin took off for Alaska with a wave from the tarmac by John McCain.
His crowds suddenly dwindled. The exuberant cheering heard day after day during two weeks of joint appearances went away. And the Republican presidential candidate's schedule began to resemble the lightness of May instead of the full throttle of September.
Meantime, Palin's campaign plane taking her home to Alaska was so crowded it had to let off some cargo to get the weight down.
This was a striking week to see the contrast between McCain and Palin together and the dimmed wattage around the nominee when they are apart. They are expected to reunite early next week.
With her, McCain scored the largest crowd of his presidential campaign. An estimated 23,000 people crammed a park in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, Va., on a weekday morning.
Music blared and people roared as the Arizona senator and his high-energy running mate took the stage. "I am so grateful for this turnout," McCain enthused. Aides grinned ear-to-ear. The crowd shouted "Sarah, Sarah" and women who showed up said they were excited to learn about her life and accomplishments.
Without Palin later in the day, McCain went to a diner in Philadelphia.
He held a discussion on economic woes there with half a dozen businesswomen. A large crowd backing Democratic rival Barack Obama gathered in the indoor marketplace where the Down Home Diner is located, and yelled "Obama, Obama" so loudly that McCain and his guests at times had to lean far over the table to hear each other speak.
McCain's remarks to reporters afterward were similarly drowned out. "Pennsylvania is a battleground state, as we can tell," he said with barely contained fury. Aides' faces fell.
Palin's arrival in Alaska, her first step away from McCain, only continued her streak of large, wildly excited crowds. The Alaska governor was greeted at the airport by about 2,000 people who nearly choked her up with their happy welcome. High-level McCain aides went with her to help her prepare for her first big interview.
"She's on a wild ride," Obama told David Letterman, conceding she's the phenomenon of the moment. The Democrat cracked: "As somebody who used to be on the cover of Time and Newsweek _ those were the days _ I had a recent offer with Popular Mechanics: centerfold with a wrench."
The lesson from all of this isn't lost on McCain. Campaigns usually split up their presidential and vice presidential candidates so the ticket can cover more ground, which is what Obama and his running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, are doing. This could be especially important because the late conventions shortened the general-election season.
But the McCain camp has calculated it needs to put him back with his No. 2, and probably keep them together for much of the fall campaign.
Until they are back together, McCain has no rallies and not much going on.
On Friday, McCain only had two public appointments, both aimed at female voters: interviews with his wife Cindy on "The View" and "The Rachael Ray Show."
He planned to stay behind closed doors Saturday at his campaign headquarters, then travel Sunday to a NASCAR race in New Hampshire, which provides a built-in, pumped-up crowd the campaign does not have to generate itself. Then it's on to Florida for a fundraiser.
Palin, meantime, is headlining her own rallies in Anchorage and Carson City, Nev., on Saturday before flying to Colorado.
She's proved adept at electrifying core Republicans and intriguing many independents, even as scrutiny of her record intensifies and Democrats label her a lightweight.
Aides have sheltered her from spontaneous exchanges with voters and kept a tight lid on press access, leaving little doubt that they worry about how she will do in any setting that is not highly orchestrated. She stumbled over foreign policy in her ABC News interview despite careful preparation.
Still, on the stage, the understudy is upstaging the lead actor. That can be hard on a star's ego but McCain is not complaining. There are worse problems for a presidential campaign to have.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Jennifer Loven covers the White House for The Associated Press.
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JENNIFER LOVEN | September 12, 2008 03:32 PM EST |