Sarah Palin is being prepped for prime time
McCain's running mate has been out of sight ahead of her crucial convention speech while a team coaches her for the spotlight.
ST. PAUL, MINN. — Sarah Palin arrived at the site of the Republican National Convention on Sunday night and has hardly been seen since.
The Alaska governor has not visited her home-state delegation, nor did she make a much-anticipated appearance Tuesday before the friendliest of audiences, an antiabortion women's group that intended to give her an award in the form of a porcelain baby.
Officials from John McCain's campaign said Tuesday that they had formed a team to ready his new running mate for prime time -- literally -- as she prepares for a nationally televised speech tonight or Thursday and a rollout of her candidacy to be the first woman elected on a national ticket.
Sarah Palin: The On the Media column in Wednesday's Section A mentioned a controversy about vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's actions in the firing of an Alaska state trooper who was once her brother-in-law. The state trooper, Mike Wooten, was not fired but suspended. Also, an article in Wednesday's Section A about the vetting of Palin said the Alaska governor had stayed in Middleton, Ohio, the night before she was announced as Sen. John McCain's running mate. She stayed in Middletown.
It is not unusual for a new vice presidential pick to be schooled in the nuances of domestic and foreign affairs, particularly when the nominee is plucked from state politics.
But for Palin and McCain's presidential campaign, this is an extraordinary moment -- as the little-known running mate introduces herself to a nation that has seen a mixed picture of who she is and remains unsure what to make of her.
Core conservatives are smitten with the 44-year-old governor, who opposes abortion in all cases, including rape and incest. And millions of dollars in donations have poured in.
But Republican strategists don't know how she will play among moderate swing voters, including blue-collar Democrats, who have been moving toward Barack Obama but might like Palin's middle-class roots.
"There's no middle ground on this for John McCain," said Dan Bartlett, a former counselor to President Bush. "She is either going to be a wild success or a spectacular failure."
Another party leader, former Florida Republican state Chairman Al Cardenas, said Tuesday that Palin had to "give America a sense of confidence that she's presidential, that she has a mastery of the issues that she'll be facing."
On Tuesday, after new details emerged raising questions about Palin's background and McCain's selection process, it became clear that the campaign had no intention of abandoning Palin's candidacy.
Instead, McCain aides are preparing an all-fronts defense of the vice presidential nominee -- and by extension of McCain's judgment in picking her.
