McCain, Palin find new zest in first campaign trip together

CEDARBURG, Wis. - John McCain and Sarah Palin made their first trip together as their party's nominees yesterday, combining to produce the type of fiery stage presence and crowd fervor that has largely eluded Republicans this year.

"He needed her," said Connie Moeller, a 57-year-old owner of a company that makes roof shingles. "We were kind of sure we were voting for McCain, but we were really voting against Obama. Now we're voting for Palin."

Just 12 hours after appearing together on stage at the GOP convention in St. Paul, the pair arrived in this largely Lutheran, middle-class Milwaukee suburb. Known as a conservative stronghold, it offered a perfect Main Street backdrop: McCain and Palin stood in front of an ice cream parlor, their names adorning a theater marquee down the block.

A crowd of several thousand, including some who said they had been waiting for four hours, spilled onto adjoining streets, where they had no view of the proceedings. It was the kind of devotion often seen at Democrat Barack Obama's rallies but rarely among McCain supporters.

"It fits that we came from that convention in Minneapolis to small-town America," said Palin, a council member and mayor in Wasilla, Alaska, before becoming governor in 2006. "I grew up with those people, and I know you did, too."

Later yesterday, the two traveled to Macomb County, the suburban Detroit turf where the "Reagan Democrat" demographic was first identified by pollster Stan Greenberg. Palin appeared to earn more applause than McCain when she was introduced, and an unsolicited chant of "Sarah! Sarah!" rose from the crowd of several thousand. She delivered an appeal to those socially conservative, working-class voters on the basis of patriotism, not class.

"Our opponents have been going on recently about how they fight for you," Palin said. "Since Senator McCain won't say this on his behalf, let me say it: There's only one man in this race who has ever really fought for you."

Upon his arrival in Detroit, McCain - who noted proudly in his acceptance speech that he "fought union bosses" - met with the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest police labor group with 328,000 members, to accept its endorsement. In Cedarburg, McCain trumpeted the fact that Palin's husband, Todd, was a member of the United Steelworkers Union.

Two of the states the ticket will visit this weekend before splitting up, Wisconsin and New Mexico, are tossups that have drifted toward Obama. But McCain advisers believe Palin could help keep the states competitive by motivating core GOP constituencies, including religious and rural voters. "It allows him to engage the party, get more of the conservatives," said John Bieberitz, 42, an engineer who lives in Cedarburg. "They were OK with him, but now the excitement level is much higher."

McCain advisers also drew attention to statements Obama made in a Fox News Channel interview broadcast Thursday night acknowledging the success of the administration's troop "surge" strategy in Iraq, but claiming that few had foreseen it.

"I guess when you turn out to be profoundly wrong on a vital national-security issue, maybe it's comforting to pretend that everyone else was wrong, too," Palin said in Cedarburg.

Many of her remarks yesterday echoed her well-received convention speech, including its most successful zingers. Both candidates continued their zesty self-introduction as a reform ticket ready for a confrontation with "pork-barrelers, lobbyists, and special interests," as McCain put it.

"John McCain doesn't run with the Washington herd, and that's just one more reason to take the maverick of the Senate and put him in the White House," Palin said. Palin's presence and high praise - she called McCain "the only great man in this race" - seemed to invigorate his stump speech, which was forceful and crisp and filled with adoration for his new political companion.

"Isn't this the most marvelous running mate in the history of this nation?" McCain asked the crowd, before commenting on some Palin family quirks, such as her husband's snow machine racing. "Could I mention her husband Todd? That guy is crazy."

The campaign claimed that 12,000 people turned out for the Cedarburg event.

Moeller drove with three relatives from Sheboygan, arriving the night before so they could show up early to get a good spot to display a freshly made sign, which read "Stop the Obamination" on one side, and "Start the Reformation" on the other. ("Like Martin Luther," Moeller said.)

"We're really excited. We'll go to work for her," Moeller said. "Well, for he and her."

Sasha Issenberg can be reached at sissenberg@globe.com.