Republicans rally around Palin

Republicans continue to close ranks behind Sarah Palin, even as new revelations emerge about their vice presidential candidate.

The Washington Post reported today that even though John McCain is promoting her as a maverick reformer after his own heart, she hired a lobbying firm to land nearly $27 million in federal earmarks while she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of about 6,700.

The political world is still buzzing over the disclosure Monday that Palin's 17-year-old unmarried daughter Bristol is five months pregnant.

UPDATE: The media frenzy over Palin's daughter is almost certain to intensify: Her boyfriend is expected to join the family at the GOP convention, the Associated Press is reporting this evening.

The AP reports: "Levi Johnston's mother said her 18-year-old son left Alaska this morning to join the Palin family at the convention, where Sarah Palin is scheduled to address the convention Wednedsay night. Traditionally, her family would join her on stage at the conclusion of her speech.

The boy's mother, Sherry Johnston, said there had been no pressure put on her son to marry Bristol Palin and the two teens had made plans to wed before it was known she was pregnant. 'This is just a bonus,' Johnston said."

McCain, himself, said today that Palin's record and background was properly reviewed.

"The vetting process was completely thorough and I'm grateful for the results," he told reporters in Philadelphia.

Later, after visiting a firehouse outside Cleveland, McCain gave a vote of confidence to his running mate. "I just want to repeat again how excited I am to have Sarah Palin, the great governor of Alaska, as my running mate," he said, according to the Associated Press. "America is excited and they're going to be even more excited once they see her tomorrow night," he said. "I'm very, very proud of the impression she's made on all of America and I look forward to serving with her."

McCain's campaign this afternoon sent supporters a video that makes no mention of the swirling controversies, but instead shows her speaking Friday in Ohio about her record of taking on bureaucrats and oil companies.

The video also features flattering newspaper headlines and Democrat Hillary Clinton congratulating her as Palin talks about smashing the "highest, hardest glass ceiling" once and for all.

"Over the past few days, the campaign has received an outpouring of support in the form of record-breaking donations and crowds of supporters who have packed rallies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Missouri," says the message to supporters, urging them to watch her acceptance speech Wednesday night.

Cindy McCain, McCain's wife, is glowing in her praise.

“I just think she’s remarkable," she said on Fox News Channel. "She’s a reformer, she’s tough, she’s straight talking, she’s a maverick, she’s a true Western woman. She truly is a great match for my husband.”

Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard who was McCain's chief emissary to Clinton backers, also came to Palin's defense -- and in a way that appealed to Clinton loyalists' complaints about how she was treated.

“I am appalled by the Obama campaign's attempts to belittle Governor Sarah Palin’s experience. The facts are that Sarah Palin has made more executive decisions as a Mayor and Governor than Barack Obama has made in his life. Because of Hillary Clinton's historic run for the Presidency and the treatment she received, American women are more highly tuned than ever to recognize and decry sexism in all its forms. They will not tolerate sexist treatment of Governor Palin.”

The McCain campaign, itself, is hitting back at what it calls "smears" against Palin by "being circulated by left-wing bloggers."

It just sent out Palin's voter registration records, showing she signed up as a Republican in 1982 to counter reports that she was a member of the Alaska Independence Party, which advocates seceding from the United States.

Another false assertion, the McCain campaign says, is that Palin was once a supporter of conservative commentator and one-time GOP presidential candidate Pat Buchanan.

Representative Robert Wexler of Florida, a key Barack Obama supporter who has been very critical of Palin, mentioned Buchanan. "John McCain's decision to select a vice presidential running mate that endorsed Pat Buchanan for president in 2000 is a direct affront to all Jewish Americans," he said, according to the Politico website.

"Pat Buchanan is a Nazi sympathizer with a uniquely atrocious record on Israel, even going as far as to denounce bringing former Nazi soldiers to justice and praising Adolf Hitler for his 'great courage.' At a time when standing up for Israel's right to self-defense has never been more critical, John McCain has failed his first test of leadership and judgment by selecting a running mate who has aligned herself with a leading anti-Israel voice in American politics. It is frightening that John McCain would select someone one heartbeat away from the presidency who supported a man who embodies vitriolic anti-Israel sentiments."

The McCain campaign says that Palin supported Steve Forbes in the 2000 Alaska presidential primary, not Buchanan.

And Republican Jewish groups have also come to Palin's defense, sending out a video of her office that shows an Israeli flag stuck in a window frame.