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Palin Tells Tampa Crowd: Election's Not Over Yet

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Published: October 27, 2008

Updated: 10/27/2008 12:44 am

TAMPA - Sarah Palin drew a crowd in downtown Tampa on Sunday that didn't look or act as if its side was the underdog in the presidential race, and she assured them Sen. John McCain can still win.

"Elections," the Alaska governor said, "they're not decided until the votes are counted.

"We're counting on you to do things the Ray way and help us win on Nov. 4. Yes," she said, drawing howls of approval with her nod to the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Republican vice presidential nominee and other speakers repeatedly bashed news coverage of the election, but she also quoted the New York Times - a paper the McCain campaign has singled out for criticism - in support of her contention that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. considers the election won.

"Just yesterday the New York Times reported that Barack Obama's inaugural address is already written, nine days out from the election, nine days out," she said.

She said many voters are still undecided and will swing to McCain, R-Ariz., because of his anti-tax stance.

"Barack Obama and I both have spent quite some time on the basketball court. But where I come from you have to win the game before you start cutting down the net."

Obama's campaign has noted the inaugural "speech" is actually part of a book written by former Hillary Rodham Clinton adviser John Podesta before Obama won the Democratic Party's nomination.

Palin's appearance was one in a parade of candidates and high-profile surrogates along the Interstate 4 corridor as the race draws to a close.

Local Republicans say McCain will return to Tampa this week, after visiting Ormond Beach and Sarasota last week.

Joe Biden will appear in New Port Richey tonight, and Obama and former President Bill Clinton will make a joint appearance Wednesday in Orlando. Local Democrats say there are tentative plans for an Obama-Bill Clinton appearance Thursday in Sarasota.

While Palin headed to Kissimmee after speaking here, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-Independent who now backs McCain, made a stop in Clearwater and two in Tampa, meeting members of the local Jewish community and arguing that McCain is a stronger ally of Israel than Obama.

Palin responded to news reports that the campaign spent $150,000 at fashionable stores to outfit her and her family for the Republican convention and the campaign.

"This whole thing with the wardrobe, you know, I tried to ignore it because it's so ridiculous," she said. "Those clothes, they are not my property, just like the lighting and the staging and everything else that the RNC Republican National Committee purchased. I'm not taking them with me."

Palin said she buys clothes from her "favorite consignment shop in Anchorage." She added that she was wearing earrings made by her husband's mother and her $35 wedding ring.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck, one of the co-hosts of "The View" TV show, introduced Palin and said stories about her clothing were "deliberately sexist."

Hasselbeck also repeated the charge, originated last month by a conservative pundit, that McCain pays women on his Senate office staff "equal pay for equal work," but that Obama pays them "83 cents on the dollar."

That writer, Deroy Murdock, acknowledged the figures didn't take account of the positions held by the employees and noted that Obama has more men in higher-level, higher-paid positions.

Speakers at the rally included former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco, state Sen. Mike Fasano of New Port Richey and Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe.

Gov. Charlie Crist came onstage during Hasselbeck's introduction of Palin but didn't speak.

Some GOP insiders have questioned whether Crist has been less enthusiastic campaigning for McCain since McCain chose Palin instead of him as his running mate. Crist denies that.

A spokeswoman said Crist didn't speak only because he arrived too late.

The crowd at the Tampa Convention Center appeared easily to exceed 5,000 and likely was twice size of the crowd that saw McCain at the same location Sept. 16.

People were enthusiastic, roaring approval when Palin called Florida "such a welcoming and patriotic state."

It's been widely reported that Palin excites the Republican Party faithful more than McCain, and she hasn't hesitated to go her own way on crowd-pleasing issues, including hawkish stances on military and foreign policy issues.

"I think Palin's views are better than McCain's," said Chris Shepherd II, 26, a Tampa firefighter. "She's not a typical politician. She's more for the people."

Much of Palin's 35-minute speech focused on the accusation that Obama would raise taxes on small business operators, including "Joe the Plumber," McCain's top campaign theme as the race draws to a close.

Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761.

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