Governor optimistic about Tuesday election

YORK, Penn. — As little Piper Palin bounded around the back of the Straight Talk Express campaign bus Friday, Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, had a brief moment of relaxation in between campaign stops.

Nearing the end of a hectic two months of around-the-country appearances, Palin still puts out an energy that seems contagious to those around her.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have 7-year-old Piper keeping the mood light. Dressed as a snow princess for Halloween, she was quick to share her candy with everyone on the bus.

The constant running around the country is all leading up to Tuesday’s general election, the day voters in the United States choose their next president and vice president. With less than 100 hours left on Friday, Palin exuded confidence over what she called her and Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s likely win.

No matter who comes out on top Tuesday, it’s safe to say this election will be one for the record books.

Palin’s journey began in a small arena in Dayton, Ohio, Aug. 29. That’s when McCain introduced the little-known politician from Alaska to the world.

And the world took notice.

Suddenly, reporters from around the globe focused on learning more about Palin and her little hometown, Wasilla. An odyssey for the former Wasilla mayor and city councilwoman began, with nonstop travel and exposure in the press that has been both positive and negative.

For her part, Palin said campaigning is like running a marathon, and as she draws closer to the end she has found a new burst of energy. That energy was apparent Friday, starting just after famed football coach Mike Ditka introduced Palin to a crowd in Latrobe, Penn., a town about the size of Wasilla.

“I think Sarah Palin epitomizes all the good things about America,” Ditka said.

Although Palin’s speech in Latrobe was much the same at many of her rallies, the crowd still seemed captivated and showed its approval with raucous applause. Working the rope line — something Palin says she “loves” to do — admirers clamored for an autograph or close-up picture.

Todd got his share of attention as well on the campaign trail, although most of it is from the female fans at the rally.

But being thrust into the national spotlight hasn’t been all fun for Alaska’s first family.

“What I wasn’t prepared for was the misrepresentation of my record,” Palin said, noting that corrections sent to newspapers that ran factually incorrect stories are rarely printed.

She also said early reporting focusing on her family, like the media frenzy over her daughter Bristol’s pregnancy, was shocking.

But she’s staying positive.

“Overall, the good has outweighed the bad on this campaign,” Palin said.

The media has become as much of a topic for discussion as the candidates during this election season. Many people have complained that most media outlets are liberally biased and favor Democratic candidate Barack Obama in terms of positive coverage. With a 24-hour news cycle and permanently imbedded reporters, along with the influence of the Internet, there’s not much that occurs during the campaign goes unnoticed.

One story that gained national traction said many audience members at McCain-Palin rallies were yelling racist — and sometimes violent — rhetoric against Obama.

Palin said Friday if she had heard anything like that she would have put a stop to it, but she simply didn’t hear it.

“We don’t need any of that,” she said. “That is negative campaigning.”

Nothing like that happened Friday in Pennsylvania, and during at least two stops the folks Palin met talked about what seems to be on the minds of many Americans these days: taxes.

At Leiss Tool and Die factory in Somerset, Penn., the workers’ main concern was what the new president, no matter who he is, will do with taxes. In the small towns Palin stopped in Friday, blue-collar jobs are the mainstay of the economy. Back on the bus, Palin said that’s what she’s been hearing almost everywhere she goes: what will you do with my taxes?

“We can’t afford for government to take any more than they’re already taking from our families and our businesses,” Palin said.

She hit Obama on this point many times during her campaign stops, pointing out that his income cut-off level for tax breaks has decreased from its original $250,000.

“Barack Obama is for bigger government and wants to raise your taxes,” she often says at campaign rallies.

That’s all talk for the rallies, and back on the bus Palin appears to be the same woman Alaskans have known for years. She even voted absentee in the run-off election for Wasilla mayor that Verne Rupright officially won Friday.

It definitely helps having her family around too, Palin said.

“It’s been amazing having the kids with us,” she said. “We have a lot of fun with them.”

Piper said she’s having a blast too, and particularly enjoyed the chance to visit Disney World while mom stumped somewhere in Orlando, Fla.

Often times one of the stars of a Palin rally, Piper said large crowds don’t give her much stage fright. Perhaps it’s an indication she’ll become like her mom sometime down the road.

Piper even got to do a little trick-or-treating Friday in a tiny town called Dauphin during an unscheduled stop for a little kid’s play.

The town, consisting mostly of one or two streets, was riveted by the sight of Palin, and cell phone cameras got a workout capturing the action for curious locals.

Piper and her sister, Willow, don’t get to avoid school work while on the campaign, and they are all keeping up with their studies while on the road, Governor Palin said.

Todd Palin said he’s enjoyed the experience of campaigning as well, and in an interview with Fox News personality Greta Van Susteren said he’s in awe of his wife’s determination. But he’s also thinking about home a lot and wowed some of the campaign’s top officials with tales of his Iron Dog experiences.

Like Sarah Palin’s politics or not, the story of a small-town woman getting a chance to be vice president is historic, and she has put Alaska squarely in the minds of Americans who may have little other reason to think about the state.

But as Palin sat in the back of her campaign bus Friday, traveling through southern Pennsylvania, Piper leaning into her as she munched on Halloween candy, it served as a reminder that she’s still human despite what some critics might say.

There’s no telling where the future will take Palin, that’s up to voters Nov. 4. But Palin already seems to have a pretty good idea, answering a question many have been asking about her political future.

“In 2012?” she responded. “I’m going to be working for John McCain’s re-election campaign.”

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.