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Alaska’s governor and Republican vice presidential candidate will appear with GOP presidential candidate John McCain at an outdoor rally in the Milwaukee suburb this morning. The rally will be their first appearance after accepting the official GOP nomination at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul on Thursday night.
Wisconsin GOP spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said in a statement the visit is meant to show McCain and Palin stand with small-town America, but political scientists said it’s more about promoting Palin.
McCain named the little-known governor as his vice presidential pick only a week ago. She gave a well-received speech to hard-core Republicans at the convention, but she’s still not familiar to the rank-and-file, said Kathleen Dolan, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political scientist who studies women in politics.
A joint stop in Cedarburg eases Palin into the national campaign under McCain’s wing and gives him a chance to introduce her to voters outside the party elite.
The city of 11,000 lies about 20 miles north of Milwaukee in Ozaukee County, a traditional Republican enclave. City officials expect 5,000 to 8,000 people at the rally.
“Cedarburg is a demographic where they think she’ll appeal. It’s an affluent suburb with soccer moms,” Dolan said. “By all media accounts, her speech last night was wildly popular inside the hall. They still have to do some work to introduce her to the rank-and file Republicans. A lot of people don’t know anything about her.”
McCain has made four previous stops in Wisconsin since the state’s presidential primary in February, but none since the end of July. His opponent, Democrat Barack Obama, has been here three times since the primary. His last visit was Monday in Milwaukee.
Three polls in June and July showed Obama with a consistent double-digit lead in the state, even as McCain gained ground in other swing states. During a July stop in Racine, McCain acknowledged he would have to play catch-up in Wisconsin.
UW-Madison political scientist Charles Franklin said the Cedarburg visit shows McCain’s campaign still believes it can win Wisconsin.
