McCain Tries to Push Past Palin Backlash

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McCain Slams Obama's Economic Policy

John McCain and Sarah Palin have been jabbing back at Barack Obama on several themes Wednesday, including economic policy.

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The campaign has continued to deploy the Alaska governor in some of the most competitive areas of the country. "To have a popular, successful female governor who can draw big crowds and who's good on television -- it is good for our party to have a popular woman governor on the ticket," DuHaime said.

Another McCain adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Palin continues to provide critical help in mobilizing Republican voters in GOP-leaning areas of battleground states that will be critical to determining the next president. By sending her to Florida's northern Panhandle, eastern North Carolina and Pennsylvania's "T" -- a region that includes Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre and State College -- the campaign is helping boost voter turnout on Election Day, the aide said.

"In these regions, she has very strong numbers. We've also seen, because of daily tracking polls, she's had a positive impact," the adviser said. "In these states, we're not at the margins we need to be successful. And in all of these regions, when she's been campaigning, she's been helping."

Palin continues to inspire considerable fervor among Republican activists, who have flocked to her rallies in large numbers.

"I love her -- she's just like me," said Pam Moore, a minister who attended the rally in Green on Wednesday. Moore dismissed the latest reports of the RNC-funded shopping: "They are just trying to find dirt, and it's sad that people are stooping that low."

At the rally this afternoon at a local high school, Palin demonstrated her populist touch as she called out to country singer Gretchen Wilson, who performed her hit song "Redneck Woman" before the GOP ticket took the stage. "I need to get your autograph before we leave," Palin told Wilson. "Someone called me a "redneck woman" once, and you know what I said back? 'Why, thank you.' "

"She's like one of us, just a normal, hardworking person, not someone from D.C. " said Ivan Capps, a Bureau of Land Management records manager who attended a Palin rally in Grand Junction, Colo.

But some of those interviewed expressed hesitancy about the pick. Barb Thomas, 67, a retired insurance administrator who lives near Harrisburg, Pa., said Palin is the only variable that could keep her from punching her ticket for McCain. "If something happened to McCain, I'm not sure she would be a good president," Thomas said. "That's one of the things that bothers me right now."

Eilperin was traveling with the Palin campaign. Staff writer Michael D. Shear and polling director Jon Cohen in Washington contributed to this report.