AP Photo - Palin With Ridge

ERIE, PA–Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge introduced Sarah Palin at a rally in his hometown—just days after he said that he would have been a better pick to capture Pennsylvania for the Republicans than Palin.

The crowd was still enthusiastic for the Alaska governor—a crowd of 7,500 coming to see Palin, but it didn’t get off to such a good start when she congratulated the crowd on the Philadelphia Phillies winning the World Series last night, “So glad to be here in your beautiful hometown here in Pennsylvania, and I am thrilled to be here in the home state of the world champion Philadelphia Phillies.”

The crowd booed as Erie is split between fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cleveland Indians.

She referenced her earlier speech on national security and accused the Democrats in Congress and the “far left” of wanting to cut defense spending.

“It’s the far left leaning Democratic party, not mainstream thinking, but way far left, the Democrat party, they’re preparing to take over the entire federal government, and according to their own stated plans, the first thing to go will be one fourth of the United States defense budget, “ Palin said. “One of the Blue Star moms said, ‘what are we supposed to do, throw a bake sale?’ What are they thinking? John McCain and I have a better idea, lets not retreat from wars we’ve almost won, and lets not gut the defense budget at a time of multiple conflicts and obvious dangers. This is a time where we need to grow our military, and let’s not entrust all the powers of the federal government to a one-party rule of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.”

She has been warning voters on the stump about the potential “monopoly of power” if Obama is elected.

Palin will continue stumping in  Pennsylvania tomorrow doing a bus tour of the Keystone state. The GOP Vice-Presidential candidate will make stops in Latrobe, Somerset, New Paris, Breezewood, York, and Mechanicsburg hoping to close the polls in this must-win state.

AP

Who knew that Saturday Night Live would become the go-to place for the GOP ticket this year?

John McCain is scheduled to appear on Saturday Night Live this weekend, the second time he has hit the late night comedy show this year.

He last appeared on SNL on May 17 when he participated in two skits–one a faux address to the nation where he touted his being “really, really old” as an important reason to elect him and another on the Weekend Update segment where he called on Democrats to keep the primary race going as long as possible.

Runningmate Gov. Sarah Palin made her own guest appearance on the show two weeks ago.

No details on the nature of the skit this weekend or official comment from the campaign yet.

Actor Ben Affleck, an Obama supporter, will be officially hosting the show.

AP Photo-Erie, PA

ERIE, PA –With just five days before Election Day, Sarah Palin held a roundtable discussion focused on national security with advisers including former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge and gave a speech on why the GOP ticket will keep America safer than Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Palin made the case for her running mate saying that he is the man that can protect the country from terrorism and Obama may be able to fill his events, but he does not have the experience to be president.

“I think in this campaign a lot of Americans are realizing that a man can be admired in many ways, and he can show great promise, and yet still not be ready for the most important and demanding job in the world. Rousing speeches can fill a stadium, but perhaps cannot keep this country safe though. For a season, a man can inspire with his words. But for a lifetime, John McCain has inspired with his heroic and trustworthy deeds.”

She told the crowd made up of College Republicans at Penn State University-Erie and professors that the country used to be able to pick a president according to what priority was greater: domestic issues or national security concerns, but those days are over and they are now intertwined.

“Even if a most immediate concern is economic, our recovery will still depend on leadership that can protect and advance security and our vital interests in the world,” Palin said.

The Alaska governor said it was “understandable” that Americans are more concerned about the economy when they may be losing their jobs, homes, and health insurance, but she warned that the country can not lose “sight of what matters most.”

She said that the outcomes of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will either keep Americans safer or place the country in greater danger and then went after Obama calling his 30 minute television ad last night an “infomercial” and accused the Democratic nominee of wanting to take the focus off of national security.

“Barack Obama didn’t have much to say in that long infomercial of his last night about the stakes in the wars that America is fighting, or about the need to support the troops in the field, or why he supported cutting off funding for our troops in the war. He prefers it seems to wrap his closing message in a kind of that warm and fuzzy commercial message—that was scripted.” Palin said as she read off of a teleprompter, “He wants to soften the focus in these closing days, hoping that your mind won’t wander to the real challenges of national security that I believe he is incapable of meeting. But in this time for choosing, what we need is clarity! Now more than ever we need clarity. We need an alertness to the dangers that are still in our power to contain.”

AP Photo

MENTOR, OH — McCain may owe his closing argument to Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher so he the man is entitled to a little praise but the GOP nominee was not holding anything back today.

At his early evening rally here in Thursday, McCain called him “an American hero and a great citizen of Ohio and my role model and the man I’m fighting for.”

At an earlier event today in Sandusky, McCain called him “the voice of small business, the voice of America, the voice and the strength and the courage of the United States of America and what the free enterprise system is all about, the hopes and dreams and aspirations.”

Sounds like Presidential Medal of Freedom material…

AP

SANDUSKY, OH — After a minor mishap this morning, Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher and John McCain finally found each other for a rally in central Ohio this afternoon.

In addition to leading a “Joe, Joe, Joe” chant, McCain lauded Wurzelbacher as “the straight talker, the voice of small business, the voice of America, the voice and the strength and the courage of the United States of America and what the free enterprise system is all about, the hopes and dreams and aspirations.”

For his part, America’s most famous plumber spoke very briefly and despite campaigning for McCain in recent days, Wurzelbacher spoke in very general terms about the election and offered up less than a ringing endorsement.

“The only thing I have been saying is just get out there and get informed. I mean really know what you are talking about when you are talking about it,” he told more than 6,000 supporters in the central square of Sandusky. “Don’t take everyone’s opinions. I came to my own opinions by research. Get involved in the government. That way we can hold our politicians accountable and take back our government. It is all ours.”

This is the first time the two men have met and comes two weeks after McCain cited Joe’s famous exchange with Obama at the last presidential debate to make the case that his Democratic rival wants to “spread the wealth around.”

UPDATE–5pm ET –McCain and Wurzelbacher took the stage at another rally in Elyria, OH just now where the plumber gave him a much stronger endorsement.

“If you want to vote for a real American, John McCain,” Wurzelbacher told the crowd.

AP Photo-Cape Girardeau, MO

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO– Sarah Palin rallied a crowd of 7,800 inside the events center of Southeast Missouri State University today. Palin asked the Show-Me State for their vote and told the crowd that her ticket’s “Country First” slogan–which is emblazoned on all of the GOP ticket’s signs, posters, and podiums—would be more than a catchphrase.

“So we’re gonna put government back on your side. It will always be country first, and I promise you after that victory on November 4th, those “Country First” posters won’t just be put away in some warehouse, just as some campaign slogan. That’s gonna be printed on every page in the federal employee handbook. Country First,” Palin told the cheering crowd.

Before the GOP Vice-Presidential nominee took the stage, she was introduced by the Republican Senator of this state, Kit Bond who criticized Barack Obama’s judicial philosophy. Bond attempted to accuse Obama of not wanting to appoint straight constitutional judges to the Supreme Court and said that the Democratic nominee wants judges who “show compassion” for minorities, teenage mothers, the disabled, and homosexuals.

“And speaking of fairness, just this past week, we saw what Barack Obama said about judges. He said, ‘I’m tired of these judges who want to swallow what the founding fathers said in the Constitution. I want judges who have a heart, have an empathy for the teenage mom, the minority, the gay, the disabled. We want them to show empathy, we want them to show compassion.’” Bond said, “He thinks this country should be a government, not a government of laws, but a government of compassion and empathy, not of laws.”

Palin’s next event is a national security roundtable in Erie, Pennsylvania where she will review security priorities with various advisers including former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. According to Palin aides, she is also expected to stress why the GOP ticket best understands the terrorist threat over Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

AP

ARNOLD, MO — Joe Biden ripped into John McCain for wanting to give tax breaks to oil companies when the GDP shrank in the third quarter and Exxon Mobile revealed record profits — but not before the Delaware Senator broke off on a mini-detour.

Delivering his longest speech in days - just under 27 minutes - to a crowd of 1,000, the VP candidate many describe as “gaffe prone” and undisciplined interrupted his riff comparing McCain to President Bush when he noticed Fox Senior High marching band in the stands of the high school gym. “Now look folks – hey, I didn’t even see the band up there. Hey folks! How you guys doin’?” Biden said. “Thanks for being here. That’s really nice of you. Thank you.”

“Um, that’s what you call getting off message,” he said to laughs. “But I tell ya, you guys look good.”

Biden has been described as “muzzled” in recent days, as Washington reporters accustomed to the verbose and free-wheeling Biden of Capitol Hill begin to notice the 15 minute speeches and ubiquitous tele-prompter on the trail.

But for Obama staffers, a muzzled Biden just means a candidate who’s getting better at delivering their message of the day without mucking it up with extraneous comments. Today, that message was bad economic numbers.

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DEFIANCE, OH - Reacting to comments Obama made to ABC last night that he is comfortable returning to the Senate if he loses, McCain had one message: “Let’s help make it happen.”

“Last night, Senator Obama said that if he lost he would return to the Senate and try again in four years with a second act. That sounds like a great idea  to me. Lets help him make it happen,” McCain said.

Obama told ABC Wednesday: “I’m a relatively young man. You know, they say that there are no second acts in politics, but, you know, I think there are enough exceptions out there that I could envision returning to the Senate and just doing some terrific work with the next president and the next Congress.”

DEFIANCE, OH — A communication mishap left John McCain awkwardly looking for Joe the Plumber at his rally today in northwest Ohio.

While Joe Wurzelbacher has been out on the stump for the GOP nominee in recent days, it appears initial plans to have him attend McCain’s first morning rally near his home were never confirmed with America’s most famous blue collar worker.

But, campaign aides say that Wurzelbacher will appear with McCain in the near future. The GOPer is conducting a two-day bus tour through Ohio.

AP Photo

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MISSOURI –-Last night on our flight here, Sarah Palin’s senior adviser Tucker Eskew came to the press section of the Palin plane to condemn an article written on ABCNews.com and to clarify what actually happened in an interview with Palin and ABC’s Elizabeth Vargas.

ABCNews.com reported that Palin espoused aspirations about 2012 in the interview when she did not. Many other news organizations saw that headline and reported the error prompting Eskew to come to clarify the mistake with the entire press corps.

“ABC News made a mistake. They’ve admitted that mistake, but unfortunately, they have compounded that and so have other news organizations.” Eskew said, “In that interview Gov. Palin was asked, right at the very end, about her intentions for 2012. She deflected those intentions and answered the question that she was planning to win. Deflecting isn’t probably the right word. She rejected that contention. She was asked in a follow up question whether she was discouraged–and I’m paraphrasing– discouraged by the attacks on her whether she wanted to just go back to Alaska. At which point she said I’m not going to wave the white flag of surrender and I’m not doing this for naught. She had talked extensively in this interview about what her reasons what motivated her in this campaign as a governor, a candidate, a mother and a woman. ABCNews.com proceeded to write a terrifically misleading headline that confused–it’s a much better word that conflated–her answers to those two separate questions.”

The incorrect headline read “Palin has an Eye on 2012,” referring to her saying, “I’m not doing this for naught,” but she was actually answering a question about whether she wanted to return home to Alaska because of the negative press and attacks she has come under–not about her political aspirations. As Eskew explained, when she was asked about her political future she said that she was concentrating on November 4th.

Eskew acknowledged that ABCNews.com “very professionally apologized” for their mistake and updated their story.
He describe the initial reporting of other news outlets on the ABC News mistake as “beyond the pale” and that it was of utmost importance that it get corrected, “As this campaign builds a occasionally acknowledged, but real momentum toward a very fast-approaching deadline of Election Day, that this record get corrected, get corrected very directly, and that some standards of fairness and accuracy be better observed.

He explained that the mistake was made even more ironic because the Vargas interview covered “attack and media distortions” on the GOP Vice-Presidential candidate.

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