By Staff
Vice presidential hopeful focuses on economy, war
By GREG KATSKI
Staff Writer
GREENVILLE — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Republican vice presidential nominee, captivated the crowd of 8,000-plus at Minges Coliseum Tuesday night with a speech dominated by economic promises, attacks on the Obama/Biden presidential campaign and high praise for the experience of her running mate, Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
Palin said she was campaigning in the Tar Heel state “to help put us in (Washington,) D.C.”
She cited McCain as the only presidential hopeful with the experience to fix the current economic crisis and manage the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The vice presidential hopeful said, if elected, a McCain-led White House would propose a spending freeze in the federal government to help alleviate the government’s growing debt and ease the country’s credit and mortgage problems.
The freeze would allow the executive branch “to review every agency, every department,” said Palin. “And eliminate things not working for you, people of America.”
She said that the American people can trust McCain and that the presidential nominee is not a flip-flopper.
She also has the utmost confidence in his role as commander-in-chief.
Showing her every-woman side, she said, “as a mother of one of those troops, that is exactly the kind of man I want (in charge).”
Palin then paid tribute to the troops in the audience.
The vice presidential nominee then went on the attack.
Palin said that Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), has voted 94 times for higher federal taxes since joining the Senate.
She also said that two of Obama’s biggest supporters and campaign financiers have strong ties to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
She also called for smaller government and less reliance on foreign energy.
She pointed to her time as governor of Alaska as proof.
The vice presidential nominee also called for offshore drilling, which received an enthusiastic response from the audience.
Beneath a backdrop of rabid supporters donning signs that read “Pirates 4 Palin” and “Palin Power,” the Alaska governor concluded with what she considers is the difference between the two campaigns.