Palin Visits New Hampshire

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin speaks at a campaign event in Dover. (Erik Swenson, NHPR)

At a morning stop at Dover High School, the Alaska Governor kept an overflow crowd waiting for almost an hour, but if anyone was restive, it didn’t show once Palin took the stage.

“My Goodness, how beautiful this part of the country is. God has certainly blessed this state; the foliage, gorgeous.”

Palin added that her comfort here wasn’t surprising given that her home state and the granite have some things in common.

“We all love good moose hunting, I know that. We both so enjoy good fishing, we love being outdoors. That is New Hampshire also. We both also take seriously our, -- your state motto. It should be our state motto as well, live free or die, yes.”

Palin acknowledged that John McCain now trails Barack Obama in the polls but said he’s overcome similar deficits in the past. She said voters here understand McCain’s history, and that they want what she termed a tough man to harness what she described as the nations’ anger.

“There is a lot of frustration and anger about the insider dealing of lobbyists, and anger about the greed and the corruption on Wall Street, and anger the arrogance about the Washington elite, and anger about the unconscionable voter fraud that going on. And with serious reforms to change Washington and Wall Street, John McCain is going to turn that anger into action.”

The Alaska Governor told the crowd that with their support, she and John McCain would win the war in Iraq, and win what she termed the economic war at home. Palin spent little time speaking directly about Democratic nominee Barack Obama -- mentioning him by name only twice, and skipping several lines of attack that have been staples of her recent stump speeches.