Newsmaker

Palin to campaign for McCain again

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-21 09:35

Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) speaks to the crowd during his election night rally in Phoenix in this November 4, 2008 file photo. [Agencies]

PHOENIX: Sen. John McCain and Sarah Palin plan to campaign together again in March, their first such appearance since their unsuccessful bid as running-mates in the 2008 presidential campaign.

McCain announced Wednesday that the former Alaska governor, Palin, who was his pick for vice president, will join him in Phoenix in late March to boost his US Senate campaign. He was first elected in 1986 and is seeking a fifth six-year term.

Palin, who made her debut last week as a Fox News analyst, is scheduled to attend a private fundraising event March 26. The next day, she and McCain will appear together at a public event, likely a rally, according to McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan.

"I'm looking forward to getting back on the campaign trail with my former running mate," McCain said in a statement. He said she "energized our nation and remains a leading voice in the Republican Party."

Since their failed bid for the White House, McCain and Palin have had a couple of public appearances together, including a dinner in Washington. But the March events will mark the first time they will be on the campaign trail together since 2008, Buchanan said.

Palin has criticized McCain's campaign since their loss, saying in her book "Going Rogue" that there was substantial tension between her advisers and McCain's. She said she was kept "bottled up" from reporters during the campaign and was prevented from delivering a concession speech in Phoenix on Election Night.

Palin hasn't criticized McCain himself, and the senator has stood by his decision to choose her as his running mate, saying he was proud of the campaign and predicting she would be a "major player" in Republican affairs.

A Palin spokesman declined to comment, but a post on her Facebook page said the former governor is excited to help elect candidates who will "fight for the people and against politics as usual." The post mentioned McCain, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Fred Solop, a political science professor at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, said it makes sense for McCain to bring Palin in early in his campaign to appeal to conservative voters but that he'll likely distance himself after the primary to appeal to Independents.

"I think it's a strategy that helps him build support early in the process," Solop said.