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John McCain has launched an audacious bid to rebuild the political coalition that Ronald Reagan rode to the White House, tapping the mania accompanying his running mate Sarah Palin to win over small town America, and with it the White House. The Republican presidential candidate signalled his intentions by using his first weekend of campaigning since his party's convention to launch a political raid into the heart of Reagan-Democrat country, home of the fabled blue collar voters who Mr Reagan captured from the Democrats in the 1980s. Mr McCain, and particularly Mrs Palin, met with a rapturous reception as they...

Sarah Palin: northern star injects new life into lumbering campaign An extraordinary display of raw political talent could trump Obama’s ‘pretty speeches’ and rally the religious right Sarah Baxter in Detroit The enthusiasm generated by Sarah Palin, the Republican party’s new “northern star”, on her first tour of Middle America this weekend has revived Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign to such a remarkable extent that she is outshining her running mate. It is an unprecedented position of power for a vice-presidential candidate that carries great risks and rewards for McCain as he adjusts to operating in the shadow of a...

The Republican presidential candidate signalled his intentions by using his first weekend of campaigning since his party's convention to launch a political raid into the heart of Reagan-Democrat country, home of the fabled blue collar voters who Mr Reagan captured from the Democrats in the 1980s. Mr McCain, and particularly Mrs Palin, met with a rapturous reception as they held a rally in Macomb County, Michigan, where pollsters first identified the breed of patriotic conservative, blue collar workers who the McCain camp now believes hold the key to victory in November. On Friday night in Sterling Heights, Mr McCain's selection...

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich.—John McCain may have swapped one enthusiasm gap for another. As he touched down in suburbs outside of Milwaukee and Detroit, the just crowned Republican nominee found himself first on the newly-fashioned signs proclaiming the unlikely GOP ticket but seemingly second in the hearts of the thousands who thronged rallies to catch their first glimpse in person of Sarah Palin. McCain drew loud applause, first at a morning appearance in the downtown of a quaint, Republican-leaning Wisconsin village and then at a more-boisterous amphitheater rally here in Michigan’s working-class Macomb County. Yet it was Palin who many, especially...

If John McCain becomes the nation's 44th president, it may be thanks to Michigan -- a prize the Republicans think they can claim for the first time in nearly 20 years. On Friday, Sen. McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, arrived in this auto-plant town in Detroit's suburbs to begin their final election sprint. The goal: Persuade disaffected voters like Howard Mitchell that Republicans still deserve their support. Mr. Mitchell, a 28-year-old video technician at an auto plant in nearby Pontiac, would seem a promising target for the Democrats this year. In 2000, he bucked his Republican neighbors and...

In a sweep through the swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin, Mr McCain was met by the kind of near-hysterical crowds previously seen only at campaign events for his Democratic rival, Barack Obama. More than 6,000 exultant supporters turned out on Friday night in Sterling Heights, a town in Michigan's Macomb County, home of the Reagan-Democrats, the small town blue collar voters who propelled Ronald Reagan to the White House in the 1980s and hold the key to victory this year. Where he once played to a few hundred people, Mr McCain was greeted by an electrified crowd chanting "Sa-rah,...

If John McCain becomes the nation's 44th president, it may be thanks to Michigan -- a prize the Republicans think they can claim for the first time in nearly 20 years.Sen. Obama is the one who might face an uphill battle. For starters, he chose not to participate in Michigan's primary in January -- a decision that now deprives his campaign of a ready-made network of supporters. (Michigan held its primary earlier than the national Democratic Party wanted, so Sen. Obama and several others stayed off the ballot in solidarity with the party.) At the same time, Sen. McCain plays...

Later yesterday, the two traveled to Macomb County, the suburban Detroit turf where the "Reagan Democrat" demographic was first identified by pollster Stan Greenberg. Palin appeared to earn more applause than McCain when she was introduced, and an unsolicited chant of "Sarah! Sarah!" rose from the crowd of several thousand. She delivered an appeal to those socially conservative, working-class voters on the basis of patriotism, not class. "Our opponents have been going on recently about how they fight for you," Palin said. "Since Senator McCain won't say this on his behalf, let me say it: There's only one man in...

If there was any doubt that John McCain's surprise pick of Sarah Palin has grabbed the attention of many Republicans, Barbara Falk, a retiree born and raised in this quaint small town, put it to rest yesterday: "I came out to see her." So did Falk's friend Pat Mantel, who said, "I do enjoy that vice president that McCain picked." And so did Mantel's sister Carol Eberhardt, a retired lab worker and single mother of three, who said, "She speaks my language." A day after McCain gave what many critics panned as a flat acceptance speech, Palin proved to be...

Sarah Palin mania transformed John McCain's presidential campaign as the Republican duo made their first appearances after claiming their party's White House nominations. In a sweep through the swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin, Mr McCain was met by the kind of near-hysterical crowds previously seen only at campaign events for his Democratic rival, Barack Obama. More than 6,000 exultant supporters turned out on Friday night in Sterling Heights, a town in Michigan's Macomb County, home of the Reagan-Democrats, the small town blue collar voters who propelled Ronald Reagan to the White House in the 1980s and hold the key...

Ijane Presidential Member = >1000 Posts Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,752 Poster Rank: #55 9/05/08 Just Got Back From McCain/Palin Freedom Hill Sterling Heights MI Rally It was kind of weird going to a McCain rally but I have to admit it was a lot of fun!! The Rally was held at the Freedom Hill Amphitheatre and it was a sold out show. I picked up my tickets for the rally the day before Sarah Palin spoke at the convention. The day after she spoke, the rally sold out! I think there were about 7000 people, I'll...

Here are the pictures from the McCain/Palin event here in MI. Thanks so much to FReeper TheRake for the tickets!!!!

Mac attack in the Wolverine state could be coming.

WASHINGTON, DC – One day after Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstructing justice by committing perjury and no–contest to one count of felonious assault for shoving a sheriff’s deputy, The Freedom's Defense Fund (FDF) launched an ad in Macomb County, Michigan. The ad calls into question Senator Obama’s judgment and takes issue with the praise Obama lavished on Kilpatrick at the Detroit Economic Club in May 2007. The tag at the end of the ad asks the viewers, “Do you know who Barack Obama’s friends are?” To view the ad please visit: http://www.freedomsdefensefund.com/videos.html “For...

Long before sex, lies and texting caused Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to plead guilty to two felonies and resign on Thursday, he and Barack Obama shared a warm man-hug before a huge Motown crowd. It came 16 months ago, as Obama was launching his campaign for president with a scalding speech to the Detroit Economic Club upbraiding Detroit's automakers for not building more fuel-efficient cars. But while that speech gave Obama green street-cred, his praise of Kilpatrick as a "great mayor" who will do "astounding things for many years to come" backfired. As Kilpatrick now heads to jail for four...

ST. PAUL -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, accepting the GOP nomination for vice president Wednesday night, sought to silence critics and strike an accord with American voters in one of the most anticipated speeches in the race for the White House. Unknown even to many Republicans a week ago, Palin wrapped a personal profile and philosophical pitch into a 40-minute talk that brought thundering ovations from delegates at the Republican National Convention.

BARACK OBAMA has the problem from hell. The very voters he needs to win this election, the white working class that has been descending into post-industrial post-prosperity for a couple of decades and the past eight years in particular, are angry. American finance and corporations have abandoned them for cheaper climes, and they blame the elites of both parties for their woes. Obama's challenge is to become a tribune for some of that anger without looking like an angry black man. One of the keenest students of these all-important swing voters is Stan Greenberg, Bill Clinton's pollster in 1992 and...

plans are coming together for a Republican rally as well. It's scheduled to take place on September 5th in Sterling Heights after the Republican Convention. John McCain will be joined by his newly announced running mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. This rally will mark the first appearance for McCain-Palin in the state of Michigan and will kick off campaign volunteer activities. The rally will take place at the Freedom Hill Amphitheatre in Sterling Heights on Friday, September 5th at 5:00 p.m. Doors will open at 3:00 p.m. and tickets are required for admission. Tickets may be picked up at ticket...

The fun and games may be in Denver, but this year’s presidential election will likely be decided in critical states like Michigan, where many Democratic voters, despite being hammered by a wicked economy, are ambivalent at best about the candidate at the top of their party’s ticket. You could easily get the impression, through casual conversations, that Michigan will be a cakewalk for Barack Obama. Most people you talk to say that they plan to vote for him. Nearly all working families have been touched by the downturn, which has been longer and more severe here than in most other...

A spending scandal at California's largest union local spread to a second state Monday as the head of the union's leading Michigan group stepped aside because of a widening financial inquiry. The Service Employees International Union said that Rickman Jackson, who served as chief of staff at the Los Angeles organization, has taken a leave of absence from its biggest Michigan local less than a week after the president of the Los Angeles chapter relinquished his post. Both departures followed reports in The Times that the local and a related charity paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to firms owned...

DENVER - Democratic delegates from Michigan and Florida were awarded full voting rights at the national convention Sunday, despite holding early primaries against party rules. The convention credentials committee voted unanimously to restore the voting privileges at the behest of Barack Obama, the party's presumptive nominee for president. The states were initially stripped of delegates for holding primaries before Feb. 5. The party's rules committee restored the delegates in May, but gave them only half votes.

Among all of the 2008 presidential battlegrounds, Democratic-leaning Michigan - with 8.5 percent unemployment and an auto-industry economy in deep recession - should be an easy slam-dunk for Sen. Barack Obama. But the freshman senator from neighboring Illinois remains stuck in a dead heat in the state against Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, who is "within striking distance of winning, strange as that may sound," veteran Michigan election analyst Bill Ballenger said Tuesday. Mr. Obama narrowly leads his Republican rival by 3.2 percent, 46 percent to 42.8 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics Web site, which tracks the presidential...

MARQUETTE -- Congressman Bart Stupak today predicted that John McCain will choose former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to be his running mate. Romney is a Michigan native who won the Republican primary here in January, and Stupak says that could make things difficult for Democrat Barack Obama. Michigan is considered one of the key "swing" states. "I have no illusions that Senator Obama will have a tough time in the First Congressional District," Stupak told TV6. "It remains a Republican seat. George W. Bush won it both times. So I think it's harder here in northern Michigan for Senator Obama."...

DETROIT (AP) — Barack Obama doesn't want Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his legal troubles to be a distraction at the upcoming Democratic National Convention, and he got his wish Thursday when a judge ordered the city executive to stay home. A Michigan spokesman for Obama, Brent Colburn, said in an e-mail Thursday that the focus of the convention in Denver this month should be on Obama and not on what Colburn called "the troubles of one individual," a reference to Kilpatrick and the two criminal cases he's facing. Kilpatrick, who would have gone to the convention as a superdelegate,...

Here is video in three parts of Sen. John McCain holding a press conference in Michigan on August 13, 2008. McCain took questions during a day of campaigning and fundraisers in the Wolverine State. He talked about the Russian crisis, the importance of low taxes, and a number of other key issues. . . .

ROYAL OAK, Mich. -- The wife of Republican presidential nominee John McCain was taken Wednesday afternoon to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak after complaining of pain in one of her hands during a fundraising event in West Bloomfield. -snip- Cindy McCain's hand was shaken a bit too strongly at the event, which agitated a pre-existing condition she had, McCain’s campaign said.

TROY, Mich. (AP) -- A woman accused of having a paid sexual tryst with the husband of Michigan U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow has been sentenced to probation on a lesser charge. Alycia Martin was sentenced Tuesday to six months’ probation. The 21-year-old’s record will be expunged if she successfully completes her sentence. Prosecutors dropped a prostitution charge against the Westland woman in June. She pleaded guilty to trespassing. Investigators conducting surveillance Feb. 26 at a Troy hotel stopped then-46-year-old Thomas Athans. They say Stabenow’s husband acknowledged meeting Martin through the Internet and paying her $150 for sex. Authorities didn’t charge...

Ridge said he was proud of how McCain has handled the crisis unfolding in Georgia. ...“He has kept a cool head, taken calls from Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili -- and really behaved very presidential in his perspective of this crisis,” said Ridge as McCain shook hands with the crowd that gathered around him. “He has been to Georgia several times,” Ridge added. “He doesn’t need to look for it on a map.”

Barack Obama still holds a solid 47% to 40% lead over John McCain in the key battleground state of Michigan, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of voters there. Obama’s lead has dropped a statistically insignificant one-point since last month. When “leaners” are factored in, Obama has a narrower 49% to 45% lead on his Republican rival.

A palate-cleansing flashback for you from June 2007 to salute Detroit’s mayor of unknown party affiliation being sent to jail. The requisite sadness having been duly expressed, all that’s left is to clear a little space in the background of this image and perform the obligatory P-shop coup de grace. You might be seeing this clip turn up in a McCain ad in Michigan circa mid-October. Click the image to watch.

NEWPORT, Mich. - Senator John McCain toured a nuclear power plant in Michigan on Tuesday to highlight his support for the construction of 45 new nuclear power generators by 2030, a position that he said distinguished him from his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama. :If we really want to enable new technologies tomorrow like plug-in electric cars, we need electricity to plug into," he said in a statement after touring the Fermi 2 nuclear plant, its twin cooling towers spewing vapors used as a backdrop. "We need to do all this and more." In addressing the nation's energy demands, Mr....

LANSING, Mich. — Senator Barack Obama altered his position on Monday to call for tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gasoline prices as he outlined an energy plan that contrasts with Senator John McCain’s greater emphasis on expanded offshore drilling and coal and nuclear technology. In a speech here and in a new advertisement, Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, also sought to portray his Republican rival, Mr. McCain, as “in the pocket” of oil giants that are profiting from gasoline priced at more than $4 a gallon. And in his speech, Mr. Obama called for a windfall...

NEWPORT, MI—John McCain is going nuclear on gas prices. At least that’s what his campaign would like voters to believe, as the presumptive Republican nominee crosses the country touting his energy policies in hopes of winning voters anxious about record fuel prices. “We all know that nuclear power isn’t enough and drilling isn’t enough. We need to do all this and more,” said McCain on Tuesday, standing in front of smoking cooling towers at a Michigan nuclear power plant. “Solving our national energy crisis requires an all of the above approach.” So that is exactly what McCain is delivering this...

According to the Indy Star, Barack Obama has not asked Sen. Evan Bayh to be his running mate. At least not yet. The Star is reporting that the length of Obama's visit to Indiana -- he arrives around 6:30 p.m. this evening and does not leave until 3:30 p.m. Wednesday -- has fueled rumors that Bayh will be Obama's choice. Add to the fact that his wife, twin sons and father, the former Sen. Birch Bayh, will be joining him on this trip, and Bayh watch is on every political radar screen. The first rule of picking a vice-presidential running...

The Heartland supersized Sen. John McCain last night at a ginormous motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D. While no one shouted "Free Bird" to McCain while he was speaking -- a pop culture homage to Lynyrd Skynyrd whose 2008 version of the band is playing at the rally -- the Republican presumptive nominee did call attention to the larger than normal size of his crowd: "As you may know, not long ago, a couple hundred thousand Berliners made a lot of noise for my opponent. I'll take the roar of 50,000 Harleys any day."

Right now 12 percent of Michigan’s registered voters are undecided, according to the Lansing-based polling firm EPIC/MRA. CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC all carried Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s speech on energy live from Michigan’s state capitol on Monday, perhaps a further underscore of the importance of the Wolverine state in Decision 2008. “Historically Michigan has had a slight Democratic edge, but most polls show it to be a lot tighter than normal,” said NBC 25 political analyst Dr. Paul Rozycki, political science professor at Mott Community College. A recent poll by Real Clear Politics shows Sen. Obama has 46.3%...

More than 1,000 supporters lined up this morning to hear presumed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's scheduled 11 a.m. address on U.S. energy policies, an issue that has heated up the campaign in the face of $4-a-gallon gas and sniping with Republican foe John McCain over offshore oil drilling. Dave Newbury, 39, of Lansing, was among the ticket holders. He said he's a longime Democrat who'll also vote for Obama because "I'm half black like he is, so I like that." Newbury said he would support a windfall profits tax on oil companies. "It seems like the oil companies are...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Less than a month before Democrats hold their historic national convention in Denver, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has asked the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to allow convention delegates from Florida and Michigan to cast a full vote. In a letter to the DNC on Sunday, Obama asked the DNC's Credentials Committee, which meets a day before the convention, to pass a resolution restoring the full voting power of delegates from the two states. "As a candidate for the nomination, I supported the DNC's efforts to establish and enforce a schedule for primaries and caucuses that would...

Senator Barack Obama has asked the credentials committee of the Democratic Party to give full voting rights to delegates from Florida and Michigan at the national convention in Denver. The request is likely to be granted because it comes from Mr. Obama, the all-but-certain nominee, who now controls the party apparatus. [..] Mr. Obama’s request is likely to cause consternation among party officials, who have struggled to maintain some authority over the primary calendar. Restoring full voting rights will essentially be giving a green light to other states to ignore the primary calendar next election. The credentials committee is scheduled...

BIRMINGHAM -- Freedom. That's the main thrust of the campaign Jack Kevorkian says he is pushing in his bid to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Hills. Kevorkian held a community roundtable Friday night at the Birmingham Community House on Bates Street. Kevorkian, who is running as an independent, faces Knollenberg and Democrat Gary Peters in the November election. Famous for his legal battles involving assisted suicide, Kevorkian spoke to a small group of people, quoting Thomas Jefferson, Bernard Shaw and Benjamin Franklin. "I'm not doing this for personal gain, I'm here to educate and inform the public," he...

Obama 46% McCain 43% Margin of Error 3.3%

THE principal reason why former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has climbed to the top of Sen. John McCain's wish list for vice president is the possibility that he could bring Michigan's 17 electoral votes to the Republicans for the first time since 1988. Private polls show Romney could make all the difference in Michigan. A McCain-Romney ticket carries the state by a moderately comfortable margin.

Republican John McCain is tightening the presidential race against Democratic rival Barack Obama in four key states, according to polls released Thursday.

The 2008 presidential campaign promises to be one of the most memorable in United States history.

Republican U.S. presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain has gained support in four key battleground states, polls indicate. McCain, R-Ariz., who likely will face Democrat Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois in November, leads Obama in Colorado, while narrowing the gap since June 26 in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, Quinnipiac University polls show. In Colorado, McCain leads Obama 46 percent to 44 percent. In Michigan, Obama leads McCain 46 percent to 42 percent, while in Minnesota Obama narrowly leads McCain 46 percent to 44 percent. In Wisconsin, Obama leads McCain 50 percent to 39 percent.

Republican John McCain has quickly closed the gap between himself and Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama in several key battleground states even as the Arizona senator struggles to break through the wall-to-wall coverage of Obama's trip to Europe and the Middle East this week. McCain and Obama are in a statistical dead heat in Colorado, Michigan and Minnesota while the Illinois senator has a more comfortable double-digit edge in Wisconsin, according to polling conducted by Quinnipiac University for washingtonpost.com and the Wall Street Journal during the past week. Only in Colorado, however, does McCain hold a greater percentage of the...

A new Detroit News-WXYZ-EPIC-MRA poll has Obama leading by two points in Michigan, 43%-41%. “The numbers are an improvement for Obama over EPIC-MRA's last survey, in late May, which found McCain leading by 4 points.

Jonathan Martin gets a new Michigan poll via the Detroit News: New poll numbers out from the Detroit News have the Michigan race between Obama and McCain very competitive with a chunk of voters still on the sidelines. Obama is up 43-41, but 12% of voters said they're undecided. My gut is that if undecideds are that high, John McCain is President.  Michigan is a lot of electoral votes and we saw throughout the primaries that Obama never really closed well. The undecideds always broke hard against him. Obviously, it is far too early to be making statements like this, ...

A new poll shows 43 percent of Michigan voters back Democrat Barack Obama and 41 percent support GOP rival John McCain

Scott Romney, the older brother of John McCain’s former GOP rival Mitt Romney, will become a co-chairman of the McCain campaign in Michigan, CBSNews.com confirms.