Palin is Republican star, Obama the target

ST. PAUL (Reuters) - Sarah Palin was the biggest star at John McCain's Republican convention. Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama was the biggest target.

Palin, the moose-hunting Alaska governor and newly minted vice presidential candidate, stole McCain's four-day show while proving a perfect messenger for its main theme -- that Obama is an out-of-touch liberal whose sense of the real world cannot match McCain's, earned in a Hanoi prison cell.

Her sarcastic put-downs of Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, drew roars of approval from Republicans and drew more than 37 million U.S. television viewers -- just short of Obama's record audience for a convention speech last week.

The message echoed the last two Republican conventions, when scathing attacks on Democrats Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004 helped put George W. Bush in the White House twice.

"Sarah Palin's mocking tone of Obama was very appropriate," said Fergus Cullen, chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. "This election now is about Barack Obama and whether he is qualified to be president."

Palin's attacks allowed McCain to go easy on Obama during his speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday, and her popularity with conservatives gave him room to distance himself from Bush and tout his reformer credentials and willingness to challenge his own party.

"I don't work for a party. I don't work for a special interest. I don't work for myself. I work for you," McCain said in a 48-minute speech.

MILITARY SERVICE

A parade of convention speakers touted McCain's service in the U.S. Navy and largely ignored the eight years of Bush's rule, hoping to focus the November 4 election on a comparison between the character of the two candidates.

"If they can get people to think about who they feel most comfortable with, Republicans think John McCain is going to be the answer to that question," said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Palin ridiculed Obama's experience as a community organizer in Chicago, mocked his penchant for high-flying rhetoric and even made fun of the fake Greek columns that lined the stage when Obama accepted the Democratic nomination last week.

She and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also made indirect references to Obama's wife, Michelle, who said in February that "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country."

Palin said of the small-town Americans she grew up with: "They're always proud of America."

Democrats said the Republicans had little choice but to focus on personalities because the issues do not work in their favor. Opinion polls show Bush is deeply unpopular and majorities favor Obama's leadership on the economy, although McCain is usually favored on foreign policy issues.

'RUNNING FROM THEIR RECORD'

"They're running from their record, instead of on their record," David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, said.

"We've heard again and again that John McCain was a prisoner of war, for which we all honor him and respect him but heck, we knew that before the convention," he said. "People understand that we've got big problems. The fact that they don't address any of them I think will be noted."

Republicans said they aired plenty of issues during the convention, shortened a day by Hurricane Gustav's assault on the Gulf Coast, but the biggest issue remained Obama's fitness as president.

"This is not a personal attack, it's a statement of fact -- Barack Obama has never led anything," former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said. "Nothing. Nada. The choice in this election comes down to substance over style. John has been tested. Barack Obama has not."

PALIN LEADS ATTACKS

Republicans said the personal story of the relatively unknown Palin, 44, a conservative mother of five with a strong anti-abortion and pro-gun record, made her a good choice for leading the attacks on Obama.

"You have to reach back a long way in national politics to find somebody with that kind of daily experience shared by millions," Cullen said of Palin. "That's a huge asset. People relate to her. They see their experiences in her."

Since McCain tapped her as his running mate, Palin has been at the center of a media storm fueled by disclosures about her unmarried teenage daughter's pregnancy, a probe into her role in an Alaskan official's firing and questions about her political record.

Her double-barreled response at the convention, including an attack on the news media, made her a party star and ignited a frenzy of enthusiasm among grass-roots Republicans.

"She has single-handedly closed the enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats," said John Pitney, a political analyst at Claremont McKenna College in California. "Republicans are just as pumped as Democrats now and that can make a difference."

(Editing by Howard Goller)