McCain and Palin may campaign together a lot

By Steve Holland

GREAT FALLS, Montana (Reuters) - Buoyed by big crowds and enthusiasm, Republican presidential candidate John McCain and No. 2 Sarah Palin likely will campaign together more than is traditional, a top McCain official said on Wednesday.

The development came as vice presidential running mate Palin flew home to Alaska to headline a "welcome home" rally on Wednesday night in Fairbanks and participate in her first major television network interview on Thursday and Friday in her home town of Wasilla.

Her campaign plane, packed with reporters and some of McCain's top campaign officials, stopped in Montana to refuel for the remainder of the long cross-country flight to Alaska.

Presidential candidates and their running mates typically split up so they can cover more ground. But McCain and Palin, after spending the next several days apart, are expected to get back together again next week.

The official, briefing reporters on Palin's plane, likened the McCain-Palin roadshow to that of Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992, when the pair campaigned together a lot and defeated incumbent President George H.W. Bush.

"It is under serious consideration that they will spend more time together than not, and more time together than is traditional," the official said. "The idea of keeping them together is they are a great duo together from the perspective of delivering a message."

The official said the messages the pair delivers are the themes of change, energy and the economy, plus - "We like the images."

McCain, 72, and Alaska Gov. Palin, 44, have traveled together almost exclusively since accepting their nominations as their party's candidates at last week's Republican convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.

With her at his side, McCain is drawing the biggest crowds of his candidacy and public opinion polls have been moving in his favor with Palin helping him draw in white women and independent voters.

"There's a huge amount of enthusiasm. It clicks," the official said. "Their chemistry works very well. People are really responding to it."

Palin's interview with ABC News will be her first since McCain stunned the political world two weeks ago by selecting the first-term governor who is the first woman to serve as running mate on a Republican ticket. Geraldine Ferraro was No. 2 on the Democratic ticket in 1984.

(Editing by Vicki Allen)