Welcome to Politico's daily look inside the presidential race. This insiders' guide will give you a sneak peak at each side's game plan every morning. We will judge the best moments - and tell you each evening who won the day. Check back throughout the day for updates.
The Charleston Gazette is a member of the Politico Network.
Welcome to Politico's daily look inside the presidential race. This insiders' guide will give you a sneak peak at each side's game plan every morning. We will judge the best moments - and tell you each evening who won the day. Check back throughout the day for updates.
JOHN MCCAIN:
John McCain and Sarah Palin start their post-convention barnstorming tour Friday with stops in two key battleground states. The newly minted Republican ticket will first touch down in Cedarburg, Wis., a small town 20 miles north of Milwaukee on the banks of Lake Michigan. Later in the afternoon, they'll head to Sterling Heights, Mich., a Detroit suburb in the always-competitive Macomb County.
The format: The new nominee and his celebrity running mate will appear together, allowing McCain to bask in the glow of the GOP's newest rock star and give an up-close view of Palin to voters hungering to get their first look. The strategy: Show their intention to make a hard play for disaffected union members, exurban women and wavering independents who may be swayed by McCain's new freedom to be McCain and Palin's hockey mom charisma.
BARACK OBAMA:
Barack Obama and Joe Biden blanket Pennsylvania today in separate campaign swings: Biden in a Philadelphia suburb, Obama in Harrisburg and Scranton before heading to Newark, N.J. for a fundraiser. The reason for the locale: Pennsylvania is a pivotal swing state - and one Obama lost badly to Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primary. The strategy: Relentlessly tie the new ticket to an unpopular president, portray the McCain/Palin convention as negative and backward-looking and hope Joe Biden - once Joey Biden of Scranton - still has the local touch.
Get Connected