Obama camp hits, then praises McCain’s choice

Obama camp hits, then praises McCain’s choice

MONACA, Pa. — Barack Obama’s spokesman fired off a fast criticism of Republican John McCain’s new running mate Friday, but the Democratic candidate himself quickly stepped in to offer her congratulations and praise.

Obama, who is eager to win over female voters who backed his rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primaries, blamed the mixed messages about McCain’s choice, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, on campaign aides with a “hair trigger.”

He and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, followed up with congratulatory phone calls to Palin.

As the plane was lifting off from Denver, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton issued a statement calling Palin an abortion-rights opponent and “the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience.”

Secrecy, surprise were goals of VP search

BOSTON — John McCain’s search for a running mate was remarkable in that it was carried out in secret, concluded with a bang and conducted in sharp contrast to the freewheeling style of his early presidential campaign or his hard-charging Navy days.

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting spirited his ultimate choice, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, first to Arizona and then to Ohio on a pair of secret corporate jet flights.

When her family joined her Thursday night, they stayed in a hotel under an assumed name.

And when it came time to announce Palin’s selection on Friday morning in Dayton, Ohio, the news came as a surprise not only to the public, but also to members of her own staff 4,000 miles away in Anchorage.

At least 40M people heard Obama’s speech

NEW YORK — Barack Obama’s audience for his acceptance speech likely topped 40 million people, and the Democratic gathering that nominated him was a more popular television event than any other political convention in history.

More people watched Obama speak from a packed stadium in Denver on Thursday than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final “American Idol” or the Academy Awards this year, Nielsen Media Research said Friday. (Four playoff football games, including the Super Bowl between the Giants and Patriots, were seen by more than 40 million people.)

His TV audience nearly doubled the amount of people who watched John Kerry accept the Democratic nomination to run against President Bush four years ago.

Kerry’s speech was seen by a little more than 20 million people; Bush’s acceptance speech to GOP delegates had 27.6 million viewers.

Through four days, the Democratic convention was seen in an average of 22.5 million households.

Associated Press