Not all in GOP are sold on ticket

McClatchy Newspapers

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The McCain-Palin campaign plane roared out of this largely Republican western Michigan city Thursday after a Wednesday night town hall meeting that produced upbeat local news coverage, a throng of Republican faithful and a handful of protesters.

John McCain and Sarah Palin gave about 70 minutes of “straight talk” on the economy, energy, health care and the state of the world to an energized, tickets-only crowd of nearly 3,500 inside a warm community college gymnasium.

But as to whether their visit brought everyone on board, the initial results appear mixed.

The McCain campaign is betting that town hall events in markets like Grand Rapids will help push the Republican presidential ticket over the top in battleground states such as Michigan, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin, where the candidates campaigned Thursday.

Just by being here, McCain and Palin generated extensive — and mostly positive — free local media coverage. One local TV station covered the entire event live. The Grand Rapids Press blogged the event live and printed a front-page headline Thursday proclaiming “Republican Ticket’s Power Couple Impresses Western Michigan Audience.”

Creating media buzz is one thing, but capturing public opinion is another. Several attendees said going in that they wanted to hear what the Republican ticket was going to do to repair Michigan’s economy. Some left still thirsty for answers.

Take Joe Castiglione and his wife, Trish. Joe Castiglione, 40, is an independent voter who came looking for answers about how to fix Michigan’s economy.

“If you look at Michigan, you’re going to find people saying, ‘We’ve heard the speech, where’s the answers?’” said Castiglione, an account manager who’s struggling to decide whether to vote for Mc-Cain or his Democratic rival, Barack Obama.

McCain and Palin landed in Grand Rapids the same day as a report showed that Michigan’s jobless rate jumped to 8.9 percent in August. It was 7.2 percent a year before. The national unemployment rate in August was 6.1 percent, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics.