Trailing in Pa., Palin asks voters for a comeback

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Saturday made a pitch for a ninth-inning comeback from a minor-league baseball field.

The Alaska governor, trailing with Republican presidential nominee John McCain in statewide polls, told the packed Lancaster Barnstormers stadium that she was counting on Philadelphia Phillies fans to turn "an underdog into a victor."

"It's the choice between a politician who puts his faith in government and a leader who puts his faith in you," Palin said, hitting Democratic nominee Barack Obama on taxes in Lancaster County, which gave George W. Bush more votes than did Philadelphia in both 2000 and 2004.

"Sen. Obama will do to those who want to create jobs what shouldn't be done, and we're calling him on it," she said.

Palin also repeated her call for the Obama campaign to disclose contacts with group ACORN, which is facing scrutiny for its voter registration efforts in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. He has said he had "nothing to do" with the group's voter registration drive.

More than 10,000 tickets were given out for the rally, which marked Palin's second visit to Lancaster County, said Dave Dumeyer, chairman of the county GOP.

"She plays extremely well in Lancaster County," Dumeyer said. "She has the conservative values I think a lot of people around here respect and admire."

Tracy Cromeans, 47, who works at a visitors' center in nearby Gettysburg, called Palin "a breath of fresh air."

"She's a woman," said Cromeans, wearing a Palin T-shirt and pink campaign button, "so we've got a strong, wonderful woman running with John McCain."

Clad in a green kilt and knee socks and wearing a "Read My Lipstick" button, Ephrata resident Brett Gilbert, 56, called Palin "my kind of person" in part because she's a hunter and has a child in the military.

"She's real," said Gilbert, a vehicle damage appraiser. "I mean, the other day she had to stop at Wal-Mart and buy diapers."

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