With the GOP ticket trailing in national and swing state polls as the general election draws near, Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin urged a crowd of about 8,000 supporters Saturday who packed Clipper Magazine Stadium to help McCain-Palin pull off a comeback win.

The Alaska governor, who's galvanized the Republican base but also been the subject of criticism over her qualifications to be vice president, used part of her 32-minute speech to attack the record and judgment of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama. But Palin spent much of her time making the case that Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain has the experience and leadership qualities to answer America's challenges.

Palin began her Road to Victory rally speech a little after 10:30 a.m. but people began streaming into the North Prince Street stadium, home of the Lancaster Barnstormers, two hours earlier.

Adam Aurand, a spokesman for the Barnstormers, estimated the crowd to be in the neighborhood of 8,000.

Local candidates Lloyd Smucker, who's running for the 13th state Senate seat, and incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts delivered brief remarks before Palin took the microphone.

"It's so good to be here in Pennsylvania Dutch country," she began after the boisterous cheers and chants of "Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!" had subsided.

Palin also pleased the crowd by congratulating the Phillies on making the World Series; a sprinkling of supporters could be seen sporting Phils caps and jackets. She then continued the baseball theme by asking the crowd to turn McCain from "an underdog into a victor."

She said the contrast between the two presidential contenders couldn't be greater. Obama "is a politician who puts his faith in government" while McCain "is a leader who puts his faith in you," she said.

Palin also chastised the Illinois senator for wanting to redistribute wealth, which she said amounted to "doling out your hard-earned money."

The McCain-Palin ticket, on the other hand, wants to create new wealth and spread economic opportunity, she said.

Obama voted 94 times to raise taxes, including on "hardworking, middle-class Americans," Palin said.

While Obama associate William Ayers, a former anti-war activist who co-founded the Weather Underground in the late 1960s, was not mentioned, Palin did repeat her call for the Obama campaign to release all communication related to ACORN, the grass-roots community organization being investigated in about a dozen states for voter fraud.

"Americans are entitled to answers," she said, explaining how the issue reflects on Obama's judgment.

McCain the maverick
But the rest of her speech was mostly spent pushing the attributes of McCain, who she said "was ready to lead on day one," borrowing a phrase Sen. Hillary Clinton used in her primary campaign.

Palin said the Arizona senator has a "strong, bold plan of action" to get the country moving again.

She only made one mention of President George W. Bush, and that was when she paraphrased a line McCain used at the last debate: "If [Obama] wanted to run against George Bush, he had the chance to do it four years ago."

And while Obama is focused on assigning blame for the past eight years, McCain is interested in finding solutions for the future, Palin said.

The Republican nominee is a public servant "who always put his country first," she said. He's also the only man running who talks about the wars America is fighting "and isn't afraid to use the word victory," Palin said.

Obama, on the other hand, voted to cut off funding for our troops, she said, drawing loud boos from the crowd.

McCain "understands the virtues of the freedom we're fighting for," Palin said.

Though Bush was barely mentioned, Ronald Reagan, a conservative icon, made several appearances in Palin's stump speech. At one point, she covered McCain with the Reagan mantle, saying her running mate also believed in "the movement of freedom, not the expansion of government."

On the domestic side, she said McCain will start to tackle the country's $10 trillion debt by instituting a spending freeze on nonessential services, and will balance the federal budget by the end of his first term.

Palin said McCain is the true reform candidate because he has a track record of standing up to both parties to get things done.

She also painted herself as a reformer, noting her elimination of the personal property tax when she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and her multiple vetoes of "wasteful spending" during her tenure as governor.

Energy independence was a major theme, too, as Palin criticized the Obama-Biden ticket for its reluctance to use domestic fuel sources, including oil and coal.

By not doing that, we're making ourselves "beholden to foreign countries that use energy as a weapon," she said.

Palin pushed for off-shore oil drilling along with solar and geothermal power and "clean-coal technology."

Energy independence will be an economic generator, creating "hundreds of thousands of new jobs," she said.

McCain also wants his vice president to be an advocate for families with special-needs children, Palin said, a statement which drew the biggest cheers of her speech. She and her husband, Todd, have an infant son, Trig, with Down syndrome. When she was introduced, Palin walked out carrying Trig, who was bundled tightly to keep out the morning chill.

Palin then quoted the late Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey, who said children with disabilities should be "first in line."

"They're not a problem, they're a priority," she said.

Despite polls showing McCain-Palin trailing nationally and by 12 to 15 points in Pennsylvania, a battleground state McCain is pushing hard to win, Palin said the election is still close.

She told the crowd to work hard over the next 16 days to bring home a GOP victory Nov. 4.

McCain is the only candidate running "who ever really fought for you," Palin said, "and he's the only one with the courage to keep on fighting for you."

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Paula Wolf is a staff writer for the Sunday News. She can be reached by e-mail at pwolf@lnpnews.com.