JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) _ Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin offered optimism to a boisterous crowd in an Ohio Democratic stronghold and pepped up a huge rally in conservative central Missouri on an election eve dash through five contested states.Palin played up her rural connections on her third trip in 10 days to Missouri, where polls show Republican presidential candidate John McCain is about even with Democratic candidate Barack Obama. She drew a crowd estimated by state police at more than 17,000 to the steps of the state Capitol, which is located in the Republican-leaning rural center of Missouri.She strode down the Capitol steps in blue jeans, clapped in the background to country music singer Hank Williams Jr. and exited as “Redneck Woman” played over loudspeakers dangling from cranes.The Alaska governor elicited boos from the crowd when she said, “Barack Obama is for bigger government and for higher taxes.” Missouri has a reputation as a low-tax state.The Capitol is also the site of an annual “support the troops” rally that regularly dwarfs anti-war protests and Palin highlighted McCain’s military service.”The rousing speeches of our opponent can fill a stadium but they cannot keep our country safe,” Palin said. “And for a season, a man may inspire with his words, but it’s been for a lifetime that John McCain has inspired with his trustworthy and heroic deeds.”Later, in Reno, Nev., Palin appealed to Nevadans’ patriotism and rural work ethic.Joined by a pair of professional bull riders at the Reno Livestock Events Center, Palin also touted McCain’s support for the military, gun rights and opposition to abortion while describing Obama’s campaign as part of the “far, far left wing of the Democratic Party … that is preparing to take over the entire federal government.”More than 3,000 people turned out at a high school gymnasium in Elko, Nev., to see Palin speak at an event that didn’t start until 11:15 p.m. In a line he used at both rallies, Palin’s father, Chuck Heath, said he taught his daughter many years ago “how to field dress a moose.””But tomorrow I want you to see her field dress a donkey,” he said.Earlier Monday in Lakewood, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb that is part of a Democratic stronghold in northeast Ohio, Palin told a boisterous crowd that “victory is coming.”Polls show Ohio, with 20 electoral votes that are crucial to McCain’s campaign, is too close to call with Obama carrying a slight lead or running neck and neck with McCain.Although Obama-Biden signs far outnumber those for McCain-Palin in Lakewood, Palin drew a noisy crowd that waved red pompoms during her appearance at the bandstand in Lakewood Park.”This is the right place to be for us to kick off this final day of campaigning,” Palin said. “You can just feel it here in Ohio. Victory is coming. We can do this; we can win Ohio.””Can we count on you tomorrow Ohio?” she asked.The crowd responded with a “We will win!” chant.In Ohio where an Associated Press-GfK survey last week showed nine in 10 likely voters fear for the economy, Palin concentrated on economic issues. She called Obama’s tax plan “phony” and questioned whether he would confine tax increases to the higher-income levels he has promised as a way to finance a middle class tax cut.Palin promised that McCain would balance the budget in four years and lower taxes for every American and business.”We’ll impose a spending freeze to cover all but the most vital functions of government,” Palin said. “Now is the worst possible time to even think of raising taxes on you and our small businesses,” she said.Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said Palin misrepresented Obama’s tax plan.”Gov. Palin is lying about Sen. Obama’s plan to give the middle class a tax cut because she knows John McCain hasn’t told the American people a single major thing he’d do differently than George Bush when it comes to the economy,” Vietor said in an e-mail.Obama’s plan calls for a tax increase on working families earning more than $250,000 a year to finance a tax cut for the 95 percent of workers and families earning less than $200,000 annually.
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