Palin introducing herself; GOP blasts questions

ST. PAUL, Minn. — John McCain took the spotlight Wednesday in this excited convention city where he will claim the Republican presidential nomination, arriving with hugs for running mate Sarah Palin and her pregnant daughter — and a handshake for the 17-year-old's husband-to-be.

Even before McCain's plane landed, his campaign struck back heatedly at the persistent questions about his surprise vice presidential selection, who has been buffeted by political and personal revelations.

McCain will be nominated Wednesday night in a roaring roll call and will deliver his acceptance speech Thursday. Palin will address the convention Wednesday night.

She was waiting at the airport to greet McCain. He stepped off his blue-and-white plane, dubbed "Straight Talk Express," at noon — just as Democratic rival Barack Obama was in the middle of a campaign speech in Ohio. The dual scene was captured in split screen television shots.

McCain kissed his wife, Cindy, at the bottom of the steps, and then he moved down a line of family and friends with handshakes and greetings before he got to Palin. They hugged and McCain talked with her family. Levi Johnston, the boyfriend of Palin's daughter, Bristol, got a pat on the shoulder as well as a handshake.

After a slow start of the convention because of Hurricane Gustav, momentum was building on Day Three of the GOP gathering. The spotlight was on Palin, the 44-year-old governor and surprise pick to be McCain's running mate. She has been the talk of the convention, but most Americans have hardly heard her voice, let alone her views.

She will give her address in prime time, at 10:30 p.m. EDT.

"She will speak as a governor, a former mayor and someone with both hands on the steering wheel of America's energy economy," said Tucker Eskew, a senior McCain adviser. "She will detail her record of shaking up the status quo in Alaska and standing up to entrenched interests to put the government back on the side of the people."

Wednesday night's speakers also include a trio of former McCain rivals, now supporters: Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani. "We are getting a little more political tonight," Davis said in a hint of the partisan barbs being sharpened for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

The campaign also lashed out at the media and called for an end to questions about Palin's background and her family. Senior campaign adviser Steve Schmidt decried what he called a "faux media scandal designed to destroy the first female Republican nominee" for vice president.

"This nonsense is over," Schmidt declared in a written statement.