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Last update - 11:42 03/09/2008
'Palin told AIPAC she wants stronger Israel ties'
By Haaretz Service and Reuters
Tags: Sarah Palin, John McCain 

U.S. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin told the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC on Tuesday that she would "work to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between U.S. and Israel," the group's spokesman told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Palin spent Tuesday in her hotel suite with campaign aides working on her speech at the Republican Convention scheduled for Wednesday. Sources familiar with her schedule said that she also had a private session with Jewish Senator Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman, a democrat and former vice presidential nominee, has come out in support of the Republican ticket, saying in his speech Tuesday "Governor Palin, like [presidential candidate] John McCain, is a reformer, that's why I sincerely believe the real ticket for change is the McCain-Palin ticket."
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"I'm here to support John McCain because country matters more than party," Lieberman added. "John McCain's whole life testifies to a great truth: being a Democrat or a Republican is important. But it is not more important than being an American."

Palin has dominated the Republican convention for days without making a public appearance but on Wednesday she takes the spotlight with a prime-time speech that will introduce her to American voters.

Since McCain made the almost unknown Palin his No. 2, the Alaska governor has been at the center of a media storm fueled by disclosures about her unmarried teenage daughter's pregnancy, a probe into her role in a state official's firing in Alaska and questions about her political record.

McCain, 72, an Arizona senator, and Palin will be nominated by the convention on Wednesday to face Democrat Barack Obama and his vice presidential running mate, Joe Biden, in the Nov. 4 presidential election.

Palin's anti-abortion and pro-gun record have excited conservatives and party activists, but the appearance on Wednesday will be her first chance to directly tell American voters her life story and philosophy.

It comes just five days after McCain shocked the U.S. political world by introducing the 44-year-old first-term governor as his running mate at an Ohio rally.

"She made her first impression on Republicans in Ohio on Friday when McCain introduced her," said Fergus Cullen, chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. "Now she can make a first impression on the rest of the country."

Palin, the first female Republican vice presidential nominee, has stayed out of the public eye in Minnesota for two days while the revelations about her family and her record in Alaska surfaced.

She has been preparing her address with speechwriter Matt Scully, who drafted her speech in Ohio. "We're just going to rock 'em, sock 'em - we kind of like it when people underestimate us," a McCain campaign official said of the speech.

The furor over Palin has raised questions about McCain's judgment and the depth of investigation that preceded her selection, and could put a dent in McCain's efforts to build momentum heading out of the convention.

As the convention was under way on Tuesday, a peaceful march on behalf of poor people by more than 1,000 demonstrators led to a brief confrontation of some of them with police. Pepper spray and teargas were used to drive the protesters away from the downtown Xcel Energy Center where the convention was being held.

Much of Monday's convention schedule was delayed by Hurricane Gustav's assault on the Gulf Coast, but the gathering resumed on Tuesday with criticism of Obama and testimonials to the character of McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam.

The convention also marked the passing of leadership in the party from President George W. Bush to McCain. Bush praised McCain, his rival in a bitter presidential nominating battle in 2000.

"He's not afraid to tell you when he disagrees. Believe me, I know," Bush told the convention in a brief speech via satellite from Washington.

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, whose own presidential bid fell short this year, contrasted Obama's speech to 200,000 cheering Germans in Berlin in July with McCain's global reputation for leadership.

"The respect he (McCain) is given around the world is not because of a teleprompter speech designed to appeal to American critics abroad, but because of decades of clearly demonstrated character and statesmanship," Thompson said.

Thompson blasted "Washington pundits and media big shots" who have been critical of Palin.

"The selection of Governor Palin has the other side and their friends in the media in a state of panic. She is a courageous, successful reformer, who is not afraid to take on the establishment," he said.

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      1.   The art of politics 11:20  |  Natallie Durson 03/09/08
      2.   Palin and Judaism 12:17  |  David James Vickery 03/09/08
      3.   Lieberman is nothing but a little weasel 12:19  |  Danny 03/09/08
      4.   McCain and Palin 12:37  |  David James Vickery 03/09/08
      5.   Is this the same Palin 12:48  |  Keith 03/09/08
      6.   Palin can say what she wants 13:00  |  Paul Wood 03/09/08
      7.   DAOUD VICKERY Not everybody wants to "revert to Islam" 13:05  |  PETER SM 03/09/08
      8.   Sadly AIPAC keeps on feeding anti-Jewish conspiracies..... 13:10  |  Swiss (Dino) 03/09/08
      9.   The key to peace 13:44  |  Natallie Durson 03/09/08
      10.   WATCH OUT OBAMA-BIDEN 14:25  |  indrajaya 03/09/08
      11.   Beauty Queen 14:28  |  Baz Mann 03/09/08
      12.   Guilty? Well Dino... 14:36  |  ATLAS 03/09/08
      13.   we are told that McCain scores over Obama 14:44  |  examiner 03/09/08
      14.   Don`t be silly Peter 14:45  |  David James Vickery 03/09/08
      15.   Palin`s "strategic partnership" is a Christian Zionist fiction 14:55  |  Ivar 03/09/08
      16.   # 12 ATLAS 15:07  |  Swiss (Dino) 03/09/08
      17.   What a JOKE!! 15:13  |  Davee 03/09/08
      18.   Dino # 15 15:25  |  ATLAS 03/09/08
      19.   Being An Independent Works Well For Lieberman 15:26  |  Dish It Out 03/09/08
      20.   #13 examiner has asense of humour and points to 15:31  |  vhardman 03/09/08
      21.   Swiss (Dino) 15:41  |  Jane 03/09/08
      22.   # 18 ATLAS and the "mother of all sources".... 15:48  |  Swiss (Dino) 03/09/08
      23.   Palin and AIPAC 15:54  |  graczek 03/09/08
      24.   Palin 16:13  |  Anthony 03/09/08
      25.   Dish It Out Is Spouting the GOP Line 16:20  |  Ibrahim 03/09/08
      26.   Barak Obama Has Poor Family in East Africa -- Al Qaida Territory! 16:28  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 03/09/08
      27.   Sarah Palin`s Church Offends Jews 16:29  |  DM 03/09/08
      28.   #22: "No Man is an Island" 16:34  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 03/09/08
      29.   Natallie: the art of antisemitism: AIPAC is the problem 16:48  |  Israeli citizen 03/09/08
      30.   More seriously 16:59  |  Dave Duncan 03/09/08
      31.   DM, 25, Jews for Jesus correct, Titus would have stayed in Rome! 17:13  |  Ivar 03/09/08
      32.   It was lone due 17:20  |  AM 03/09/08
      33.   #21 Jane -who are you kidding? 17:21  |  Roo 03/09/08
      34.   Fith Column 17:22  |  North American 03/09/08
      35.   To Examiner 17:31  |  Persian Kitty 03/09/08
      36.   Roo 17:39  |  Jane 03/09/08
      37.   Ivar #31 18:03  |  graczek 03/09/08
      38.   IVAR before 1967 the Arabs were hell bent on destroying Israel 18:17  |  PETER SM 03/09/08
      39.   Jane 18:19  |  Roo 03/09/08
      40.   Baz man # 11 - Beauty Queen 18:20  |  Rozz 03/09/08
      41.   15: amazingly you accept hatred at its face value 18:28  |  Paul Freedman 03/09/08
      42.   Jane- the reality about jewish influence in American politics. 18:29  |  Ibrahim 03/09/08
      43.   I wont vote for ANYONE with ties to Israel Lobby 18:37  |  SteveM 03/09/08
      44.   Puff Daddy speaks! 19:00  |  FOX 03/09/08
      45.   Persian Kitty 19:01  |  examiner 03/09/08
      46.   PALIN, PREGANCYand POLITICS 19:15  |  Barry S Roffman 03/09/08
      47.   # 21 Jane (2nd try) 19:16  |  Swiss (Dino) 03/09/08
      48.   Steve which American blood? 19:20  |  x-ray 03/09/08
      49.   #42 - Ibrahim 19:29  |  MichaelF 03/09/08
      50.   #42 - Ibrahim 19:29  |  MichaelF 03/09/08
      51.   Peter and Paul, it`s the Occupation, not Israel per se. 19:36  |  Ivar 03/09/08
      52.   Palin on Jews #27 19:38  |  seth 03/09/08
      53.   Does Palin even know where Israel is? 19:39  |  MichaelF 03/09/08
      54.   David James Vickery 20:28  |  ballistic 03/09/08
      55.   Palin`s Minister by way of cnn 20:41  |  howard 03/09/08
      56.   48 FOX BS 20:46  |  SteveM 03/09/08
      57.   LIEBERMAN IS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW EVEN THE DEMOCRATS KNOW OBAMA IS A 20:59  |  glenna 03/09/08
      58.   Vickery, watch all you want, and learn 21:03  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 03/09/08
      59.   Vickery, watch and learn some more 21:13  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 03/09/08
      60.   I have no doubt of Palin`s allegiance to Israel 21:21  |  Janice 03/09/08
      61.   #45, examiner 21:22  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 03/09/08
      62.   McCain, Palin and Israel 21:25  |  JSS 03/09/08
      63.   #48 Xray the hell you say --see below re AIPAC spys 21:25  |  Labhras 03/09/08
      64.   she has time to talk to AIPAC this week! 21:34  |  newageblues 03/09/08
      65.   #21 Jane 21:49  |  Janice 03/09/08
      66.   Now we know how Palin won over Joe Lieberman 21:54  |  Clickfool 03/09/08
      67.   Graczek, 37, you are 100% correct! 21:57  |  Ivar 03/09/08
      68.   David James Vickery 22:08  |  Connie 03/09/08