October 21, 2008 05:08 PM UTC

Does Palin Help Down-Ticket?

• 4 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Embattled GOP candidates hope so, as the Rocky Mountain News reports:

Sarah Palin didn’t mention Bob Schaffer during her two rallies Monday, but his campaign said being part of the Republican vice presidential nominee’s warm-up act was time well-spent.

In a chilly stadium in Colorado Springs, Schaffer told a crowd of 8,000 people that he, Palin and GOP presidential nominee John McCain all believe it’s time to end pork-barrel spending in Congress. And inside the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, he said McCain stands head and shoulders above Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on national security.

“This race for the presidency – and my race for the Senate – is all about one thing: It’s about whether we choose freedom and liberty or bureaucracy and bondage,” Schaffer told a cheering Colorado Springs crowd…

Martha Hermsen, who sat a few rows back of the stage at Colorado Springs’ Security Service Field, makes volunteer calls for the Republican Party and said she’s noticed that Schaffer isn’t capturing all of the McCain/Palin supporters.

“It’s kind of interesting, because people are saying that they’re voting for John McCain and Sarah Palin, but when you get to the next question about Bob Schaffer, they say: ‘Well, I haven’t made up my mind yet,’ ” said Hermsen, of Colorado Springs…

The Greeley Tribune adds:

Republican 4th Congressional District candidate Marilyn Musgrave said she expects her campaign to get a “final boost of enthusiasm” from vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s visit to Loveland on Monday.

Musgrave, a third-term incumbent, spoke to several thousand Republican supporters before Palin took the stage in the Budweiser Events Center. Bob Schaffer, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Wayne Allard, also spoke as warm-up to Palin…

Musgrave, who edged Democrat Angie Paccione by 2.5 percent in 2006, faces perhaps her stiffest challenge yet in Democrat Betsy Markey. Markey led a mid-September poll by Pollster.com 48.5 percent to 39.1 percent.

In an interview before she took the podium, Musgrave said Palin’s visit to the 4th District was “invaluable” to her campaign.

“The great thing about Sarah Palin is she doesn’t fit the mold,” she said. “She’s so refreshing, and people identify with her.”

A poll follows.

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