Published: September 04, 2008 04:10 pm      

Palin swings at Obama

MINNEAPOLIS — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Thursday took an immediate swipe at Democratic nominee Barack Obama in her first solo campaign appearance since joining the GOP ticket. The Alaska governor also issued a fund-raising appeal that blamed the Democratic presidential ticket for spreading "misinformation and flat-out lies" about her family and her.

While the Obama campaign has raised questions about Palin's qualifications, Obama himself has said that her family should be off-limits.

Palin met with Republican governors Thursday and said afterward that leading a state means you have to make decisions and not just vote "present."

"We don't have a 'present' button as governor — we are expected to lead, we are expected to take action and not just vote 'present,'" said Palin, who is in her first term as Alaska's governor. "So there's a big difference, of course, between the executive and legislative branches and our experience."

Palin was referring to Obama's days in the Illinois Senate, when he voted "present" dozens of times among the thousands of votes he cast in his eight years there. The move is common among Illinois lawmakers, but has become a favorite Republican complaint about Obama.

The vice presidential candidate met with the governors on the morning after her speech to the Republican National Convention. In the days since her selection as John McCain's running mate was announced, questions have been raised about the 44-year-old governor's qualifications and experience, and it was revealed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.

In a fundraising letter issued Thursday, she wrote that "the Obama-Biden Democrats have been vicious in their attacks directed toward me, my family and John McCain. The misinformation and flat-out lies must be corrected."

Palin said Thursday that she has "a big job cut out in front of me running for vice president."

"I intend to give this campaign all that I have to give," she said. "And I look forward to these 60-plus days on the trail. My family looks forward to this, we're up for it, we're excited about it."

She did not take questions from reporters.