Coal energizes Palin

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin toned down her anti-Barack Obama rhetoric Sunday at an outdoor rally in Ohio, where a new poll showed John McCain and Obama essentially tied.

Instead of focusing on abortion, as she did Saturday in Johnstown, Pa., she talked about the economy and the difficulties people face in places like St. Clairsville, where she was speaking.

St. Clairsville is about 15 miles from Wheeling, W.Va., where the United Mine Workers union was born. She hadn’t even gotten to the portion of her speech dealing with clean coal, an element of McCain’s energy independence plan, before someone in the crowd yelled, “Coal!”

“I’m getting to that,” she said, smiling. “Just hold on.”

When she did get to that, she was interrupted by a spontaneous chant, “Mine, baby, mine,” a takeoff on “Drill, baby, drill,” which is a regular feature of her rallies.

“That is very good, and that is new,” she said. “We haven’t heard that yet.”

She said she and McCain have called for the suspension of laws requiring seniors to begin cashing out their retirement accounts when they turn 70 1/2 . “That’s not right,” Palin said, “not where the market is today.”

Larry Barbe, 60, a school district transportation supervisor, said he was happy to hear a speech that focused on McCain’s economic message. “I don’t like to hear people bad-mouthing each other,” he said.

Concentrating on the economy was the right thing to do, Barbe said. “I didn’t think she got into enough specifics, but they probably don’t know them yet.”

-- Robin Abcarian