MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - 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.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."
The vice presidential candidate met with the governors on the morning after her speech to the Republican National Convention. 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."