McCain, Palin hit the stump this weekend

DAYTON, Ohio, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- The likely Republican presidential ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin will be on the stump the weekend before the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.

The senator from Arizona introduced Palin, the governor of Alaska, as his vice presidential pick Friday during a rally in Dayton, Ohio.

"Road to the Convention" rallies are scheduled in Pennsylvania Saturday and in Missouri Sunday, McCain's campaign Web site indicated.

McCain said Palin, 44, who was elected governor in 2006, "is exactly who I need. She's exactly who this country needs to help me fight the same old Washington politics of me first and country second."

Palin made an appeal to disgruntled supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who ran a bitter campaign against Barack Obama.

Noting her selection was made 88 years after women won the right to vote, and referencing Clinton's "18 million cracks in the glass ceiling," Palin said, "It turns out the women in America aren't done yet and we can shatter that ceiling once and for all."

McCain and Palin are poised to accept the top two spots on the Republican ticket next week during the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday.