NEW YORK — If there were any doubts that the sidekick was stealing the show, they were put to rest when Sarah Palin took off for Alaska with a wave from the tarmac by John McCain.
His crowds dwindled. The cheering heard day after day during two weeks of joint appearances went away. And the Republican presidential candidate’s schedule began to resemble the lightness of May instead of the full throttle of September.
Meantime, Palin’s campaign plane taking her home to Alaska was so crowded it had to let off some cargo to get the weight down.
Last week was a striking one to see the contrast between McCain and Palin together and the nominee when they are apart. They are expected to reunite this week.
With her, McCain scored the largest crowd of his presidential campaign. An estimated 23,000 people crammed a park in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, Va., on a weekday morning.
“I am so grateful for this turnout,” McCain said. Aides grinned ear-to- ear. The crowd shouted, “Sarah, Sarah,” and women who showed up said they were excited to learn about her life and accomplishments.
Without Palin later in the day, McCain went to a diner in Philadelphia. He held a discussion on economic woes with half a dozen businesswomen. A large crowd backing Democratic rival Barack Obama gathered in the indoor marketplace where the Down Home Diner is located and yelled “Obama, Obama” so loudly that McCain and his guests at times had to lean far over the table to hear one another speak.
McCain’s remarks to reporters afterward were similarly drowned out.
“Pennsylvania is a battleground state, as we can tell,” he said with barely contained fury. Aides’ faces fell.
Palin’s arrival in Alaska, her first step away from McCain, continued her streak of large, excited crowds. The Alaska governor was greeted at the airport by about 2,000 people.
The lesson from all of this isn’t lost on McCain. Campaigns usually split up their presidential and vice presidential candidates so the ticket can cover more ground, which is what Obama and his running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, are doing.
But the McCain camp has calculated it needs to put him back with his No. 2 and probably keep them together for much of the fall campaign.
Until they are back together, McCain has no rallies and not much going on.
On Friday, McCain had only two public appointments, both aimed at female voters: interviews with his wife, Cindy, on “The View” and “The Rachael Ray Show.”
Palin, meantime, is headlining her own rallies in Anchorage and Carson City, Nev., on Saturday before flying to Colorado.
