ST. PAUL, Minn. — Last week in Denver, Republican presidential candidate John McCain was portrayed as a man who wants to give tax breaks to the oil companies, doesn't know how many houses he owns and is a clone of President Bush.
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The party will try to make up whatever ground it lost as the result of a Democratic convention widely viewed as a success.
Before the Palin selection, the Republican gathering had a feeling of anticlimax. Now there is an element of mystery about how Palin will perform in the national spotlight.
The Republicans will have to deal with its "enthusiasm gap." Party leaders and loyalists are disheartened by the fundamentals of this election year: the weak economy, the mortgage crisis, the high cost of energy, the unpopularity of the war in Iraq and Bush's low approval ratings...
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