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Palin Says Omaha Visit Was Not Campaign's Call, It Was Hers

(CBS)
From CBS News' Scott Conroy:

(OMAHA, NEB.) - Sarah Palin said at a hastily scheduled Sunday night rally in this solidly red state that the decision to come here was hers alone and was not the defensive move by her campaign to lock up Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District that many pundits have suggested.

"The pundits today on TV—one of them was saying, check out the vice president's schedule, check out where she's going — she's going to Nebraska," Palin said.

"But the pundit was saying the only reason she'd be going there is 'cause they're scared, so they gotta go there and shore up votes. And I so wanted to reach into that TV and say no, I'm going to Nebraska because I want to go to Nebraska.

Nebraska is one of only two states that splits its Electoral College votes, and the Obama campaign is making a serious play for the solidly-Republican 2nd Congressional District, which is represented by Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb. But Palin suggested that the obvious political ramifications had nothing to do with her decision to come here.

"And you can ask — and probably the reporters will ask — the top dogs in our campaign why am I in Nebraska, and it's truly because I asked to come to the heartland of America today," she said.

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