In a late afternoon rally before thousands in a sun-roasted minor league ballpark outside Washington, Pa., yesterday Sen. John. McCain praised his little-known Republican vice presidential pick for her family ties and her history of working on energy issues.

Mostly, he praised the so-called "hockey mom" for her outside-the-Beltway reform credentials with voters who may be looking for change in the other Washington -- though not the change of Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama.

"She's exactly, exactly what you and I need, she's exactly what this country needs," the Arizona Republican said of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, setting up one of his campaign themes, "to help me fight the same old Washington politics of me first, the country second."

As she did in her Dayton, Ohio, debut on the world's stage Friday, Ms. Palin pushed her good government bona fides, with near Frank Capra-esque words about the changes needed in national politics.

"Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The people of America expect us to seek public office and serve for the right reasons," she said. "The right reason is to challenge the status quo and serve the common good."

She also cited Democrats Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Rodham Clinton as female role models in her campaign run, as she did on Friday, singling out Mrs. Clinton for her "determination and grace" during the Democratic primary. Yesterday, that spurred some lusty boos among parts of the partisan crowd, though many other responded with repeated chants of "Sarah!"

For the Republican duo's second appearance on the stump, the McCain campaign chose a county that it clearly hopes to win in November, one that voted Democratic by a razor-thin margin -- of less than half a percentage point -- in the 2004 presidential race.

It also took to footpaths south of Pittsburgh that Mrs. Clinton -- and her husband Bill -- crisscrossed in the April primary. Again, that is not such a surprise as Mr. McCain is clearly trying to appeal to Clinton supporters in the state, which Mrs. Clinton won by a 9-point margin.

But in Washington County -- underscoring Mr. McCain's strategy further -- she crushed Mr. Obama with 70 percent of the vote. Mrs. Clinton won the primary by equal margins or greater in every contiguous county, other than Allegheny, as well.

His choice of the first-ever female Republican vice presidential hopeful stressed that strategic appeal to Clinton voters, even if some Republicans in the crowd winced at mentions of her name.

Mr. McCain also chose the Alaska governor partially because of her support of drilling and her home-state fights with major oil companies, which again was another stress-point in a speech by Ms. Palin, who took up most of the rally's short run-time.

Finding fuel -- and cutting its cost -- has been a priority of her two years in the governor's chair, she said, and she reminded the crowd that Alaska is building a "$40 billion natural gas pipeline to help lead America into energy independence."

(The location for the rally may have also underlined the McCain camp's emphasis on the nation's energy woes -- it was in Consol Energy Park, named for the Upper St. Clair mining and energy company that bought the naming rights to the home of the minor league Washington Wild Things.)

The governor is expected to be challenged to prove her know-how on foreign affairs, and she spent time lauding Mr. McCain for his support of the Iraq war and tough words on Iran and Russia.

Ms. Palin's oldest son, Track, is preparing to deploy to Iraq with the Army. Mr. McCain, she said, has "refused to hedge his support for our troops in Iraq, regardless of the political cost. ... As the mother of one of those troops -- and as the commander of Alaska's National Guard -- that's the kind of man I want as commander-in-chief."

Western Pennsylvanians should get used to seeing all four of the candidates and their running mates the next two months -- Mr. Obama and running mate Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware were in Beaver County Friday, and Mr. Biden returns to Pittsburgh for the Labor Day Parade tomorrow. Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin also wooed voters outside Tom's Diner on the South Side, after a previous stop by the senator on Mount Washington.