JOHNSTOWN -- Sarah Palin, multitasking mother of five, governor, hockey mom and Republican vice presidential nominee, got a lot done during a two-day campaign sweep across Western Pennsylvania this weekend.

In the space of about 20 hours, she headlined a half-million dollar fundraiser at a Downtown hotel, introduced a new campaign attack line on abortion, enthralled three teenage girls, defended her role in the Alaska "Troopergate" scandal and annoyed a group of Obama supporters parked across the street from the Cambria County War Memorial Arena, where 5,000 people had gathered on a golden fall morning to hear her speak.

It was just another display of how Ms. Palin, a warm, briskly efficient political conservative with a colorful, controversial governing style, has reinvigorated and polarized the 2008 presidential race.

And as the clock ticks inexorably towards Nov. 4, the 44-year-old Alaska governor's considerable political skills will be increasingly called upon to boost Sen. John McCain, who has seen his poll numbers in Pennsylvania -- and nationally -- sag under the weight of the Wall Street financial crisis, dismal economic statistics and a deeply unpopular Republican administration.

At Friday's $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser at the Westin Convention Center, Ms. Palin vowed to "take off the gloves," and the next day she did just that -- after a fashion. Gone were any references to William Ayers, the 1960s radical whose friendly, if fleeting, acquaintanceship with Sen. Barack Obama has been a focal point of attacks by the McCain campaign in recent days.

Instead, she honed in on Mr. Obama's support for abortion rights, and spoke touchingly of her own fears when she first learned her youngest child had Down syndrome. In her trademark Western accent, a wryly bemused Ms. Palin noted that "our opponent kinda hopes you will forget" his record on abortion, and that "you won't notice how radical his ideas are until it's too late."

"Let there be no misunderstanding about the stakes," she said to the ecstatic crowd, some of whom occasionally shouted "socialist!" and other epithets -- "Barney Frank!" was one -- at the mention of the Democrats.

"A vote for Barack Obama is a vote for activist courts that will continue to smother the open and democratic debate that we deserve and need on this issue of life."

Anita Dunn, an Obama campaign spokeswoman, responded shortly afterward by saying that "Gov. Palin's comments today show that with this election, the right to choose hangs in the balance. On this issue, the choice is clear: While Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin will make the right to choose illegal, Sen. Obama will protect that right, while working to reduce the need for abortions and find common ground on this issue."

Ms. Palin also made some digs at Mr. Obama's comments that small town Americans are "bitter" and cling to guns and religion.

"We still don't know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on people when they're listening and then says they cling to religion when they're not. Don't talk about us one way in Johnstown and another way in San Francisco," she said, to raucous applause.

A role model for teens

All of this went over big with Katie Bozic, Lauren Yingling and Jessica Piker, all 11th-graders at Conemaugh Valley High School, who stood outside the arena afterward savoring the memory of their close-up look at Ms. Palin.

"I think she's a great role model for women, with the kids and everything. Everyone looks up to her. She's so strong. Everyone wants to be like her," Ms. Yingling said, while Ms. Piker said she admired Ms. Palin's attractiveness combined with her strength.

"People who don't support her don't agree that it's OK for a woman to run for office and look good while doing it," said Ms. Piker. "Yeah," added Ms. Bozic. "It's like, she's saying, you don't gotta man yourself up, you can be who you are, you can still be a woman and be powerful and strong."

Most of her classmates, however, think she's on the wrong side, she added.

"They're all Democratic Obama lovers," Ms. Bozic said, and in a nod to her friends, she said, "We stick together. We fight back. Like Gov. Palin does."

Of course, these 17-year-old girls -- with the exception of Ms. Yingling, who is 18 -- can't vote for Ms. Palin, and recent polls show Mr. Obama building a lead among women voters. A Reuters/C-Span/Zogby tracking survey showed an increase from 9 points on Friday to 12 points yesterday.

And the Diageo/Hotline poll, which showed the race split by only one point on Wednesday, now puts Mr. Obama's lead at 7 points, thanks in large part to a nine-point lead among women.

One explanation for the Illinois senator's surge among this demographic may be the economy -- which also may be why Ms. Palin tried so hard to change the subject at yesterday's rally to abortion, criticizing Mr. Obama for downplaying his support of late-term abortions and his comment to evangelical pastor Rick Warren that a discussion of when life begins "is above my pay grade."

"The more I hear from Sen. Obama, the more I understand why he's so vague, and please, it's not negative or mean-spirited to talk about his record," she said, in an apparent response to criticism about increasing negativity from both sides.

She also spoke at some length of her own initial reaction when she and her husband, Todd Palin, learned that their youngest son Trig had Down syndrome.

"When I learned that my son Trig would have special needs, I had to pray that my heart was ready for the challenges to come," she told the crowd, after praising the late Gov. Bob Casey for his support for children of special needs. "At first I was very scared. Todd and I had to ask for that strength and understanding."

Now, she added, while her daughter Willow sat on the stage nearby holding the boy, "as for our baby boy he is only more precious because he is more vulnerable. We stand to learn more from him that he does from us. When we hold Trig or care for him we don't feel scared anymore."

Admiring her moxie

This appeal to anti-abortion voters, Republicans hope, will make the difference in Cambria County, with its large population of blue-collar, socially conservative Democrats and which -- despite an overwhelming Democratic voter registration edge -- went for President Bush in 2004.

While the crisis on Wall Street and the nation's dismal economic statistics top voters' concerns, Rob Gleason, chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, has said he hopes to attract "Reagan Democrats" on social issues like abortion.

"I'm glad she talked about abortion. We're killing babies and it's something that needs to be discussed," said James Nance, 36, who drove from Hagerstown, Md. to see Ms. Palin.

"I thought she was very real about it," he added in reference to her discussion of her son. "If I was in that position I would have been praying to God too."

And even as Ms. Palin was dogged by a report about findings by a state investigation Friday, which said she'd abused her power as governor in the Alaska Troopergate scandal, attendees at the rally seemed unmoved.

"I don't believe it," said Gail Nevitt, 70, of Williamsburg. "It was politically motivated. Her ex-brother-in-law used a Taser on his son, and anyone who does that doesn't deserve to be a state trooper."

Across the street, though, Jayne Highlands, an Obama supporter who was protesting Ms. Palin's appearance, took a dim view of the Palin phenomenon -- especially among young women.

"These girls like her because she's a cheerleader," Ms. Highlands, of Johnstown. "A lot of teenage girls are hurting and want to belong to something, and they hear people fawning over her and drawing crowds and this what they are attaching to"

Just look on YouTube, Ms. Highland went on. "Check out her old speeches. She's not dropping her g's in those. She's not authentic when she's doing that. She's turning it on and off."

Ms. Highland was part of a clutch of about 100 protesters who stood in the fall sunshine outside the arena chanting their support for Mr. Obama while, on the other side of the street, Ms. Palin's supporters -- including mothers toting babies -- shouted back.

For her part, Ms. Palin spent some time yesterday defending her role in a rare, brief encounter with reporters outside a Sheetz convenience store in Altoona before traveling east to Philadelphia, where she was to drop a ceremonial puck at the Philadelphia Flyers' home opener against the New York Rangers.

Ms. Palin denied that she had abused the power of the governor's office by trying to fire her former brother-in-law, although a state investigation released yesterday said she had done just that.

Ms. Palin insisted, however, that the report found she had done nothing unlawful or unethical.

She called the report "A partisan kind of process that had been undertaken by some of the legislators who haven't been real happy with anything that I've done along the way as governor."

That kind of moxie makes Katie Bozic very happy.

"She's just very adamant in her whole view on everything. I'm right along there with her," said the teenager with a smile.