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Even in the midst of the national debate, talk amongst the crowd remained local. With vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin still in the midst of a state legislative investigation over her potential abuse of powers, her advocates voiced their concern over the inquiry.
At McGinley's Pub in downtown Anchorage, avid McCain-Palin supporters cheered on Senator McCain. His running mate was not forgotten, as petitioners demanded a stop to the investigation, they say is to directly influence the presidential race.
Prior to the debate a group of Palin supporters went to the Anchorage
"Its smearing the state, it's being used by outsiders as a bludgeon to beat up Sarah Palin, and it's just gotten way out of hand," said Joann Pantages, a McCain-Palin supporter.
Organizers say their grassroots efforts were sparked by an investigation which has become a political circus.
"What started as a mildly partisan investigation of a very popular governor has turned into an abomination and an embarrassment to the state," said Pantages.
"People were generally upset, they want to make sure that the issues remain on the table and the not the partisan politics of the season," said McHugh Pierre, the spokesperson for the Alaska Republican Party.
Democratic Representative Les Gara says these petitions were not grassroots and were organized by the Republican Party in an effort to stop the investigation. Gara says its time for the McCain campaign to stop attacking Alaskans and get back to the real issues.
"Go talk about real issues on the campaign, but these sort of staged events by the republican party, by the McCain campaign, I think Alaskans see they are getting pretty old up here," said Gara.
According to Palin supporters, the issue is the way the investigation is being handled in a presidential election year.
"We want to make sure we keep presidential politics out of the state legislature, and we let the state legislature do the work that's in the best interest of Alaskans," said Pierre.
Gara says the investigation is bipartisan and until the governor was named as McCain's vice presidential nominee she agreed to participate.
"I just wish they would stop the attacks, allow the investigation to go ahead, and quit pretending they are victims when they are actually out here smearing Alaskans across party lines," said Gara.
Senator Hollis French responded to the Palin petitions saying, "I respect the rights of citizens to their point of the view, but I don't have the power to stop the investigation, the power is with the legislative council, I plan to finish my job until told otherwise to deliver the report on Friday, October 10th."
With Wednesday's Alaska Supreme Court hearing to decide on whether the investigation should be stopped, and the release of the investigation report due this Friday, some questioned the timing of the petitions.
The Alaskan Republican Party says the timing is relevant because the legislature and legislative council need to know what their constituents think about the nature of the investigation.
Representative Gara says the timing is a direct result of the McCain campaign trying to stop the bipartisan investigation from continuing.
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