John McCain and Sarah Palin gave a show of unity on the campaign trail Tuesday, appearing together for the first time since reports of infighting within the Republican camp.
Presidential hopeful McCain launched the one-week countdown to the November 4 polls at a rally with his running mate in front of several thousand in the Pennsylvania town of Hershey, the US chocolate capital.
McCain, 72, acknowledged he had not always seen eye-to-eye with Palin, 44, the socially conservative Alaska governor whose selection as vice-presidential pick has been questioned by critics from left and right.
"When two mavericks join up they don't agree on everything but that's a lot of fun," McCain said, before once again portraying his rival Barack Obama as an ultra-liberal politician plotting to raise taxes across the board.
"Senator Obama is running to be redistributionist-in-chief, I'm running to be commander-in-chief," McCain said. "Senator Obama is running to spread the wealth, I'm running to create wealth."
McCain and Palin rallied together in Pennsylvania before splitting for separate campaign events, McCain heading to an event in Fayetteville, North Carolina, a longtime Republican stronghold under threat from Obama.
Tuesday's rally came just days after a blame-game erupted between aides to McCain and Palin, with each side pointing the finger at the other after a survey which suggested the Alaska governor had become a liability.
The Politico website cited four Republicans close to Palin as saying she had grown frustrated by advice given to her by the McCain campaign handlers, whom her supporters blame for a series of public relations gaffes.
"She's lost confidence in most of the people on the plane," an unnamed senior Republican told Politico, adding that Palin had already begun to "go rogue" in some of her public pronouncements on the campaign trail.
McCain advisers reacted angrily to the report, branding Palin a "diva."
A senior campaign official on Tuesday denied there was bad blood between the McCain and Palin teams.
Asked if there had been tensions, McCain's political director Mike DuHaime told reporters: "I don't believe so. The two candidates are both very strong, you saw them on stage together."
DuHaime was also bullish on the state of the campaign, insisting that despite Obama enjoying "the best political environment for a Democrat in 30 years", McCain was still in the race. "It's going to be close, down to the wire, in my opinion," he said.
However as McCain and Palin were presenting a united front, Politico reported more evidence of backbiting, with one anonymous McCain aide describing the running mate as a "whack job."
Earlier both McCain and Palin called on Alaska senator Ted Stevens, found guilty in a corruption case on Monday, to step down.
"It is clear that Senator Stevens has broken his trust with the people and that he should now step down," McCain said of the longest-serving Republican in the senate.
In a television interview with CNBC, Palin called on Stevens to "step aside." The Republican senator "needs to do the right thing, and the right thing is ... to step aside," Palin said.
