Speaking at a rousing rally inside a hangar at Rickenbacker Airport, the Republican vice presidential candidate hammered home the argument that Obama would raise taxes and make a bad economy worse.

"You can do the math, or just go with your gut, and either way, you draw the same conclusion: Based on his record, Barack Obama is for bigger government, and he's going to raise your taxes," Palin told the crowd estimated by deputy sheriffs at 3,800.

Obama has vowed he would raise taxes only on families earning $250,000 a year or more while cutting taxes for families making less. But Palin insisted that Obama eventually would increase taxes on lower-income groups as well.

"If you believe that America is the land of possibility, and you don't want your dreams dashed by the Obama tax plan, then Ohio, we're asking for your vote," she said.

Palin, the Alaska governor, also made stops yesterday in Canton, Marietta and Owensville in Clermont County near Cincinnati and plans a final rally today near Cleveland before Tuesday's election.

At Rickenbacker, Palin appeared with her husband, Todd, in front of a large cutout of a barn with "Victory in Ohio" written on it. Sen. John McCain also used it Friday at Nationwide Arena.

Besides criticizing Obama's "ideological commitment to higher taxes," Palin also argued it would be bad for "the far-left wing" of the Democratic Party to control Congress and the White House.

That struck a chord with Rich Pontius, 47, an architect from Upper Arlington. He said he doesn't consider himself a staunch Republican but is "scared" by the prospect of one-party rule in Washington.

"Total control is not good," said Pontius, whose 11-year-old daughter, Dana, got a book autographed by Palin.

In coal country in southeastern Ohio, Palin also highlighted what she called a newly released recording of a San Francisco Chronicle interview with Obama in January to suggest that Obama doesn't support the coal industry.

"So, if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can," Obama says. "It's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."

But the Obama campaign said the comment is being taken out context and that Obama is referring to a "cap-and-trade" system to limit emissions by allowing power plants to buy pollution credits. McCain supports a similar plan.

Also, while Palin suggested the tape had been kept hidden until now, the newspaper said in a blog that the interview has been online since January.

Palin downplayed the relatively modest crowds she drew yesterday compared with the tens of thousands who came to hear Obama. "The rousing speeches of our opponent, they can fill a stadium, but they cannot keep our country safe and they cannot get our economy back on the right track," Palin said in Marietta, where Democratic running mate Joe Biden spoke Oct. 14.

When Dispatch Poll respondents were asked which vice-presidential candidate was more qualified, 58 percent chose Biden and 42 percent picked Palin.

But Rob Portman, the former congressman from the Cincinnati area and budget director in the Bush administration, said in a phone interview before Palin's rally in Clermont County that Palin is nothing but a boost to the ticket in that GOP stronghold.

Dispatch Washington Bureau Chief Jonathan Riskind contributed to this story.

mniquette@dispatch.com