DALLAS – Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's confident debate performance, following a series of widely ridiculed television interviews, is stoking Republican hopes that “Palin Power” is back.

Advisers to Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain hope a revival in the Alaska governor's populist appeal, can provide some renewed momentum in states where Democratic rival Barack Obama is surging ahead.

One senior McCain adviser said Palin will likely speak more frequently to the media. She began with an unscheduled interview with Fox News Friday morning, considered a friendly venue for Republicans.

“You'll see she'll be more accessible now to the media,” said the adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity.

That would mark a shift following criticism that Palin has been over-handled and too scripted since her extraordinary entry into the race nearly five weeks ago.

Her troubles were compounded by embarrassing performances in the few TV interviews she did conduct that raised questions over whether the 44-year-old is ready for the vice presidency. Widely parodied as rambling and ignorant of key policy issued, Palin suffered a sharp slide in opinion polls.

Half of all voters in a Washington Post poll Thursday said they were uncomfortable with McCain taking office at age 72, and 85 percent of them said Palin did not have the right experience for the job.

“She hit her stride,” Sen. Lindsay Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said of Palin's Thursday evening debate against Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden. Despite her performance, the Delaware senator emerged the winner in two post-debate snap polls of voters.

Unlike her interview with CBS News Anchor Katie Couric when she prevaricated or came up empty and was occasionally almost in coherent, Palin was succinct, informed and at times aggressive in the debate.

“One of the biggest mistakes we have made is not to showcase her to the people,” Graham said.

While Republicans hailed Palin's debate performance, others were not impressed. A New York Times editorial said she never moved beyond her talking points; the Chicago Tribune said she “dithered and dodged” in discussing global warming; the Los Angeles Times said “she did nothing to arrest her slide from phenomenon to embarrassment.”

BATTLEGROUNDS

Palin remains popular with evangelical Christians and conservatives are drawn to her support for gun rights, fervent opposition to abortion as well as her life story as a moose-hunting, mother of five.

A month before the Nov. 4 election, the McCain campaign is dispatching Palin to critical regions, beginning with Florida and North Carolina next week – two states carried by Republicans in 2004 where Obama has recently moved narrowly ahead in opinion polls.

She also plans a series of fund-raisers. The first in Dallas Friday was followed by a meeting with oil investor T. Boone Pickens who is pushing a plan to move the United States toward alternative energy sources.

While Thursday's debate was unlikely to reshape a White House race that Obama leads, it clearly invigorated the self-styled “hockey mom” who said she had fun.

“I think things went very well last night. It was energizing and I was happy to have had the opportunity,” she told reporters Friday.

Palin is under pressure to demonstrate the skills for which she was known in Alaska – an ability to connect to everyday people she calls “Joe Six Pack.” That was on full display Thursday when she spoke directly into the camera and peppered answers with “aw shucks” Americanisms. (Edited by Alan Elsner)