ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Linda Lingle, whose political background is similar to that of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — the GOP's vice presidential choice — is being deployed at the Republican National Convention to tell Palin's story to delegates and the news media.

The Republican governor did interviews yesterday with the CBS Early Show, BBC America, Fox News and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and spoke at a luncheon for Nevada and Guam delegates.

Lingle, who also talked with Hawai'i delegates and local reporters, is drawing on her history as a former journalist, Maui mayor and the first woman governor of Hawai'i to explain her similarities to Palin.

Palin was a former sports journalist, Wasilla mayor and the first woman governor of Alaska.

"I'm one of the only people in America who knows Sarah Palin," Lingle joked to Nevada and Guam delegates in explaining her role. "And, because I'm one of the only people who has traveled her road."

With Palin yet to appear at the convention, and many delegates unfamiliar with her, Republicans are relying on surrogates to keep the energy behind her selection.

The task took on tactical importance yesterday after Palin and her husband, Todd, disclosed that their 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant and intends to get married.

Lingle, sharpening a theme she began to use on Friday after Palin's selection was announced, said Palin has chief executive experience as a mayor and governor that U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware — the Democratic ticket — do not.

"They haven't been the mayor of a midsized city, big city, small city, red, blue, any city. They've never been the mayor, either of them. They've never been a governor," Lingle told Nevada and Guam delegates, not mentioning that McCain also does not have executive experience.

"And why is that important? Because as a governor, you don't have the ability to print money when you want a new program. In the states, you can't print money the way they can at the federal level.

"So what does that mean? It means your revenues and expenditures actually have to line up."

Both the McCain and Obama campaigns are targeting Nevada as a battleground state. The local Obama campaign, identifying an opportunity to attract the many Hawai'i transplants living in Nevada, has sent in U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, and U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, to campaign and plans to use more local surrogates in the coming weeks.

Andy Winer, Obama's state director, said Akaka was in Nevada on Saturday and that he hopes to have U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai'i, at a ho'olaule'a in Henderson this month.

"This is what we're going to be doing for the next several weeks," Winer said from Las Vegas.

TOUTING TAX PLAN

Lingle, who is expected to speak with Washington state delegates and address the convention today, said she was given a list of state delegations by the McCain campaign and picked the ones where she thought she would have an impact and that fit within her schedule.

Asked by local reporters what message she has for swing-state voters in Nevada, Lingle said: "I think the same kinds of messages I would give to people regardless of what state they're in, that the McCain-Palin ticket is the most experienced ticket when it comes to both foreign affairs as well as domestic issues. There's really no comparison between the two."

Lingle said she believes women in Nevada who work will relate well to Palin as a working mother of five.

"People, like those in Las Vegas, who have suffered from this downturn in tourism that's going on, the cost of living is a major issue for them, and Sen. McCain's approach of not overtaxing people, I think, will be very meaningful to them," she said.

Lingle said two-income families may face higher taxes under Obama's proposal to allow President Bush's tax cuts to expire on those earning more than $250,000 a year.

"The fact is it's on very middle-class people when you combine their income together, it's a schoolteacher and a firefighter, it's a police officer and a marketing representative," she said.

Lingle said middle-income families may also be subject to higher taxes because of Obama's plans to raise taxes on capital gains and dividends, although Obama would also offer tax breaks for low-and-middle income workers.

PLATFORM APPROVED

The convention, meanwhile, opened yesterday with a truncated afternoon session where delegates organized and approved the party's platform.

The platform includes language backing equal participation in federal programs by Native Hawaiians, Alaska Natives and American Indians, and the importance of preserving native cultures and languages.

The platform also recognizes the military service of American Indians.

"We honor the sacrifices of all Native Americans serving in the military today and in years past and will ensure that all veterans receive the care and respect they have earned through their service to America," the platform states.

Democrats, at their convention in Denver last week, approved a platform that endorsed Native Hawaiian self-determination consistent with the 1993 apology resolution and the Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill sponsored by Akaka.

Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, a delegate, said Hawai'i Republicans who favor the Akaka bill chose not to push the issue because of concerns among national Republicans.

"I think the problem is we're still trying to convince some of our Republican leaders that it's the right thing to do," Aiona said. "We still have some of these old fallacies going around right now, some of these old arguments that it's unconstitutional.

"It's tough to change that way of thinking, so we're still working on that."

McCain has opposed the Akaka bill, arguing that it would divide the Islands by race and lead to conflict. Lingle told local reporters yesterday that she had not discussed the issue with Palin, but believed there might be some opportunity with her and noted that her husband is an Alaska Native.

RETURN TO POLITICS

Charlie Black, a senior adviser and friend to McCain for more than 30 years, told Nevada and Guam delegates that yesterday was probably the first time he has spoken with the Arizona senator and not talked about politics.

McCain's attention has been directed to Hurricane Gustav, not the convention, and convention cameos yesterday by first lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, McCain's wife, were linked to hurricane relief.

But Black said the campaign would soon be turning back to politics in the battleground states.

"He did also ask me to tell the people of Nevada that he would be seeing you frequently in the next couple of months," Black said. "I'm very sorry, Guam, I can't make that same promise."