Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain took in $6.8 million in donations yesterday, when he named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin his running mate.

The amount was a single-day record, McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said last night. The amount is more than the Arizona senator raised during the entire fourth quarter of 2007.

The campaign raised $4.5 million in Internet donations, and has taken in $2.3 million so far by telephone and mail, Buchanan told reporters.

The campaign has just a few days to spend the money. McCain is set to formally accept the Republican nomination at the party's convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sept. 4. At that time, the primary election will formally end and general election spending limits will kick in.

McCain and Palin visited Pennsylvania yesterday, speaking at a sunset rally in the town of Washington. Country rocker John Rich entertained the crowd of about 10,000 flag-waving supporters, and Palin was the marquee speaker.

``I have found the right partner to help me stand up to those who have corrupted Washington,'' McCain, 72, told the cheering crowd. ``She has strong principles, a fighting spirit.''

Palin, 44, touted her humble roots as the daughter of two elementary school employees and her credentials as a political outsider.

``As governor, I stood up to the old politics as usual, special interests, and the good-old-boys network,'' Palin said. ``I appointed both Democrats and independents to serve in my administration.''

Palin Family

The candidates spoke at the Consol Energy Arena, home of the Washington Wild Things minor-league baseball team. Palin was accompanied by her husband, Todd, and three of their five children.

Palin also made a direct appeal to women that did not play well with the crowd.

``I can't begin this great effort without honoring the achievements of Geraldine Ferraro back in 1984 and of course, Senator Hillary Clinton, who did show grace in her presidential campaign,'' Palin said.

The crowd booed.

Clinton lost the Democratic presidential primary to Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Ferraro, also a Democrat, was the first woman to run for vice president.

The rally was the first major public appearance by McCain and Palin since he introduced her as his running mate in Dayton, Ohio. The two spent most of yesterday behind closed doors at a hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they worked on their convention speeches.

Today they will visit a hurricane command center in Jackson, Mississippi. The last-minute addition to the campaign schedule includes a meeting with Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lorraine Woellert in St. Louis, Missouri, at lwoellert@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 31, 2008 00:08 EDT