BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Former Ronald Reagan speechwriter Ken Khachigian recommended that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin make a tour across eastern and southern parts of California during the fall, because her credentials as a vice presidential nominee would be a good fit for voters in that part of the state.

Khachigian, speaking at a caucus breakfast for the California delegation to the Republican National Convention, said that if nothing else, doing so would force Democrats to spend money in California that they couldn't spend elsewhere.

"She'll fit right in with the folks I grew up with," said Khachigian, who spent his formative years in Visalia. "I really think if this campaign gets cooking in the last couple of weeks, we can win in California. But we have to make the investment now."

Khachigian, who also wrote speeches for Richard Nixon while he was president, said the Democratic ticket of U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden was the most liberal he'd seen in 40 years of political involvement.

He recalled how Reagan said in his 1980 inauguration speech that while peace was the highest aspiration of Americans, who were willing to negotiate for it and sacrifice for it, they wouldn't surrender for it.

"I couldn't imagine Barack Obama making that statement that way," Khachigian said.

By contrast, he said, Palin and presumptive Republican presidential nominee U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have the personalities that would drive their appeal.

"The margin of victory will be determined by the instinct of the American people," he said. "I know the issues are important, but this election is really about people."

The relatively small bounce in polling that Democrats got after their convention last week, Khachigian said, encouraged him to think the Republican ticket could have momentum coming out of the convention and be comfortably ahead in November.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Khachigian said the goal should be to be within five to six percentage points of Obama/Biden by mid-October.

Palin's appeal, particularly in California, could make a meaningful difference at that point, he said.

"Can you imagine bringing Barack Obama into Fresno, or Merced or Modesto, and getting that response?" he said. "She'll get some Democrats and independents in the areas I'm talking about. It doesn't have to be huge amounts."