Forget Kennebunkport, Maine, and Crawford, Texas — and start thinking  Cornville.
Presidents and presidential candidates need places to unwind, to get away from the hustle of the West Wing or the campaign trail. And, this year, it’s all about Cornville.
Republican Sen. John McCain has made weekend stops at his Cornville ranch intermittently during the past six months on the campaign trail. He’s also used it as a headquarters to reform his campaign after a dismal performance in summer 2007, as a base from which to call a formal truce with former rivals and, more recently, to cross-train his vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin as she prepared for her Oct. 2 debate with Sen. Joe Biden.
Palin reportedly spent several days at the secluded ranch getting ready for the debate. The area was off-limits to the local press, and pretty much anyone else who wasn’t a high-level McCain official.
The national media insists on calling it McCain’s Sedona ranch. But it’s really in Cornville, a town of about 3,500.
McCain’s seven-acre property is at the end of a dirt road, an area some refer to as Hidden Valley or Page Springs, but it’s within the ZIP code 86325 and is officially considered part of Cornville.
The town’s name evokes images of cornfields, but it actually stems from a spelling error in government documents, according to Arizona State University’s Cronkite News Service. Marshall Trimble, Arizona’s official historian, said the name was supposed to be Coaneville after a family named Coane, though other accounts list that family’s name as Cohn, CNS reported last year.
By the time Palin ended her seclusion at McCain’s property, Sedona was reaping the benefits of the visit.
“We are getting free national publicity here,” said Sedona Mayor Rob Adams.
“Every time Sedona is mentioned, I mean it sets in people’s minds and they go: Where is Sedona and what’s that about≠ And so obviously, it is great for us,” Adams said.
Away from the hustle and bustle of big cities — and big crowds — the area undoubtedly provided Palin a serene atmosphere to relax.
It also seemed a fitting place for McCain to meet with former Republican presidential hopefuls to mend fences and discuss strategy just prior to the Republican National Convention last month. McCain hosted Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney at the ranch before all three gave speeches in support of his nomination at the St. Paul, Minn., convention.
And last year, McCain and his closest advisers, dubbed the “Sedona Five” by the Los Angeles Times, met routinely at the ranch to devise a plan to rejuvenate his campaign.
In fact, going up to Sedona offers one of the most beautiful drives in this part of the country: Winding roads, rolling hills, lush vegetation in contrast to desert-dry Phoenix, and, of course, Sedona’s red rock formations. Drive two or more hours away from the Capitol and the landscape changes; it becomes greener, the homes get sparser, and there’s snow in winter.   
In March, “Politico” reporter Jonathan Martin visited McCain’s ranch with a few dozen national reporters, later writing that there are key similarities to President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas.
“Both are remote. The closest city to Crawford is Waco — a half-hour drive. Sedona is even more far afield,” Martin wrote. “There is one airstrip locally. To come on a commercial flight, though, one must drive up from Phoenix — two hours to the south.
“The key difference is that McCain’s place lies in a resort-heavy area with all the requisite trimmings. One can be in the town of Sedona in a matter of minutes, where there are a variety of restaurants, shops and, yes, places to buy The New York Times.” So while it’s at the bottom of a long, rocky dirt road — 4×4 highly recommended — a latte is never far away.
A tourism site lists “102 things” to do in and around Sedona, including soaring above the red rocks in a bi-plane, visiting the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is perched in red rock, and hiking in the Coconino Forest. This time of the year, the high temperatures in the Verde Valley are in the 80s. It’s almost perfect for those trying to escape the desert heat. Incidentally, Wasilla, Alaska, saw highs in the 40s during the first week of October.
Palin, however, wasn’t scheduled to do much sightseeing in Sedona. She had real work to do.
Palin’s media interviews have received scathing reviews, and a number of Republicans expressed dissatisfaction with her performance. Kathleen Parker, writing in the venerated National Review, said her “cringe reflex is exhausted” watching Palin’s interviews. “Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first,” she wrote.
But Arizona Republicans who watched Palin at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul are keeping the faith.
“We got a debate Thursday evening,” said Camilla Strongin, a former spokeswoman of the Arizona Republican Party. Strongin was in St. Paul, Minn., during the GOP convention. “I would certainly caution anybody, before they count her out, to see her perform then.”
Strongin added: “She just needs to be herself, and that’s the most important thing she can do, and obviously candidates get coached and you get a lot of opinions and recommendations. The bottom line is: Let the real Sarah Palin be seen and I think she will be fine.”
Carol Springer, a former state treasurer and former state senator and now supervisor of Yavapai County, echoed that assessment.
“Let her rip. People love her. She will do well if she is comfortable being herself,” she said.
Springer said it would be the “worst decision” for Palin step down as the GOP vice presidential pick.
Rep. Jonathan Paton, who was in St. Paul, called it a “dumb idea.” In the same manner, it would be stupid for Biden, who has said some “crazy things,” to step down as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, Paton said.
“You don’t changes horses mid-stream,” he said.