WOW!
Holy Sh$T, Thats a real pic ???
Me thinks the base is energized! We need to keep it up!
Ruh Roh.....
Barama’s got real troubles...
McPalin doesn’t get any better !!
Bump!!!
“Notice how they crop the photo to just get the edges of the crowd to make it look bigger.”
Opps - look at post #8!
Don’t forget that when Barackstar was pulling in huge crowds, he often had free rock concerts right before he’d show up to the rally.
No wonder the media/Dems are working so hard to destroy Palin. If they thought she was the lightweight non-entity that they claim she is, they’d just ignore her like Republicans are doing with Biden.
Great picture!
McCain/Palin is really energizing people.
An impressive turn out but Colorado Springs is conservative.
Its a Defense oriented town.
Denver is Dem Blue. Still.....Very impressive
Whoo Hoo!
Leni
Have more free concerts to draw warm bodies. The media cannot fake the non-crowds much longer.
McCain is now probably stunned at what happens when you make nice
with the Republican base.
(Heck, I know I am after seeing the photos on this thread!)
Without Palin, I suspect that crowd would be significantly smaller.
Remember, Colorado Springs is home-base for James Dobson’s “Focus
on The Family” and some mega-churches (Ted Haggard’s former flock)
McCain could count on the military families in the area...but with
Palin, the ranks have swollen.
Not many photos in this election cycle have made me utter a profanity out loud, but this one sure did. That is one impressive crowd photo!!
By John Ingold and Christopher N. Osher
The Denver Post
COLORADO SPRINGS — In just the second day of campaigning together, Republican Presidential nominee John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, gave a command performance of their convention week speeches to a crowd of more than 10,000 here.
McCain and Palin hit popular notes from their big-stage speeches by promising to rein in government spending, lead America to energy independence and win the war in Iraq.
"There's no place more appropriate than here in Colorado Springs, with all the great service of people from here, to tell you this: We are winning in Iraq," McCain said, drawing some of the biggest cheers of his 15-minute speech.
"We'll bring our men and women home in honor and in victory and not in defeat," he added later.
Palin, whose applause perhaps even eclipsed McCain's, attacked Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama for what she said was a lack of leadership. She said she and McCain were a "team of mavericks" who could change politics in Washington.
"There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you, and that man is John McCain," she said to huge roars from the crowd.
The pair did touch on one new issue amid the encore of their more familiar lines. In a nod to news that the federal government takeover of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is possibly in the works, both McCain and Palin mentioned the troubled firms.
"The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need their help," Palin said.
Afterward, audience members were almost euphoric.
"It was fantastic. Exciting. Energizing," said Elizabeth Findley, who brought her 4-year-old daughter to the speech and held up a sign reading, "A Mom 4 a Maverick."
"It was so energizing to hear him in person."
"And they've got a good message," chimed in Brent Meyer, a Navy reservist and Findley's boyfriend.
Campaign staff say more than 10,000 people got tickets to crowd into and overflow out of an airplane hangar at the Colorado Springs airport. They began lining up as early as 5:30 a.m., even though doors for the event didn't open until 9 a.m.
By the time doors did open, traffic jammed for miles around the airport and the line of people waiting to get in wound for several hundred yards around large hangars.
"We wanted to be here for this memorable day," explained Patricia Strawser, who left her Denver house with her husband, Tom, at 5 a.m.
They arrived at the airport at 6 a.m. and found 50 people already in line ahead of them.
"I've never done anything like this before," said Tom Strawser, who wore a cowboy hat adorned with little American flags. "Nothing."
The crowd seemed made up of both veterans of political rallies and first-timers. Patricia Strawser said she worked for Democrat Al Gore's campaign in 2000. Tom Strawser said McCain's pick of Palin, the quick-witted, charismatic and conservative Alaska governor, made all the difference.
"Sincerity," Tom Strawser summed it up. "She's very authentic. I've never been inspired by anyone else like this except Bobby Kennedy."
"It has energized the base," added Patricia Strawser, a naturalized citizen from Colombia who said she became a Republican because she feels it's the party of moral values. "And it shows how bright John McCain is. He knows how the game is played. It is game on now."
Indeed people in the crowd said Palin has brought an enthusiasm level to the McCain campaign that now rivals that of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama's famously devoted supporters.
"Military moms means what they say," Cathi Judy, 52, of Penrose, whose husband is serving in the Army in Iraq and who has two children serving in the military, said in reference to Palin and her son, who is also in the military.
Radio show host Dan Caplis stirred up the crowd by pointing out several Republican women who hold elected office in the state.
"It just seems funny to hear Barack Obama say that he's for equal opportunity for women," Caplis said. "Tell that to Hillary Clinton."
He then led the crowd in chants of "Palin power!"
Sitting high up in the bleachers adjacent to the stage, Lorena Mitchell said she thought McCain would have gotten a rousing reception in Colorado Springs regardless of whom he chose as his running mate.
"This is typical El Paso County," said Mitchell, a Colorado Springs resident who is a lifelong Republican and has served as a party precinct chair for several years.
She said she has attended rallies for five presidents and several presidential candidates but has never seen McCain speak in person.
"I thought, 'Gosh, if he's this close, I ought to come see him and show people I support him,' " she said.
But sitting down in the crowd, Mitchell's brother, George Mitchell, said he wasn't so sure. Mitchell, a Democrat, said he came with his sister and his girlfriend, who is also a Republican. He held a sign reading "Maverick" over his head, but he said that was to block the intense morning sun.
"I'm still undecided," he said. "I came here to see what he looks like. Obama scares me, too."
And, as for Palin, he was equally skeptical.
"I have nothing against hockey moms, don't get me wrong," he said, invoking Palin's oft-quoted self characterization. "But c'mon, you've got to have a little more experience than that."
Lorena Mitchell chuckled at her brother's skepticism.
"I think this will change his mind," she said.
‘O’-bee Whine Bama is in deep trouble.
Speaking as someone who was there, it was a madhouse. Thank goodness we flew in, traffic was terrible. The story about the flags speaks volumes of the democrats.
As she reaches the top of the stairs and looks out at the giant crowd, she must feel like she’s stepped into the twilight zone.