Posted on 09/15/2008 3:16:26 PM PDT by ninergold3
OK folks, here is my report on the Sarah Palin rally held in Carson City, NV on Saturday, September 13, 2008.
The day the Palin visit was made, I called the Carson City Republican HQ to get information. The poor woman who answered the phone was tearing her hair out as they had zero information, phones ringing off the hook and people just dropping by.
I picked my daughter up from school at 11AM - she's a senior in HS and won't be able to vote in this election (she hasn't forgiven me for having her 6 months too late). We drove 1/2 hour to the CC HQ and walked in to find a madhouse. I found the woman in charge, explained that I used to run an office and asked if I could help. LOL - she handed me a phone and gave my daughter a pad of paper to take the messages off the answering machine. We spent 3 hours helping out and loving every minute of it.
We went back a couple days later to help but someone had taken all the cell phones so we couldn't make calls. However, the office manager told us to show up at the venue on Friday night at 6PM to help paint signs. She said that the volunteer list for the rally was already full. We were bummed but decided that painting signs would be fun.
When we got to the arena Friday night we found that the sign painting wasn't happening but that the majority of the signed-up volunteers hadn't shown for the meeting. We were in the right place at the right time. We were assigned as part of a group to get there at 11AM on Saturday to put stickers on the McCain/Palin signs (the lawyers were having kittens as the "Paid for by:" was on the signs but the "McCain/Palin 2008" was missing. There were already people waiting in line:
We put stickers on thousands of signs - front and back. Then we had to leave the venue for the sweep by the Secret Service and local law enforcement (dogs everywhere). By this time there was quite a line beginning:
We waited outside - not too patiently but. . . My hubby is front left, my BIL is front center and my SIL is front right.
This little girl was so cute. She had helped make this sign and on the back was a pink circle with arms and legs. She informed me that it was a picture of Sarah Palin. LOL
My husband and I made our own T-shirts. His:
Mine (my daughter wore one too):
Three hours before the gates opened there was already a line snaking through the park:
My husband and I were press escorts and crowd control at the front gate. I took this from one of the press risers:
I do have to say that quite a few of the people attending this thing weren't too bright. The newspapers and TV told people not to bring purses and such as there would be tight security at the entrance. So, what do people do? Huge purses and tote bags. Men with tons of change and such in their pockets. It slowed down security to a crawl. The number of people who had to have pocket knives and mace taken away was amazing!
I thought that my hubby and I had a great position but when all was said and done my daughter had the best spot ever...front row - center. Here are some of her pictures. Hello Nevada!:
There was media from all over the world as well as from the Carson City High School newspaper. The reporter in red goes to our church:
There were Secret Service everywhere. Only problem is that the people in charge didn't explain to us how to distinguish them. So, in doing my job, I stopped a man trying to go through the press area to behind the stage. Turns out he was Secret Service, showed me how to identify him and then said I was doing a good job - I'm glad he didn't laugh at me - I would have died!
She noticed this immediately and commented on it:
Isn't she a perfect lady?
I'm showing this picture as the lady in the flowered blouse on the top tier of the bleachers - far left -goes to our church. She and her husband (he's African American) are wonderful people but have been saying for the last 4-5 months how much they love Obama. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw her show up - then I find out that her husband was there too. On Sunday they BOTH came to church with their McCain/Palin and You Go Girl buttons on! !
This plane flew around the venue all afternoon:
However, here are the pictures I'm most proud of though. My daughter was able to get both of their autographs (twice) and her picture taken with them both. All she kept saying was how nice they both were - stopping to talk to people, signing hats, shirts, signs, etc. My daughter did say that the Secret Service was very strict - go figure. No lipstick tubes allowed out, don't hand her a pen she has her own, there was someone with a bottle of yellow liquid that the Secret Service yelled at to put it away.
The only protesters were outside the venue and never came in - we couldn't even hear them from inside. There was one incident where the Secret Service told a guy to empty his pockets (at the security checkpoint) and he started to, then put his hands back in his pocket. He was told to take his hand out and he started to and then put it back in as if he were reaching for something. That was all it took, one agent yelled "Get Him" and there were 5 agents in the air and on top of this guy. A poor woman was knocked over as well as one of the McCain staffers. The crowd cheered as the guy was arrested - he had drugs and paraphanalia in his pockets.
One more interesting thing...the McCain travel staff was made up of a group of mid-20 somethings. They worked their butts off both Friday and Saturday and they were nice! They made sure my daughter got what she needed to take back to school for extra credit. I made sure to thank them before we left the venue and they looked surprised and grateful at that.
I know this is long but I wanted to give y'all a complete report and some of our pictures.
Ninergold3 aka Nadine from Nevada
I love new pictures of Sarah.
Wow! Great report and photos!
Some of the elite conservative opionion leaders are getting a little wobbly on Palin based on her interviews. Not enough depth they say. Meanwhile Obama fanatic Andrew Sullivan is hammering away as if shocked by politics in a political campaign. We have the lead. Its up to the true grass roots to carry this thing across the finish line.
Sounds like Republican disarray in Carson City, NV. Must do better, people!
Excellent report. This will go on your record.
Now, who was in Golden, CO?
Speaking of Carson City... I love my Carson City minted "Morgan" silver dollars... I always carry a silver dollar for good luck (or in my case since I'm a Texas A&M Aggie Former Student... to minimize the "bad" luck).
;-)
Too Cool. Thanks for sharing
WOW! Great job and awesome photos!!!!
awesome!
Love the report...love the pictures.
They are simply a fabulous looking couple.
Wonderful reporting and pictures....!!
That is so cute.. what great pictures, and your daughter got such a great shot of Sarah, and to pose with her and the First Dude of Alaska..what a fun time you all had.
Loved the T shirt logos too. Thanks for this Sarah Palin report.
Great pics!
Thank you for providing a thread with some wonderful pictures, outstanding ‘insider’ news, and complete frankness.
I guess you’ll never qualify to be a MSM Journalist.
: )
Terrific pics. Thank you so much for sharing this story. Your daughter will tell her grandchildren about it one day and btw, what a great kid you have!
Thanks! Grateful that I live in a red-state so we won’t be seeing the Straight Talk Express. But a post like this is the next best thing...
Congressman Billybob
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