Posted on 09/21/2008 3:54:48 PM PDT by Maelstorm
Palin has injected excitement into the campaign for many voters, including numerous at The Villages, which is a reliably Republican community of nearly 70,000 retirees. 12
Palin talked about the financial crisis in the United States and took a jab at Obama, saying he "voted present" last week on how to handle the situation. Palin said Obama voted "present" about 130 times while he was a state senator in Illinois.
"The problems in Washington and on Wall Street are hurting people on Main Street. We need a president who will stand up for small-business owners," Palin said. "Truly there is one man who can fix our economy, and that man is John McCain."
(Excerpt) Read more at local6.com ...
How many people were actually there.. No BS, tell the truth.
On the other post, link to article, fire chief estimated 70,000 including the ones on the outside watching on big screens. And no, they didn’t all walk with canes. People there with young kids, etc.
Making no statement IS A STATEMENT.
The AP headline said her first stop in Florida was a safe one.
I read that too! My mouth just about dropped to the floor...HOLY COW 70,000 and without a BAND to draw a crowd...HOY HEIFER!! And the mediaWHORES had a blackout on this rally?? BIG MISTAKE!
The AP headline said her first stop in Florida was a safe one.
LOL, We're all very nice people here in Central FL.
Tens of thousands inched along roads into the picturesque town square of the complex, where they stood in sweltering heat for about four hours as local GOP officials and a country band revved up the crowd.Source."Sa-Rah! Sa-Rah!" they chanted at every mention of her name, applauding loudly and waiving tiny American flags that were distributed -- along with free water bottles -- by local volunteers. The fire chief estimated the crowd at 60,000.
That was no mistake... it's intentional.
Wow! I thought that was the population of the Villages, not the attendance at the rally. Go Sarah!
I think that’s the population of the city...
Ping
Your linked to the editing version. The original version had 70,000. Bambi handlers are calling these newsrooms to complain and demand they drop the number . Seriously they make these types of calls!
You didn’t bust my bubble. The article said 70,000 when I read it. I didn’t do a typo, and I can still read. Someone posted they “edited” the number.
I was there. It was awesome— Too bad they didn’t plan on having it in a better location. From my understanding, 12,000 can get into the area that was close up. There was about double that outside the area watching on Big Screen TVs. Several parking areas were filled up. Some of my friends WALKED as much as a 1.5 miles from the parking area to the rally area.
The areticle states that the population of The Villages was 70k. I estimate the crowd to have been in the neighborhood of around 30k to 35k. They should have had the rally in the Citrus bowl in Orlando- We would have FILLED it.
I gave out 100 tickests to the even and 91 of those people were there!
Pictures (from a friend) coming as soon as we get them uploaded...
You should have seen Piper Palin with the mic in her hand thanking the crowd for inviting them to Florida. That kid has a future!
I was at the Bush Rally in 2004 - and the Sarah Palin rally today topped that by a whopping 10 miles...I'd guess there were way more than 70,000 there.
My in-laws live in the Villages and I live only 8 miles north, but I saw tags from all over the state and even some from Georgia.
There were students from UCF, USF, UF, and many others. They wore t-shirts like "Gators for McCain" and others waved the UCF flag.
Some people in attendance where in wheelchairs, and some walked with canes, but the vast majority walked unaided and stood for hours in the hot sun just to see Sarah. Ages ranged from babies to very old. There were lots of families with kids or teens on bikes without parents.
It was a broad representation of ages and races there. One group of Puerto Ricans began chanting for McCain! I saw several black families and one black teen who was there alone - he stood nearby and didn't utter a sound when some moron cut in front of where he had been standing for over 1 hour. He was near the railing waiting to get a glimpse of Sarah walk by on her way to the stage. The rest of us took up for him and asked the lady to move and she finally did. An older white man put his arm around the black teen and he just smiled in appreciation.
Unfortunately, the heat took its toll - most people were dehydrated and some required medical attention. Maybe next time they'll hold a rally later in the day.
All in all it was a very fun event.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.