Live Updates: Sarah Palin campaign rally
Live Updates from tonight’s campaign rally featuring Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
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7:25 p.m.: Cheers and applause rang out over the crowd as Gov. Sarah Palin took the stage.
- Elizabeth Ahlin
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7:20 p.m.: Chants of “drill, baby, drill” rang out over the crowd just moments before Gov. Dave Heineman took the stage to introduce Gov. Sarah Palin. As word spread that Palin was in the building, the chant morphed to Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!
As Heineman began to speak, shrieks and cheers filled the airwaves.
“I want you to remember this is a very important election, and there is a clear different between Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain. Sen. Obama is a nice guy and he is a very gifted speaker, but he is the most liberal member of the United States Senate,” Heineman said to loud boos. “In Sen. McCain, we have a reformer.”
Then Heineman moved on to the woman of the evening, and her opponent Sen. Joe Biden.
“On the other side, there’s that guy, Say It Ain’t So, Joe Biden, who on Thursday night, didn’t want to have anything to do with Sarah Palin,” Biden said.
- Elizabeth Ahlin
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7:12 p.m.: Almost 30 minutes after Gov. Palin landed in Omaha, and six hours after some of her supporters arrived at the Civic Center, an increasingly restless crowd inside the Music Hall stood and chanted Sarah! Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!
- Elizabeth Ahlin
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7:05 p.m.: A sand-colored SUV drove up Capitol Avenue with Palin waving from the front passenger-side window.
- Elizabeth Ahlin
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6:43 p.m.: Sarah Palin’s plane landed at Eppley Airfield at 6:43 p.m.
She was greeted by Gov. Dave Heineman.
- Robynn Tysver
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6:40 p.m.: Organizers are struggling to accommodate the crowd, which has filled the Music Hall and the overflow room. About 6,000 people are estimated to be seated inside the building, but there still are lines of people hoping to see Gov. Palin outside.
- Elizabeth Ahlin
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6:35 p.m.: Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., began his short speech by joking with the crowd, who chanted “We love Lee, we love Lee,” as he took the stage.
“And that’s not even my family behind that,” Terry said.
Terry called Gov. Palin a “straight up person,” and said she is the key to energy independence, because she advocates drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, something Sen. John McCain opposes.
“Sarah Palin is the one that understands that and is gonna drive it home in the administration and set us free. We can use our own resources to do it,” Terry said.
- Elizabeth Ahlin
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6:29 p.m.: An estimated crowd of 50 Obama supporters crowded both sides of 17th and Davenport Streets carrying signs like “Sarah Failin’” and “This is an election not a beauty pageant.”
They sang “The Star Spangled Banner,” and chanted: “O-ba-ma” and “Hope, hope.”
For the most part, Palin supporters waiting in line stared at them calmly and gave a few thumbs-down signs. Some are taking pictures of the protesters.
The line to get into the Music Hall is long - it wraps around the Omaha Civic Auditorium and all the way around the corner to Capitol Avenue.
- Kyle O’Reilly
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6:22 p.m.: Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Mike Johanns drew the greatest applause of the night so far when he touched on abortion, an issue that has helped rally social conservatives behind Sarah Palin.
“I believe the kind of United States that we want to leave for them (our children) is one that protects the life of the unborn,” Johanns said, prompting the crowd to erupt in cheers and applause.
- Elizabeth Ahlin
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6:20 p.m.: Sarah Palin’s plane has yet to land in Omaha, but a cadre of Republican politicans are revving up the crowd at the Civic Auditorium’s Music Hall.
- Elizabeth Ahlin
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6:15 p.m.: U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Lincoln is speaking. About Palin: “I’d never heard of her . . . now all of America knows about her.”
Said Palin is a hit among his five daughters.
“One of my little girls said, ‘Is Piper going to be there?’”
He said Palin has a heart in public service starting with the PTA. He said the PTA is the toughest level in politics.
- Elizabeth Ahlin
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6:12 p.m.: U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, took a dig at Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden in his words to the crowd.
“What a breath of fresh air injected into our political arena - Sarah Palin! She speaks to everyone. If you’re a mom, she speaks to you. If you’re a dad, you’re a first dude and she speaks to you.”
“She has an answer for everything, including, who was the president in 1929 and when did they invent television,” King said, drawing loud cheers and laughs from the crowd.
- Elizabeth Ahlin
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6:09 p.m.: People were still being seated as Mark Quandahl opened things off with the national anthem. He introduced Richard Carter, Jim Esch’s opponent in the 2nd District Democratic Primary, who began by leading the pledge of allegience. Carter currently is extolling the virtues of U.S. Rep. Lee Terry.
“He is a man like John McCain, who puts his country first.”
- Elizabeth Ahlin
Well, there is some truth to this. Swift boating refers to bringing out the truth about John Kerry in spite of the media's best efforts to cover for him. It can also be applied to this race.
She sounds great...thnx
Thanks, I am enjoying the Palin Ralley uninterupted and with much Joy...Thanks.
Thank you for posting!
She’s doing great right now!
Palin on Bad Interviews: I was just trying to give Tina Fey more material. Job Security for Saturday Night Live
She’s awesome!!
She’s talking about Ayers, now. :)
Tell it like it is, Sarah!
Loved the Tina Fey stuff too.
Barracuda is on Ayers now! Now quoting Ronaldus Magnus: “virtues of freedom are worth fighting for!” Good one-two punch.
Nebraska? I gotta ask...6 points down in the polls why is she in a safe state? Didn’t Obama pull out of the state already? Shouldn’t she be in Colorado or Nevada or Ohio? Just asking. Nothing against NE, just seems silly to waste valuable time.
It’s already started! Click on the link!!!
She’s the Rock Star, not Nobama. Man, the crowd just LOVES her.
And so do I. :)
Thank you again.
Sarah is just great.
I find it strange that the Omaha World Herald IS live-casting an Event that they failed to Announce or plug {as coming soon, to OUR City}.
I worked until 6, this evening and copuldn’t have attended. But my spouse would have liked to attend.
She is the real deal, the biggest political rock star of the 21st century.
Thanks for the thread. Did anyone see her autograph a box of baby wipes?