20,000 People Rally for Sarah Palin in Springfield, Missouri!

eyewitness report | October 25, 2008 | john in springfield

[ErnBatavia]

Good stuff! Looks like it’s getting downright nippy there, given the duds being worn. We’re still trying to get a day below the mid 90’s, but it does look like we’re done with the triple digits here in the desert.

[john in springfield]

Yes, one thing I didn’t mention was that it was COLD! And for the first few hours, it threatened rain. Still no deterrent to 20,000 people.

[roses of sharon]

Thanks for the report, it is good to see that we are not alone!

[Ben Hecks]

Excellent post, John, and welcome to FR! I was in line next to a couple from Grove, Oklahoma - they left home at 5:00AM.

[CaraM]

Thanks for posting this. My hope is that all the conservatives in rural Missouri will be able to out-vote the Obama followers in St Louis and Kansas City.

Bttt

[musicman]

Great pics!!!!!! BTTT !!!!

[Artemis Webb]

I live only a mile or so from Bass Pro but was unable to attend yesterday. My wife was busy at a location two blocks away. Across the street she saw a very large woman get out of her car with a handmade sign that said;

PRO CHOICE
PRO WOMAN
ANTI PALIN

Well my wife knew that no signs were allowed so sure enough a short time later the frustrated big lib came back, threw her sign in her car and drove away.

[1035rep]

Nice photo’s, thank you.

[Just mythoughts]

Awesome post!!!

[musicman]

"Well my wife knew that no signs were allowed so sure enough a short time later the frustrated big lib came back, threw her sign in her car and drove away."

Thanks for posting that!!

[There's millions of'em]

Thanks for the report.

Great job

Anyone who is forcasting a "normal" Republican turnout for this election is on crack!

[chickpundit]

I'm glad you posted this thread. I was able to attend as well. It was freezing cold. We got there around 8:00, and I couldn't feel my fingers or toes by the end of it. I bet there would have been even more people who would have turned out with decent weather. I was getting frustrated in line, watching the news cameras on the 12 protestors there at the time. The had such clever signs like "McCain Hugs Bush" and "Pipeline to Nowhere". They were a pretty affable bunch. At one point they started chanting "USA", and we chanted "USA" along with them for a while, lol. Later, maybe 20 protestors wearing pink shirts showed up way across the street holding teeny signs. They were pink signs, the size of standard paper, lol. No one could read their tiny signs. All that effort for nothing :) The lines were long and winding, but everyone was very polite. Once they finally let everyone in, we were packed like sardines, but it was all worth it. Palin did a great job as always. I was able to see her from time to time if someone else moved their head :) I was able to get a few pictures by raising my camera high above my head and hoping I was taking pictures of Palin. The sky was overcast, and one point after Palin talked about cutting government spending or some such topic, everyone noticed sudden radiant, almost heavenly beams of sunlight burst through the clouds. Palin said, "We all saw the light". It was a pretty funny off the cuff remark. Everyone in the crowd was deferential to others, trying to move to the side an inch or two to allow others to take photos or get a quick glimpse. When we left the parking lot, everyone exited in a calm and orderly manner. After I added the pics, it looks like this post doesn't have any spacing between paragraphs, but oh well, here are a couple:

[longtermmemmory]

aha! this was just the usual crowd at that “bitter people” store...

[chickpundit]

Yep, just a bunch of bitter clingers :)

[GlockLady]

Sarah's rally started at 11:00. My friend and I got there about 6:15. There were probably about 50 people ahead of us. A co-worker’s high school son and two of his friends got there about 3:30 a.m. People really started to come in about 7:00. We wound up about two rows back and a little right of center stage. Would have gotten to shake her hand if some people hadn't pushed in front of us. I had printed off a picture of her holding a rifle. I had the caption “You can't beat a woman who shoots!” on the bottom. I gave it to the co-worker’s son and he got her to sign it. He said she laughed when she saw the picture.
We couldn't tell how many were behind us, I just kept hoping at least 20,000 would come. Naomi Judd introduced her and made a wonderful speech in support of the kind of person Sarah is. Piper and Bristol sat on the stage with Naomi between them. Naomi kept mothering Piper, trying to keep her warm, etc. It was really cold.

By the way, to prepare for your experience, we were not allowed to take any chairs so had to stand for the entire 7 hours we were there. It was well worth it, though. We, also, were amazed at the number of people in their teens and twenties.

[john in springfield]

GlockLady, did you have tickets?

[rightinthemiddle]

Well done! Stay in touch.

[mavfin]

I had to work that day, or I would have gone myself. I live in Springfield. I did get stuck in traffic as her entourage headed to the airport, though!

I’m seeing McCain signs pop up like dandelions in the past month, too, while what few Obama signs I’ve seen are still pretty lonely.