Posted on 10/30/2008 8:18:29 AM PDT by Albion Wilde
LEESBURG, LOUDON COUNTY, VIRGINIA— Tito Munoz, a dark-haired, muscular building contractor in khaki work clothes, steel-toed boots, a yellow hardhat and sunglasses, is striding back and forth, beckoning the crowd to ramp up the cheering. We had been cheering sporadically since before daybreak as we waited for Sarah Palin, scheduled to speak at 10 AM here in Leesburg, northern Virginia — a traditionally “red” area lately tipped towards blue by DC commuters and an influx of immigrants.
Hours tick by and volunteers pass out pompoms, American flags and “Country First” and “Veterans for McCain” signs to the assembled crowd, estimated between 6,000 and 10,000. A row of supporters in the VIP seats behind the podium set up huge black- on-white letters spelling out “VA [HEART] SARAH” and “I AM JOE.” More big letters along the side bleachers spell “MAVERICK.” State and local officials and candidates had spoken, including Chairman of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Scott York, Supervisor Lori Waters, candidate for 11th Congressional District Kieth Fimian, and 10th District Congressman Frank Wolf. And now, at last, Tito Munoz takes the microphone to introduce Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska and Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States.
With the election just days away, Mrs. Palin and top-of-the-ticket John McCain are fighting a close race against three powerful opponents: the Democrat contender Barack Obama; the MainStream Media who are shamelessly in Obama’s pocket; and the last thirty years of revisionist, Marx-influenced education that has corrupted much of the public’s basic understandings of American freedoms. In this campaign, the socialist-minded Democrat establishment and the rise of Internet ignorance have fueled new depths of ideological attacks and character assassination, as the politics of class envy attempts to drown out the historic message of American exceptionalism. Like the three other dramatic shifts that radically altered the course of American history — the Civil War, the New Deal and the Great Society — a loss of freedom at this moment may signal the end of the world’s longest-lasting democratic republic. Pressure? Plenty; yet as Congressman Wolf had said in his opening remarks about the outrageous personal attacks, “Sarah Palin has responded with grace and dignity.”
Tito Munoz is now shouting to a crowd electrified with anticipation. “I’m proud to be an American citizen, a hard worker, and a McCain/Palin supporter,” he says in his pleasant Hispanic accent, having been, as Palin would later say, “born in Colombia, but made in America.” The crowd erupts in cheers. “I have so much things to say about this great country, free enterprise and hard work,” he continues. “Everything we stand for is in danger by higher taxes and less freedom. Everything we stand for is made stronger by people like John McCain and Sarah Palin!”
Suddenly, a platoon of Men in Black files across the dais behind Mr. Munoz, and the crowd stops shouting, “Tito, Tito, Tito” to roar, “Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!” (and the occasional “Todd! Todd! Over here, Todd!”). Alaska’s First Dude accompanies his wife to the podium, then stands behind to her left while Tito stands behind to her right. For the next fifty minutes, Governor Palin’s speech leads the crowd to wave after wave of approving roars.
“It is not mean-spirited or negative campaigning to call someone out on their record, on their plans and their associations,” Governor Palin begins, “—the media certainly won’t.” (Roar!) Her speech continued at a surprisingly calm pace, while raves surrounded her every point. This is a woman who knows how to work with the audience, giving shout-outs to the many “Joe the Plumber” signs in the crowd, as well as others at her rallies who self-identified with such middle-class occupations as "Rose the Teacher," "Doug the Barber" and "Cindy the Citizen."
Governor Palin moved easily from one GOP plank to another with an assurance that springs from classical Reagan/American principles: independence through hard work, freedom from too much government, and a government that creates opportunity, not overregulation.
"You have such a clear choice,” she continued, “between a politician who puts his faith in government, and a leader who puts his faith in all of us. Between a politician who wants to spread your wealth, and one who wants to spread opportunities and lower taxes. We need a leader who is ready on Day One with experience, truth and good judgment—a leader not afraid to use the word ‘victory’ when talking about the wars America is in," Palin said.
"On Nov. 4 it's going to come down to what we believe in — the forward movement of freedom, not the constant expansion of government. We believe that the virtues of freedom are worth fighting for. We believe the best of America isn't all gathered in Washington, DC. We believe America is not the problem; it is the solution. There is only one man in this campaign who has ever really fought for you. John McCain is the only man with the courage to keep on fighting for you, America." (Prolonged, gutsy roars.)
I had teamed up with Freeper Tom the Redhunter, an active Loudon County GOP volunteer, to attend the rally, whose photos accompany this report. His blog, The Redhunter, also carries his impressions of the rally, and we agreed to co-write this AAR, so Tom the Redhunter picks it up from here:
…………
Tom the Redhunter, who throughout the rally was glad-handed, thumped on the back and called on his cell phone by friends in the crowd, reflecting his long volunteer involvement in the Loudon County GOP.
What a thrill! It was well worth it to get up at o'dark-thirty this morning and trek across town to RJ Festival Lakes to see Governor Sarah Palin rally her supporters. Cold weather and cloudy skies did not dampen the enthusiastic yelling of the crowd, as she made the case for why she and Senator John McCain should be elected to the White House next week.
Best of all from my standpoint, I managed to get 30 feet or so from the podium — I've never before been that close to someone running for, or elected to, the presidency! Let's face it: Sarah Palin is what is driving this ticket. I respect John McCain immensely — he would make a fine president — but it's Sarah Palin who enthuses the conservative base.
Me, I absolutely love her.
She spoke for 50 minutes, spending most of her time on the economy and taxes. She clearly distinguished the McCain ticket's plan from Senator Obama's "spread the wealth" philosophy. Energy was also a topic of much discussion, with the crowd chanting "Drill, Baby, Drill! at opportune moments. Corruption and foreign policy rounded out her remarks.
Even though temperatures dropped and the winds picked up, no one seemed to mind, as Governor Palin and the other dignitaries rallied the crowd. Todd Palin beamed proudly as his wife spoke. The crowd behaved perfectly and there were no inappropriate comments, so trolls can just go elsewhere.
Mark Levin nailed it when he said that "Obama's entire campaign is built on class warfare and human envy." The Republican tax plan is built on the idea that nobody's taxes should be raised, and everybody's taxes should be cut. To summarize a recent Wall Street Journal article by Jack Kemp, capitalism doesn't work if you don't have capital. As such, raising taxes on businesses only serves to eliminate jobs, not create them. At intervals, the crowd at Governor Palin’s speech chanted in agreement,
Senator Obama has been hit hard on taxes since his encounter with "Joe the Plumber." While the left has disgracefully spent time investigating and trashing Joe, we on the right have focused on the real issue: what Obama's tax plan means for Americans. And we've come to know that once you get through his smoke and mirrors it's a socialist plan for income redistribution, plain and simple.
“John and I have a very basic, fundamental disagreement with our opponents on this issue,” Governor Palin said. “Senator Obama has an ideological commitment to higher taxes. And though it seems that he adjusts his tax plan pronouncements almost daily now, kind of flip-flopping on what the details are, his commitment to higher taxes never changes."
Senator Obama and his advisors flatter themselves that their "soak the rich" plans favor "working families." (What is a "non-working family", btw?) Is this why they cannot understand how a “Joe the Plumber" could possibly vote for the McCain-Palin ticket?
Newsday wrote:
“Palin portrayed Obama as ‘on the side of bigger, more controlling government’ and warned that an Obama White House would leave the Democratic agenda in Congress unchecked.
"‘If big government spenders control the House and Senate and, heaven forbid, the White House, they will have a monopoly of power,’ she said. ‘You understand that his plan to redistribute wealth will, ultimately, punish hard work; and it discourages productivity, and it will stifle the entrepreneurial spirit that made this country the greatest country on earth.’"
After her talk, Sarah and Todd came forward, and, flanked by Secret Service, shook hands for about ten minutes with everyone who could reach them. At this point they were no more than 15-20 feet in front of me! Albion Wilde sidled up ahead and while she didn’t push hard enough to touch the Palins, she did see them and the Secret Service agents up close, and reported back that “Todd’s eyes are like Paul Newman’s — ice blue and piercing.”
Trust me when I tell you it was awesome to be there.
Links:
News Outlets
FoxNews: Tito the Builder joins Palin on the stump
Washington Post: Palin Seeks to Rouse GOP Voters at Leesburg Rally
(includes video of Palin and audio of an interview with a supporter from the crowd)
Washington Times: Palin says Democrats will raise taxes
Leesburg Today: Palin Rallies Crowd In Election Day Run-up
Loudoun Times Mirror: Palin stumps for McCain in Leesburg
Bloggers
Tom the Redhunter: At the Palin Rally in Leesburg Virginia
America Needs Sarah Palin: Leesburg Rally stories and photos
Allahpundit, at Michelle Malkin's Hot Air (video of Tito the Builder introducing Palin from CNN)
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They see it...and the fear it.
GO SARAH GO!
Ping!
Fantastic...more pics!
Imagine an Obama & Biden back as senators and way more hostile than ever...with a Mark Warner ally...
It's too bad that at none of the rallies that Jim Gilmore was supported nor promoted... He is for drill here, drill now, pay less and even ANWAR. He is for all the energy technologies. He was against the bailout and any future bailouts. He is for winning the war and not cut & run as Warner is. Gilmore may not be the Bob Marshall we would have liked, but he is also not the RINO they make him out to be and his would be nothing like old John RINO Warner was.
Great photos by Tom the Redhunter!
This election is not going to be the end of our troubles -- it'll just be the beginning. We will be in a mess until at least 2012, IMO.
I managed to get a nice little memento as well. After the rally, I asked one of the campaign workers if I could have the “Country First” placard which was affixed to the front of the lectern. Well he gave me to me. It's on my fireplace mantle now as a permanent home decoration. :)
If you're at one of these rallies, wait till a few people are left and ask for that placard. They just throw it away but there's only 1 per rally. :)
I cannot understand why Gilmore is not doing better. I thought he was popular in Virginia.
Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with Gilmore...seems the last few gubernatorial candidates VA has had have been really bland and uninspiring.
We can win this!
Wheee! someone had a great time!
Thanks for the ping
The mess throughout the U.S. will go far beyond ‘12!
Why, didn't you hear? Pelosi has promised "Congress of the United States will be more bipartisan" (excerpt..... "Elect us, hold us accountable, and make a judgment and then go from there. But I do tell you that if the Democrats win and have substantial majorities, Congress of the United States will be more bipartisan," said Pelosi.)
Funny thing is she really expects us to believe this hype after what we've witnessed her and fellow Libs do the last few years! She must think we're all dimwits????
Some people are still misspelling Sarah’s name.
great report and photos
thanks for sharing the great event
Perhaps. A Jim Gilmore in the Senate would be an ally and not an adversary though.
As for the mess, if McCain and Palin are ellected and keep the Bush tax cuts, cut corporate taxes, capital gains tax, reign in oppressive regulations on corporations and business, then I think we could recover in less than 4 years. Obama wants to put government in charge. I believe that at least McCain realizes that government needs to just get out of the way and let business and corporations get back to or on with business. McCain is not my candidated of hoice, but I believe that he at least 'gets it' enough...and Sarah's energy and support may be able to budge him to change or reform a little. He is at least an honorable guy, though often wrong...
absolutely wonderful report!
sounds like a fun time with patriots
Your pix are great - thanks so much for sharing the excitement!
Wonderful pictures and awesome report! Looks like you had a great time!
There’s a digg keyword..where’s the digg link so we can go to it on digg?
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