I was at the McCain/Palin headquarters yesterday and tickets were being handed out..
..and had been since the day before.
..and we're a good 2 hr drive to Lady Lake.
People are crazy for Sarah everywhere!
Yes, I mentioned how fans drove for 2 hours to see her based on what I remembered from your post on the other thread. It looks like the event was a big success!
Palin’s Orlando appearance brings out women supporters
Excerpt:
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THE VILLAGES — Sarah Palin did what vice presidential nominees are expected to do. She talked up her running mate, John McCain and zinged Democratic rival Barack Obama in a speech here this afternoon.
It was fairly conventional fare, but the similarities to a standard VP candidate appearance ended there.
Presidential race
The first Florida campaign stop by the Alaska governor and Republican phenom drew a crowd estimated at 60,000 by officials in this Central Florida retirement community.
It was the largest crowd ever for a political event at The Villages, community spokesman Gary Lester said. The Republican bastion is a frequent stopping place for GOP candidates.
More than four hours before Palin arrived, cars and golf carts jammed nearby roads and thousands of people clogged the Disneyesque Sumter Landing town center area to wait in the baking heat for a glimpse of Palin.
Palin T-shirts, buttons and hats - most of them making reference to lipstick, pit bulls, hockey or some combination of those elements - were everywhere. There were also people wearing McCain items, but usually with Palin’s name on them somewhere.
Palin took the stage around 4:30 p.m. accompanied by husband Todd Palin, whom she introduced as “Alaska’s first dude,” daughters Piper and Willow and infant son Trig.
Palin’s speech lasted about 23 minutes and stuck to tested themes. She accused Obama of failing to offer a prescription for the crisis in the nation’s financial markets and said the Democrat would bring higher taxes.
She praised McCain as a “maverick” who will shake up Washington and Wall Street and hailed his military service and grit as a Vietnam POW.
Palin said her own role in a McCain administration would include focusing on government reform - “not just talking about it, but actually making change happen” - and energy independence and on helping families who have children with special needs. Palin’s youngest son has Down syndrome.
Palin’s remarks were occasionally interrupted by chants of “Sarah, Sarah” at one point and “U.S.A., U.S.A.” at another.
Deborah Abriola came from Orlando and wore a button that said “Don’t Let The Lipstick Fool You - Pitbulls for McCain-Palin” because she said she feels kinship with Palin as a fellow “lipstick mom.”
Abriola described herself as a conservative Democrat who sees Palin as a role model for mothers.
Her friend, Cheryl LeDuc, said she’s a Republican but wants to see a shakeup in the GOP. She said Palin “is conservative and she’s going to clean up Washington, including the Republicans.”
Sue Viera of Micco in Brevard County described herself as an independent who had been an “iffy” supporter of McCain.
“When he put Palin on, that really put me over the top,” said Viera, who said she sees Palin as someone who is nonpartisan and “will do what’s right.”
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2008/09/21/0921palinflorida.html
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I bet Tony Snow’s Dad was there .. he lives in The Villages.
We know Tony’s watching all this with glee.