Sarah Palin rally in Florida draws 60,000

[whottt]

http://news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...S0107/80921022


THE VILLAGES -- Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin told wildly cheering, flag-waving, chanting supporters that John McCain is "the only great man in this race" and promised Sunday he will fix the nation's economy if voters give the GOP four more years in the White House.

"He won't say this, so I'll say it for him," the Alaska governor said in an almost confidential tone at the close of her first Florida stump speech. "There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you. John McCain wore the uniform of his country for 22 years -- talk about tough."

The Villages, a vast, upscale planned community north of Orlando, has about 70,000 mostly adult residents -- many of them military retirees -- who vote reliably Republican in statewide races. 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.

"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.

Admiring throngs mobbed the Palin family's arrival and departure, snapping souvenir pictures. Autograph seekers thrust campaign signs, caps with the McCain-Palin logo and copies of magazines with her face on their covers, and the Palins responded warmly.

Palin, her husband and three of their children arrived in Orlando but spent a family day at Disney World, she said as she introduced her entourage to the enthusiastic crowd. She joked about similarities and differences of the two states at opposite corners of America, but was all business when she focused on the need for a large voter turnout in a hotly contested state with 27 electoral votes.

Recent polls have given the McCain-Palin ticket a single-digit edge but Florida is clearly up for grabs. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., campaigned from Jacksonville to Miami late last week and the Democrats have mobilized a massive volunteer effort statewide. McCain, who led the Jan. 29 state primary with a big boost from popular Gov. Charlie Crist, has strong support in the vital I-4 corridor and across North Florida, where conservative southerners tend to register as Democrats but vote Republican in statewide races.

In a theme Palin would pound home, GOP Chairman Jim Greer Greer said Obama and his running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, have records of voting for higher taxes and have said on the campaign trail that they would increase regulation of financial markets.

"John MCain and I are going to take our case for reform to every voter in every background and every party, or no party at all," said Palin. "We're going to Washington to shake things up."

She said "John McCain warned Congress that we needed to do something before these problems became a crisis," but that Washington -- including Obama and Biden -- did not act for months as financial giants teetered and toppled.

"Americans are caught in kind of a perfect storm between high taxes, high gas prices, greed on Wall Street and a shortage of courage in Washington," she said. "But we need new leadership in Washington -- we need serious reform on Wall Street."

Palin, whose son shipped out for Iraq this month, made a point of asking veterans and military members in the crowd to raise their hands for a round of applause.


Then she recalled that McCain took an early, unpopular stance in support of the Iraq troop surge, a policy shift now widely credited with stabilizing Iraq. "That's the kind of man I want as commander in chief," she shouted, as applause and whoops rose in the town square. "John McCain is the only great man in this race."

[Shastafarian]

McCain-Palin Crowd-Size Estimates Not Backed by Officials

By Lorraine Woellert and Jeff Bliss

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Senator John McCain has drawn some of the biggest crowds of his presidential campaign since adding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to his ticket on Aug. 29. Now officials say they can't substantiate the figures McCain's aides are claiming.

McCain aide Kimmie Lipscomb told reporters on Sept. 10 that an outdoor rally in Fairfax City, Virginia, drew 23,000 people, attributing the crowd estimate to a fire marshal.

Fairfax City Fire Marshal Andrew Wilson said his office did not supply that number to the campaign and could not confirm it. Wilson, in an interview, said the fire department does not monitor attendance at outdoor events.

In recent days, journalists attending the rallies have been raising questions about the crowd estimates with the campaign. In a story on Sept. 11 about Palin's attraction for some Virginia women voters, Washington Post reporter Marc Fisher estimated the crowd to be 8,000, not the 23,000 cited by the campaign.

``The 23,000 figure was substantiated on the ground,'' McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said. ``The campaign is willing to stand by the fact that it was our biggest crowd to date.''

``Since day one, this campaign has been consistent that we're not going to win or lose based on crowd size but the substance of John McCain's record,'' Bounds said.


Until Palin, 44, joined him on the campaign trail, McCain, 72, had limited his political events to smaller town hall meetings and rallies of a few hundred people. His Democratic rival, Barack Obama, an Illinois senator, routinely draws thousands of people to his speeches, a phenomenon McCain has tried to use to his advantage by labeling Obama, 47, a celebrity.

That changed on Aug. 30, at Palin's first big public appearance after her nomination. The McCain campaign said 10,000 people showed up at the Consol Energy Arena in Washington, Pennsylvania, home of the Washington Wild Things baseball team.

The campaign attributed that estimate, and several that followed, to U.S. Secret Service figures, based on the number of people who passed through magnetometers.

``We didn't provide any numbers to the campaign,'' said Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service. Wiley said he would not ``confirm or dispute'' the numbers the McCain campaign has given to reporters.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...refer=politics

*note this article is talking about a different rally*

[whottt]

@Nbadan thinking she can't draw crowds.


Those California rallies that were cancelled were moved to bigger venues, twice, and they have been rescheduled for early Oct. Donations of up to 40k will be allowed.

Furthermore, she's going to do some campaign stops in NYC this week when she goes to the UN.


You guys wish the infatuation had subsided...but that's no excuse for believing everything you see in the media. Corporate owned sheep.

[Shastafarian]

You guys wish the infatuation had subsided...but that's no excuse for believing everything you see in the media. Corporate owned sheep.

God damn I love irony. It's just too bad whottt is such a pussy and puts people on ignore. I guess he's afraid we're gonna hurt his feelings or something.

[florige]

I find it hard to believe that Palin can draw a crowd as large as a freaking football stadium. 60k is ALOT of freakin people.

[TheMadHatter]

Once again the McCain campaign lies about Palin's attendance numbers. I'm not surprised.

[whottt]

LOL @madhatter and shastafarian on every single post I make.


If you guys promise to swallow I might think about taking you off ignore. Someone PM me if their answer is yes.


Hitman2k... I'd just like to ask you how you like the female Elvis now? Still want to laugh about it?

You are on ignore as well...so just consider that question a rhetorical one.

[MannyIsGod]

Was Paris Hilton in the crowd? Pallin's such a celebrity.

[IceColdBrewski]

Once again the McCain campaign lies about Palin's attendance numbers. I'm not surprised.

The McCain campain claimed it was 60,000? Do you have a link, or is this just more of your typical bs?

Both sites I've read the strory at said it was the local fire chief who estimated that number.

[baseline bum]

Is this ever going to stop repeating her lame RNC speech?

[Spurtacus]

Is this ever going to stop repeating her lame RNC speech?

[SnakeBoy]

Is this ever going to stop repeating her lame RNC speech?

Obama has been repeating the same lines for 2 years. So I think the answer is no.

at Obamabots whining over Palin's popularity.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonath..._.html?showall

Sarah Palin tonight attracted the largest crowd yet to any Republican campaign event this cycle, drawing tens of thousands of Floridians out in a conservative-leaning retirement community north of Orlando for a solo rally.

Exactly how many voters Palin, making her first campaign trek to the Sunshine State, had in The Villages is uncertain.

Mike Tucker, a local fire marshal, estimated 60,000. But reporters on the ground, including AP's Brendan Farrington and my colleague Ken Vogel, would only say "tens of thousands," suggesting the marshal's estimate was on the high side. The St. Pete Times's Adam Smith had another fire official in the crowd say it was about 25,000.

Regardless, the size of the crowd underscores just how enthused conservatives are for Palin and the sort of buzz she's still able to drive nearing a month after her introduction as John McCain's running mate.

Republicans can always draw good crowds out at the sprawling Villages -- exactly a year ago I saw Fred Thompson thronged like a matinee idol there -- but the Florida GOP is saying tonight that Palin's crowd broke state attendance records. At the very least, it outpaced the 15,000 President Bush drew to the retirement community four years ago.

To reiterate: An Alaska governor who was virtually unknown a month ago and is the number two on the presidential ticket may have doubled or tripled the crowd for a sitting president.

60k, 25k, tens of thousands, whatever, she is bringing home the bacon. Ya know, cause she's a pig right?

[whottt]

Just wait till people see through the media smear that she governs socially from the right.


*boom*

[Shastafarian]

LOL @madhatter and shastafarian on every single post I make.


If you guys promise to swallow I might think about taking you off ignore. Someone PM me if their answer is yes.

I guess there's the proof whottt is gay. He likes getting head from guys. And if he wasn't such a pussy he would have read (assuming he can read...which is a very large assumption) that McCain is not only drawing far less robust crowds himself, but also that his campaign lies about how many people attend Mrs. Palin's rallies. I've been going to message boards for a long time now, and I have truly never seen someone as dumb as whottt. He should probably be studied by science.

[greenroom]

Just wait till people see through the media smear that she governs socially from the right.


*boom*

Got to love the people who blame everything on the media. and ignore the facts or the lies of the McCain party.

[Supergirl]

And yet, in her own state, anti-Palin protesters outnumber supporters...
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-87097

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

This can't be right, Dan's sources say McCain's going to get rid of her as his running mate...



bwahahahahahahha!!!

[Viva Las Espuelas]

i think this
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105357
negated this rally

[Biernutz]

Good find! two bloggers and a home made u-tube video.

[Anti.Hero]

I'd comment but after bashing Obama for his celebrity status and sheep flocks...I'd just feel too dirty.

[whottt]

When push comes to shove...hoes before bros every single time, hence civilization.

[Shastafarian]

When push comes to shove...hoes before bros every single time, hence civilization.

[TheMadHatter]

This thread fails in so many ways.

[Nbadan]

....not the least of which is the OP.....

[ploto]

he will fix the nation's economy if voters give the GOP four more years in the White House.

Is that really a good concept from which to run?