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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Palin Crowd of 60,000 outdraws final game in Yankee Stadium

Palin Draws Crowd of 60,000 in Florida
by FOXNews.com
Sunday, September 21, 2008

THE VILLAGES, Fla. — Sarah Palin played it safe Sunday on her first trip as John McCain’s running mate to the battleground state of Florida, drawing a massive crowd of 60,000 people.

She went to perhaps the easiest place in Florida to get a large Republican turnout, stuck mostly to the themes she’s hit since the Republican convention and took no questions from reporters or the crowd.

But she was welcomed like a star, with tens of thousands cramming into a plaza and nearby streets in this enormous retirement community about an hour north of Orlando. Some waited more than five hours in 92-degree heat to see her speak for 23 minutes.

Palin arrived in Florida on Friday and had no public events Saturday, though she told the crowd her daughters Piper and Willow got to go to Disney World.

After some jokes about the difference between golfing in Florida and Alaska, her remarks hit most of the same points she’s made since McCain chose her as the first woman to run as a Republican vice presidential nominee. She did, however, update the stump speech to reflect last week’s turmoil in the financial markets.

“We need serious reform on Wall Street. We need better regulation. It’s like Senator McCain said just yesterday — we don’t need a dozen federal agencies doing the job badly, we need the best agencies doing the job right,” she said.

She said McCain had warned about the problems affecting financial institutions, and attacked Democrat Barack Obama on the issue.

“This week when the economic crisis threatened the livelihood of millions of Americans, John McCain took a clear stand and he offered his own recovery plan. Our opponent refused to even take a stand on the position,” Palin said.


The Obama campaign criticized McCain’s response to last week’s events on Wall Street.
“McCain’s first response to this crisis was to say that ‘the fundamentals of our economy are strong,’ then he admitted it was a crisis, and then he proposed a ‘commission,’ which is just Washington-speak for ‘I’ll get back to you later,”‘ said Obama campaign spokesman Mark Bubriski.


The visit drew a few contrasts between Palin and Obama running mate Joe Biden.
The largest was the crowd — an estimated 60,000 according to the fire chief. Some people had to wait in line about 90 minutes just to park their cars. Biden’s largest crowd during a visit earlier this month was about 2,000.


But Biden made four stops in his two days, and ventured into Republican strongholds like FortMyers and Sarasota. He took questions from the audience at each stop and did interviews with local media.


Still, Palin had star power. One teenage girl held up a sign that read, “When I grow up, I want to be Sarah Palin.” Another sign read, “This chick supports Sarah Palin.” Many said they didn’t even know who Palin was until last month.


“I knew absolutely nothing,” said Tyler Deeds, 19, who made the drive from Auburndale 90 miles away and waited more than 5 hours to see Palin. “I couldn’t even tell you who the governor of Alaska was.”

But Deeds, who plans to enter the Navy soon, said he “tends to cling to my guns and religion” and he quickly grew excited about Palin’s candidacy.

Joan Guay, 81, dabbed bottled water on her arms as she waited for Palin in the broiling heat. She said she previously supported Democrat Hillary Clinton.

“This country needs a woman up there,” Guay said. “I like her background, I like her family. It’s a family that does things together. And I like her work in the community.”

According to a Palin campaign aide, this Wednesday in separate meetings Palin will meet with Iraqi President Talabani, President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvelli; President of the Ukraine, Victor Yuschenko; Pakistani President Zardari, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
She will also meet with rock star and humanitarian, Bono on Wednesday.

As previously reported, on Tuesday she will meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, and Dr. Kissinger in separate meetings.

The meetings will be in New York and coincide with the United Nations’ General Assembly which attracts leaders from all over the world.

26 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

The Miami Herald cited fire officials as estimating the crowd at 20,000 to 25,000. The paper said it was the Republican organizers who insisted on the inflated number.

This is a bad habit of political hacks. 20,000 is a big enough number to impress people, but, showing that the McCain campaign really isn't about change, they continued the usual process of exagerating, hoping that others, like bloggers without time or desire to factcheck, will just pass along the bogus information.

Also, the location was a Republican stronghold, a planned retirement community filled with ex-military.

It was so white that many who viewed the event were blinded.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/campaign-2008/story/696050.html

September 21, 2008 9:53 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

McCain Girl and the Enchanted Republican Forest. (Short and creative animated video.)

http://www.barelypolitical.com/bp-music-videos/episode/MUS_20080815

September 21, 2008 10:10 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Yawn....

September 21, 2008 10:19 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

San Francisco Chronicle reports major movement towards McCain in Northern California outside of SFO. Republican party is fully funded unlike Bush campaign and are making over 100,000 calls and visits a week. Some polls show McCain within five points of Obama in California.

It depends on turnout. The higher the turnout the more likely it goes in McCain's favor. If you look at the results of the 2003 election, 61% of the people voted Republican for two candidates who are idelogically similar to McCain, McClintock and Schwarzenegger. If Palin does like Arnold and turns out lots of casual and first time voters (remember the long lines at your polling place?), California all of a sudden is in play.

September 21, 2008 10:55 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Post-convention swing state polls are tipping toward Sen. John McCain, the TV pundits are waxing about "The Palin Factor," and Sen. Barack Obama's California supporters are freaking out about a race Democrats were uncommonly confident about only a month ago.

September 21, 2008 10:55 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

From the Tallahassee Democrat:

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.

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.

September 21, 2008 10:57 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

One Third of Democrats Disgruntled With Blacks

A new poll released by AP/Yahoo found one third of white Democrats hold negative views of blacks, calling them "lazy," "violent," and responsible for their own problems.

The poll, which was conducted with Stanford University, was commissioned to determine why Mr. Obama remains in a close race with Mr. McCain despite the fact conventional wisdom holds Mr. Obama should be leading.

While race is believed to be playing a factor in the election, the poll found it is not the leading factor in explaining Mr. Obama's troubles. Three in 10 Democrats who don't trust Mr. Obama's change-based rhetoric say they are voting for Mr. McCain.

September 21, 2008 11:09 PM  

Blogger Zuma Dogg said:

ZD spoke with someone who works for the federal government.

here is what they say:

California is in a much worse situation than the rest of the U.S. economically. It's basically in it's own category.

It's really gonna get a lot worse and the government knows it, of course.

Here are the top two things to look for:

1) The U.S. has to fight the drug cartel on the border. But they can't do it from the U.S. side. So the U.S. will be pouring a lot of money into the Mexican government. I KNOW, I KNOW you are laughing. But it's getting to be a big enough problem, that the Feds are going to have to get serious of the U.S. will lose the border.

2) THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE TO CUT THE ENTITLEMENT MONEY!

Yes, yes...I know! That's directive #1 of the Nunez/Villar crowd...ALL ENTITLEMENT MONEY, ALL THE TIME, FOR ALL!!!

I informed the Federal employee that the politicians depend on the votes of the people who suck up all the entitlement money and they can't touch it or else they won't get re-elected.

The person told me that they know...BUT THAT'S HOW BAD IT'S GONNA GET: NO CHOICE. Even Villaragiosa will have to go back and tell the people he represents that the entitlement money has to be cut (or IS getting cut).

So look for those two things.

Maybe that's why Villar is complaining about the Fed bailout of Fanny/Freddie? He knows it's over for all the money he planned on funneling over to the people he represents.

It was a long conversation. I blog more of it later. But those were the two main points that came out of all of it.

September 22, 2008 12:05 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

This just proves what idiots many Americans are, The republicans were against tight regulations on Wall Street, even FatBoy Higby favorite buzz word is free markets, now that the free markets on Wall Street are crashing, now McCain and know nothing Palin are talking about more federal regualtion on Wall Street.

What morons we have on this blog and in Florida retirement homes. I'm sure Palin didn't even know what happens on Wall Street until last week.

September 22, 2008 12:46 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Higby is about as uninformed as Governor Gidget from Alaska. Zuma Dogg knows much more about our current sub-prime mortage crisis than Palin or Higby. Zuma Dogg blogged about it many times while Higby blogged about Britney Spears.

Zuma Dogg would make a better V.P. than the bimbo from Alaska. I'm sure the Palin supportes in Florida are the "smart" people who voted for Bush twice. Anybody who voted for Bush for a second term is in the same moron category as Higby.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/opinion/21rich.html?

For better or worse, the candidacy of Barack Obama, a senator-come-lately, must be evaluated on his judgment, ideas and potential to lead. McCain, by contrast, has been chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, where he claims to have overseen “every part of our economy.” He didn’t, thank heavens, but he does have a long and relevant economic record that begins with the Keating Five scandal of 1989 and extends to this campaign, where his fiscal policies bear the fingerprints of Phil Gramm and Carly Fiorina. It’s not the résumé that a presidential candidate wants to advertise as America faces its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. That’s why the main thrust of the McCain campaign has been to cover up his history of economic malpractice.

For all his fiery calls last week for a Wall Street crackdown, McCain opposed the very regulations that might have helped avert the current catastrophe. In 1999, he supported a law co-authored by Gramm (and ultimately signed by Bill Clinton) that revoked the New Deal reforms intended to prevent commercial banks, insurance companies and investment banks from mingling their businesses. Equally laughable is the McCain-Palin ticket’s born-again outrage over the greed of Wall Street C.E.O.’s. When McCain’s chief financial surrogate, Fiorina, was fired as Hewlett-Packard’s chief executive after a 50 percent drop in shareholders’ value and 20,000 pink slips, she took home a package worth $42 million.

September 22, 2008 2:51 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

YOu can blame McCain for financial crisis. He voted AGAINST oversight and in fact his campaign manager was a lobbyist for Fannie. McCain has 16 lobbyist on his campaign and many of them are Fannie people. Palin is the flavor of the month. The media is now coming out with all Palin's lies. Like she took money and supported the Bridge to Nowhere. Took more money in earkmarks then CAlifornia and yet Alaska is much smaller. Her poll numbers in popularity are going down no matter what you post, CNN, MSNBC, Fox.

September 22, 2008 5:45 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

foxnews... how reputable is that organization!!!

September 22, 2008 7:20 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Palin is simply a pig in lipstick.

-another chick who doesn't like pork.

September 22, 2008 8:42 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

It's the end of the "rampant consumerism" era. I think the other 49 states are going to kick California out of the United States and build a big fence around it. Then the California politicians who fought so hard to deliver the right to live the U.S. dream for ALL PEOPLE can live that dream however they want. It's turned into a real nightmare for the rest of the U.S. But I'm sure Richard Alarcon has some good reasons why this has nothing to do with the foreclosures in his district. And how we need to come up with MORE entitlement money to solve the problem. AND, we cannot let all of this economic hardship get in the way of delivering that U.S. dream of home ownership to all people. It wouldn't be fair to prevent someone from owning a nice, big, new home who can't afford it, because remember people...IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT THAT THEY CANNOT AFFORD IT!

IT IS YOUR FAULT AND YOU SHOULD BE TAXED AND PICK UP THE TAB FOR EVERYONE ELSE'S DREAM!!!

But now, these greedy politicians just killed the golden goose by squeezing too much out of it...and it's all about to backfire on them.

Hey Villar/Nunez/Cedillo/Romero...the party was fun while it lasted....now you just made the problem worse for the people you represent, cause now they are all jammed in here...and you are no longer going to be able to deliver on all your "Robin Hood" legislation and all "your people" will be left holding the bag on the streets as the entire city turns into skid row.

HEY ALARCON...BETTER JAM AS MANY "ROBIN HOOD" MOTIONS IN THERE ASAP...your ATM machine just ran dry.

September 22, 2008 9:12 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Zuma Dogg knows more than Palin or Higby. lol

http://www.ladailyblog.blogspot.com/

AND FINALLY. no matter what you think about the "loudness" level of Zuma Dogg when he speaks during the Council meetings (cause it's a big room, and I'm trying to hear myself over everyone, too...I speak softly at the Board of Supes/LAUSD/Santa Monica council meetings, etc)...BUT ZD WAS SHOCKINGLY ACCURATE AND ON-TOP OF THIS ENTIRE SUBPRIME CRISIS AND THE NEGATIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT IT WOULD BE HAVING. I posted that banks would be collapsing and all of this that is happening....LAST YEAR!!! Those who were reading my blogging when I was stuck in Cleveland last year and watching CNBC/Bloomberg 24 hours a day instead of Council meetings KNOW how correct I was all along. So it's time for the next round of predictions. They will be just as outrageous as the ones I made last year that were criticized and discounted by my haters...So to everyone else...I understand you didn't think ZD was the guy to turn to for global economic predictions....so maybe now I have some more credibility with you for the next round. (I'm only trying to help and I seem to be cursed with the ability to predict trends based on the info that is out there.) I don't have any more information than anyone else. I just seem to have a knack for knowing which person out of a thousand REALLY knows what is up -- then blasting that. And so far, it's a little too much like Rainman counting toothpicks on the floor. (Like I said...it's a curse!) Cause it's still another day I am starting out with $0.00 and it's only 9:30 am and it's already not good.

September 22, 2008 10:41 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Why would any sane person think it's wrong to turn to a shouting homeless "man" for global economic ideas?

Not everyone can afford to live in a 1993 Chevo Astrovan, though many strive to.

September 22, 2008 10:51 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's hometown required women to pay for their own rape examinations while she was mayor, a practice her police chief fought to keep as late as 2000.

September 22, 2008 11:41 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

The Palin daughters are gorgeous!

September 22, 2008 11:51 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

11:41, so did LA city council's Jack Weiss, but way of his not getting the funding for it until years after the fact.

If you haven't done anything about this problem here in LA, you have no right to complain about it being done elsewhere.

September 22, 2008 11:52 AM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Loan Titans Paid McCain Adviser Nearly $2 Million
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and CHARLES DUHIGG
Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.

Mr. McCain, the Republican candidate for president, has recently begun campaigning as a critic of the two companies and the lobbying army that helped them evade greater regulation as they began buying riskier mortgages with implicit federal backing

September 22, 2008 12:17 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

It's funny how the O'bama supporters went nuts trying to show what a big crowd O'bama got at the football stadium in Denver, but challenge a number for Palin's appearance that is being put out by ALL the major news organizations.

Do you know the television commercial for The Villages? It is one of the largest retirement communities in the United States, and a high concentration of likely voters.

That's why the O'bama people are so shaken up by this. And Palin is just the VEEP candidate!

It's real. Get used to it. She is going to be president in eight years, four years, or maybe even during MacCain's first term!

(And yes stupid, I deliberately misspelled the names. I know it's Obama and McCain. Your wiseass response isn't so clever now.)

September 22, 2008 12:42 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

12:17 is not aware that the two people who headed Fannie & Freddie are advisors to OBAMA!

Do you not read WSJ or Forbes?

September 22, 2008 12:43 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

MORE HYPE FOR PALIN!!!! WAKE UP AMERICA!!!! READ THE FINE PRINT!!!

September 22, 2008 1:09 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

12:42

What the media reported was that the Republicans picked a very safe place for Palin to speak -- a retirement community that votes very heavily Republican.

The first posting includes a link to the Miami Herald story.

September 22, 2008 1:31 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Palin has absolutely no experience. Her son has been on that drug oxycotin for two years, daughter got pregnant, down syndrome baby is being dragged all over country as a prop, husband has been known to be abusive and extremely controlly and who's taking care of the other little kids back home? Palin loves guns and hunts defensless animals, just got her first passport in 2007, doesn't know any dignataries, went to 6 colleges, made poor rape victims pay for forenics testing, took more money in earmarks then California, but hey, all you idiots who think she can be president go for it? WON'T HAPPEN. Media is finally starting to report all her lies and her poll numbers are going down.

September 22, 2008 5:20 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

So, having a rally at a retirement community of 60,000 (where every single person votes) is more dishonest than giving a speech at a rock concert where everyone islured by free food and free beer, is not disingenuous at all.

Oh, to be Liberal!! Tp have the right to bend the truth, lie, cheat and steal, and never be wrong!!

Where did my parents go wrong giving me Conservative values?

So, where can I get a 1993 Astovan? I so want to be like my idol, Homeless Dave Elliott, the compulsive lobbyist for those who don't want him, don't pay him, and don't log onto his dead website.

He makes Ted Hayes look good.

September 23, 2008 3:32 AM  

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