Palin Pumps Up Red Virginia Crowd

After spending the morning in the dentist office with my youngest child, having two teeth extracted for future braces, we rushed home to leave my dental patient at home with my father as my mother, two oldest daughters and I jumped in the car and made tracks for Richmond International Raceway. Three generations of Virginia women heading to see Sarah Palin speak in Richmond, a sure memory in the making. We arrived at the venue just after the initial opening of the gates and apparently just in time. We joined the long, snaking line of red (the color of the day symbolizing Virginia's determination to remain a red state). Though the line moved along steadily, it became more and more obvious we were not getting a seat in the bleachers. The entire crowd was befuddled with the arrangements for the rally. When the venue was moved from the Arthur Ashe Center to Richmond's International Raceway due to a larger than expected crowd all assumed that meant the rally would be held in the raceway. Alas, this was not the case. Instead several high school bleacher-like contraptions were arranged around a stage in the middle of a field. As I looked back at the vast numbers of folks coming behind us I knew the majority of the crowd would not make it into the main venue area. We held our breath as we finally approached the security check point. We knew if we'd made it that far we would stood a chance at getting a decent view of the stage.

Fingers crossed, McCain/Palin signs in hand, the four of us made a human chain and winded our way through the sea of red, hunkering down finally at a spot about ten people deep from the stage. Wow, how exciting! We were going to see Sarah Palin in the flesh up close in a mere two and a half more hours! Remember, we'd been in line already 30 minutes but whose complaining? We were witnessing history, one way or another. Our fellows rally attendees were equally anticipating a grand spectacle. As the minutes ticked on and the sun beat down, the mood throughout the crowd was remarkably cheerful and thoughtful (all except for the tallest man in the crowd who stood in front of some height-challenged old ladies without the least concern he was blocking anyone's view, there's always at least one jerk in every public outing). The banter amongst us people in the pit touched on every and all of the topics regarding this political race, taxes, national security, economy, Iraq, veteran's rights, abortion. In any group of Republicans there is always a vast difference in the issues that are a priority to the individual but there was one issue that each saw as the core to this race, the issue of the size of government. The sentiments of Thomas Jefferson was uttered, ringing true for all present, "A government big enough to provide you everything is big enough to take away everything." No question, McCain/Palin for these folks provide hope for leadership interested, at the very least, in stopping the growth of government if not taking it down a notch or two. Obama's big government program plans are not in the vocabulary of Virginia Republicans. And so the discussion continued, sprinkled with moments of chanting "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah", "NOBama, NOBama" and several spontaneous outbreaks of the wave.

Two hours and thirty-five minutes after getting to our spot, our McCain/Palin signs now fashioned into Holly Hobby bonnets on male and female heads alike, the show finally got under way. My two daughters were taking on that teen and pre-teen "I'm not having fun here" look as one local Virginia politician speech gave way to a second and then a third. We did not come here to see these local yokels, we were here to witness the political phenom never imagined, a Republican woman, young, attractive, dynamic woman, defender of the weak, warrior against the corrupt, mother of five. A woman that women like me can actually relate to, trust, be empowered by and follow. Until Sarah Palin, all female politicians of both parties were creatures I had no identifiable connection to. None of them had any recognizable characteristics of wife, mother, giant slayer. They all seemed to be women in their own universe of power and ambition. Not that those characteristics are bad, they are typical of most politicians, female or male. Any of the politicians that had a down to earth demeanor I ever saw never made it to the echelons of power and certainly not running mate on a Republican ticket, yet here she is. Sarah Palin! Hurray!

She took the stage in her signature ruby red heels. The crowd erupted with a mighty roar. If only the electricity generated at that moment could have been harnessed; energy crisis, solved. My daughters' eyes lit up, their digital cameras clicking as fast as they could point and shoot. All the feelings of thirst, heat, hunger and tired legs were replenished, revitalized by good old fashioned adrenalin. Sarah started right off the bat, thanking the crowd for their patience, acknowledging the less than comfortable conditions endured by us to see her. And like the mom who always has a special surprise for you when you most need it and least expect it, she announced a mystery person had come just for us. Now remember, this is a Republican rally, in Richmond, Virginia. Rule #1, know your crowd. Out onto the stage runs Hank Williams, Jr. I thought all of the men standing around us were going to simultaneously go into cardiac arrest. I don't know how this would have gone over in Trenton, New Jersey but in Richmond, Virginia this ranked better than a puppy on Christmas morning.

After the Star Spangled Banner and a spin on Hank's song "Family Tradition" turned "McCain/Palin Tradition", Sarah took the podium. Her speech was inspiring, touching on all of the issues the crowd had kicked around amongst themselves earlier but delivered with her Sarah Barracuda style. She verbalized our concerns and dreams far better and with much more confidence than this weary, wary electorate can muster on their own. Most of her words were ones I'd heard on television covering prior rallies but of course, in person her message brought the cause to a new level. The enthusiasm of the crowd was palatable. Sarah did it again, she brought life and hope back to a campaign, a constituency that the media, day after day rights off and leaves for dead. First numbers said 20,000 attended the rally in Richmond, later revised to 25,000. Regardless, there were a heck of a lot of pumped up people in a field in Virginia on an Indian Summer day. Any other time I've witnessed this, there was an immense amount of alcohol added to the mix but this was pure, true, lasting, enthusiasm.

As the rally came to a triumphant end, I'd witnessed no angry outbursts or threats made against Obama as has been highlighted in recent Republican rallies. Perhaps there were utterances that I did not hear since an outdoor venue's acoustics tend not to travel like the bouncing barbs heard in the indoor rallies. Having said that, I find the objection of the Obama camp to the outcries of the frustrated citizenry who have been ill-served by a mainstream media a little more than curious. Here the media who hung journalistic ethics at the campaign season door, has done nothing other than take Obama at his every word, no honest examination or investigation to bring a true profile of Obama to light for their audience. Adding insult to injury, the public figures infesting the celebrity left such as Sarah Bernhard, Madonna, Pamela Lee Anderson, Matt Damon, P. Diddy, Alec Baldwin and a host of other deep thinkers of the day call for the stoning of Sarah Palin, the gang rape of Sarah Palin, the death of Sarah Palin but all go unquestioned by the left and media alike. Give me a break! Double standards are the norm for the left, standards which will rule with Obama overseeing a Democratic Senate, a Democratic House. I can only imagine the lyrics to Hank Williams, Jr's next song if that is the case!

While filing out of the make-shift arena we encountered a woman with an interesting sign. It read: Martin Luther King Was A Republican. I looked at my mother and asked, "what is that suppose to mean?" My mom nodded saying, "He was." Turns out most blacks were Republicans because the Republican party saw to it the black man had the vote whereas the Democrats were and still are the party of slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism. Maybe not all the "s" listed are visibly such but in all the ways that count for citizens' rights, all of the "s" apply in the Democratic party, perhaps more now than ever.