Sarah Palin Campaign Stop in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne, Indiana -- "You can do the math or you can go with your gut, but either way you'll reach the same conclusion: Barack Obama is going to raise your taxes." The near-capacity crowd cheered as Gov. Sarah Palin delivered this line, and similar ones, at her Road to Victory Rally in Fort Wayne on October 25.

My daughters and I were thrilled to be in the crowd. We were some of the lucky 10,000 who had garnered tickets for the event. Announced Wednesday afternoon, the event's free tickets were made available Thursday morning and were gone by early afternoon. I drove to Rep. Mark Souder's office Thursday morning and, while no tickets were available, they were taking names and phone numbers. I was called that afternoon and told that I could pick up my tickets that night. I had wanted five for our entire family, but was told that they were limiting them to four.

We spent Friday excited about the next day's rally and happy that we had tickets. The radio and news stations were full of stories of the many people who were unable to secure tickets, and a pair went on Ebay for $101.

Fearing the parking situation at Memorial Coliseum, we parked at nearby IPFW (Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne campus), where a free shuttle service delivered us quickly and easily to the coliseum. We arrived at the coliseum at 3:30 p.m. Doors were to open at 4, and the rally itself was to begin at 6:30.

We were amazed at the line, which trailed from the coliseum, looped around several times in the far parking lot, and looped back to the entrance again. We joined the line there and noted how quickly more people were lining up behind us. It was a cold day, and the wind made it even colder.

Shortly after 4, the doors opened, but the progress of people into the building was painstakingly slow. It occurred to those of us waiting that we would all need to go through security before getting into the arena, and we wondered how that would happen in time. We hoped that the event workers had planned well.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. We got to seats in the arena around 5, but when the program finally began around 7, thousands were still outside in the cold. Improvements were definitely needed in the process. As we were searched, guards confiscated 4 apples we had brought to eat (because they could be thrown/used as weapons) and 3 12" flags (because they were on sticks). We heard other reports that bottles of water were also taboo, and did notice that water from concession stands was being served in cups rather than bottles.

Once in our seats, we enjoyed visiting with the folks around us. It was an extremely orderly, patient group of people. Cheering throughout the rally was loud yet orderly, and there was no pushing or shoving as people filed in or out. We enjoyed discussing the election with others, and everyone (of course!) shared our love of Sarah Palin and her contributions to the Republican ticket.

At 7, Representatives Mike Pence and Mark Souder spoke, and also former Senator Dan Coats. Hank Williams Jr. performed a few songs. He was not my cup of tea since I'm not a country music fan, but he did a good job, subbing in pro-McCain/Palin lyrics in several of the songs.

Finally, around 7:45 the moment arrived: Sarah and Todd Palin, along with daughters Willow and Piper, walked out along the long raised walkway and made their way to the stage, amidst loud cheers.

Sarah must have been exhausted, having already made 2 similar compaign stops that day. But you would never have known it from her enthusiasm. She thanked us for coming, mentioning that the cold weather reminded her of Alaska and that she had worn a jacket "and it's my own", referring to news media hysteria over her campaign wardrobe.

She went on to drive home the differences between the Republican and Democrat candidates' beliefs, with heavy emphasis on economic issues. "Joe the Plumber" was mentioned frequently, and she pointed out a "Chris the electrician" in the audience and others like them: hard workers trying to get ahead in a slow economy, who would like to keep more of the fruits of their labor.

She also emphasized the Republicans' energy policy, plan to end the Iraq war victoriously, and got a huge standing ovation when she referred to Republicans' repect for "all life", in a nod to our pro-life beliefs. She raised our hopes by saying that the election would "go down to the wire" and that it was much closer than the media was reporting.

During her talk, Todd stood on the stage towards the back, and Willow and Piper were seated behind Sarah. They were well-behaved, and it was amusing to watch Piper at times playing with her hair, looking up at the ceiling, etc. I asked my own 7-year-old daughter if she would like to have sat through three similar rallies today. She said no!

After the 45-minute rally ended, the Palins exited the stage and we moved along with the crowd out of the coliseum to our warm, waiting shuttle which delivered us quickly back to our car. We were glad to have avoided the chaos of navigating the parking lot on our own.

Indiana is rarely courted in Presidential elections, and so this visit by the Republicans' first female vice presidential candidate was a historic event which we Hoosiers were more than happy to attend. The energy of being at the rally was a truly "big" thing to be a part of.