Sarah Palin Rallies Western North Carolina

Asheville, North Carolina -- Of the 10 battleground states, North Carolina with its 15 electoral votes up for grabs ranks only behind Florida with 27, Pennsylvania with 21 and Ohio with 20.

Both candidates see the significance of the state as demonstrated by the frequent visits here by both the presidential and vice presidential candidates. Both Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin have been in the state in the past few days and Sen. John McCain will hold a rally in Fayetteville tonight. Sen. Basrack Obama and his wife, Michelle, are scheduled to be in the state later in the week.

If the polls are any measure, it is a very close contest. On the day of Biden's visit to the state on Monday, the Real Clear Politics average indicated a 49-48 lead for McCain. This morning, the same poll shows senator Obama leading 48.8-47.2.

While Biden campaigned in the eastern part of the state in Greenville and in Piedmont near Greensboro, Palin concentrated on the western mountainous section of North Carolina, an area thought to favor McCain.

Speaking in Asheville, Palin was warmly greeted by a sell-out crowd that easily filled the Asheville Civic Center. In contrast to the Palin who has received notoriety for wearing expensive RNC furnished fashions, Palin appeared wearing jeans and a plain black top, entering the arena and appearing to sing along with the tune "Redneck Woman" as it was sung by country artist Gretchen Wilson.

Those in attendance loved the entrance and cheered her roundly.

Thanking the audience, Palin told the them that while she admits the race is close and that she and John McCain are behind, Obama acts as if he has already won by planning a huge, unprecedented victory celebration in Chicago and by preparing his acceptance speech.

Smiling and winking in typical Palin fashion, she acknowledged the people of North Carolina are huge basketball fans and that they would understand that both she and senator Obama had played a lot of basketball and had spent a lot of time on the basketball court, but, she said "where I come from you have to win the game before you cut down the nets!"

Palin was right; the basketball fans in the audience related to and loved the analogy.

Palin told the audience Obama was not being candid about his plan for tax increases and that Obama would not only increase taxes on small businesses, but would use higher taxes to "spread the wealth" and tilt the nation towards socialism.

"Joe the plumber finally got him to sate his true intentions... to spread the wealth.and let the government decide how your money will be distributed," she said.

Palin told the audience an Obama-Biden administration would be committed to higher taxes while senator McCain would lower taxes and reduce the Washington bureaucracy.

Palin also promised to the McCain administration would lead the nation on a path to energy independence by developing new domestic oil and natural gas resources and developing alternative forms of energy.

"We will drill baby, drill and mine baby, mine," Palin yelled to thunderous applause.

Those in attendance loved Palin. The civic center, which seats 7,800, was filled and an overflow crowd listened in an adjoining building.

By way of comparison, Obama's rally in Asheville drew 28,000.

Many in the crowd carried homemade signs saying "Sarah Rocks," "Sarah is my Plumber" and "Joe Mama."

Palin's speech was interrupted frequently by applause and chants of "Sarah! Sarah!"

In concluding her remarks, Palin acknowledged the crowd's standing applause by saying, "It doesn't sound like on November 4 you will be voting for the wealth spreader," to which some in the crowd yelled, "Hell no!"

As McCain and Palin continue to conduct rallies in the state, it becomes increasingly clear that the campaign believes its strongest support lies outside of the major metropolitan areas, including Raleigh, Charlotte, and the Triad area where Obama's support and organization are very strong. This is why we see McCain and Palin spending much time in eastern and western areas of the state where conservative politics run strong.

It remains to be seen whether Palin's image of a redneck woman is carried throughout the state campaign, but it was very popular in Asheville.