Turnout Huge For Raese Rally featuring Gov. Palin and Ted Nugent

HuntingtonNews.net reports that Sarah and Todd Palin made a last-minute "surprise" visit to the Ted Nugent rally for GOP U.S. Senate candidate John Raese in Charleston Saturday afternoon in front of the largest crowd to attend any event held by either Raese or his opponent Gov. Joe Manchin this year. Video courtesy of Freedom's Lighthouse:

An estimated crowd of 2,700 came out on a clear, sunny October day from across West Virginia and sang the "Star Spangled Banner" with Nugent, the rock legend from the late 70s who has emerged as a leading voice for sportsmen and women across America. The event--part political rally, part Mountain State family reunion--was held at Haddad Riverfront Park in downtown Charleston, just a few blocks away from Manchin's residence at the Governor's Mansion.

"The size of this crowd on such short notice should tell us something about the momentum John Raese has going into Tuesday's election," said Jack Ellis, HNN's Senior Political Analyst. "Raese's campaign didn't know that Ted Nugent was going to be able to get here until just a few days ago, and the Sarah Palin visit was added too late for the media to really get ahold of it. Yet nearly three thousand people showed up? Amazing."

"This kind of turnout reminds me a great deal of the kind of crowds George W. Bush had when he visited West Virginia in 2000," said Ellis. "Crowds like this go back home and are great evangelists for their candidate. This single event could put Raese over the top on Tuesday."

According to event organizers, Todd and Sarah Palin took an overnight flight from Alaska to arrive Saturday morning in time for the event.

[...]

After the rally in Charleston, the Palins joined the Raeses at a Tea Party Express campaign event in Wheeling.

"This ranks as one of the most interesting of all political events in the past few years here," said Ellis. "With basically two or three days' notice, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate drew a crowd with concerned Republicans, Democrats, and Independents from across West Virginia. They all agree on one thing--the Obama Administration has got to be reined in. That's their bond, and John Raese is their candidate for U.S. Senate."

- JP

Gov. Palin, Ted Nugent to campaign for Raese in WV Saturday

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Now we know why Sarah Palin will not put in an appearance at the Tea Party Express bus tour rally in Columbus, Ohio after all. It seems her help is needed elsewhere. WOWK-TV is reporting that Gov. Palin and Ted Nugent will be taking the stage at a Saturday rally in Charleston, West Virginia to campaign for John Raese:

Two big names are joining together Saturday to campaign for U.S. Senate candidate John Raese.

Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor, will join Ted Nugent, rock legend, at the capital city Saturday to rally for Raese.

Kevin McLaughlin, spokesperson for Raese, and Mike Steward, W.Va. Republican Party chairman, have confirmed that Palin will be joining Nugent at Saturday's rally. Todd Palin will also be in attendance.

The site of the rally will be the Haddad Riverfront Park in Charleston. The Raese Campaign says the rally will start at noon with a band. (We wonder if Ted will sit in on guitar...) The speeches should begin around 1 to 1:30 PM local time.

- JP

Would John Raese support Gov. Palin for President? 'Absolutely'

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West Virginia GOP candidate John Raese, who is in a tight contest with Democrat Gov. Joe Manchin for one of West Virginia's two U.s. Senate seats, has embraced the endorsement he received from Sarah Palin this week:

"I am just honored that Sarah Palin would endorse me," he told CNN Friday. "I know my wife and 1,000 conservative women across West Virginia support her very much. I am just pleased to get that endorsement."

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His answer, when asked if he'd support a Palin candidacy: "Absolutely. Absolutely. I think we have many fine candidates, but if she is our nominee, absolutely."

Raese, a Morgantown businessman, was appearing at the State Capitol in Charleston, where he spoke to a group of Tea Party activists and told them that "a great, great turnout" will be the key to victory on Nov. 2.

Later, Raese was slated to attend the West Virginia Republican Party's "Victory Gala" headlined by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Talking to CNN, Raese did not back away from his staunch opposition to the federal minimum wage, arguing that the government regulation of wages or prices impedes private sector growth. He made the case that a better business climate, without the "restrictor plate" of big government interference, would boost incomes across the board.

He was unswayed by the argument that companies might set wages too low without government regulation. An unabashed disciple of the free market, Raese argued that wages should be determined by "laws of supply and demand."

"And we've gotten away from basic Economics 101, haven't we?," he said. "We've really lost the sense of freedom, free enterprise and capitalism, and we know we don't want government restraints on what we do in this country."

A poll conducted Tuesday by Rasmussen Research indicates that Raese has now opened up a seven-point lead over Joe Manchin, in what Scott Rasmussen describes as "perhaps the most improbably close U.S. Senate contest in the country."

- JP