Large crowd welcomes Gov. Palin at Nebraska bookstore (Updated)

The line grew to more than 1,000 by early afternoon
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Sarah Palin began her three-hour book signing appearance in Norfolk, Nebraska Saturday morning by thanking the many fans who were waiting in line for her at the Hastings bookstore. The Norfolk Daily News covered the event. Gov. Palin, who arrived in the northeast Nebraska city Friday night, signed books for three hours at the store Saturday:


The Daily News has a gallery of photos from the event here.

Norfolk is the state's tenth-largest city. Why didn't she stop in a larger metropolitan area such as Omaha instead? Robynn Tysver of the Omaha Wold Herald suggests that it may be because Madison County, in which Norfolk is located, "is one of the reddest counties in a very red state":

Whatever the reason, Palin is THE buzz in Norfolk.

Her scheduled Saturday stop, part of the former Alaska governor's 35-city book tour, has generated considerable interest in the northeast Nebraska town. Local Republicans' phones began ringing last week as word spread.

“It's not very often you live in Norfolk, Neb., and someone like Sarah Palin comes to a book signing. It's a first. Nothing like this has happened,” said Robert Dover, vice chairman of the Madison County Republicans and a Palin fan.

[...]

The county has one of the state's highest concentrations of Republicans — about 58 percent of its registered voters. Twenty-five percent of Madison County registered voters call themselves Democrats.

[...]

In Nebraska politics, Madison County is key to Republicans running statewide. It has a strong county party, with a muscular fundraising arm and the ability to recruit strong local candidates and volunteers, said Jordan McGrain, executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party.

“If you're a Republican and seeking statewide office, gauging your support and testing your message, Madison County is a good place to start,” McGrain said. “It is a bit of a testing ground.”

Several of the fans she met in the bookstore told the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate that they hoped she would make a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012:

“Run in 2012,” urged Steve Hughes, 57, of Lincoln as Palin signed a book for him.

Palin's response was neither a “no” nor a “yes.”

“I appreciate your encouragement,” she told Hughes and several other people who urged her to run.

[...]

Her visit to this northeast Nebraska city had all the markings of a Black Friday frenzy.

Die-hard fans began assembling outside the Hastings Entertainment book and video store the night before, braving frigid temperatures to be near the front of the line.

By the time Palin arrived, nearly 500 people were standing outside, wrapped around the store and onto a neighboring sidewalk. The line grew to more than 1,000 by early afternoon.

[...]

Christine Boone is one Nebraskan who thinks Palin should run.

Boone, 44, of Plainview arrived at the Norfolk store about 9 p.m. Friday with two friends. They wanted to be first in line.

“I admire her core values. She doesn't let people rile her up,” Boone said.

“To those that say she can't win (the presidency), I think they're scared she will,” she added.

Gov. Palin met with Republican Mike Flood of Norfolk, speaker of the Nebraska Legislature and some local dignitaries before she began signing books. Flood said the meeting was a brief one because the former Alaska governor did not want her fans to have to wait in the cold. The next stop on her tour is a signing event in Des Moines, where speculation is high that she might enter the Iowa caucuses in 2012.

Update: Sioux City television station KCAU reports that Gov. Palin's visit "spiked" the Norfolk, Nebraska economy.

- JP

Sarah Palin slams Obama for selling out U.S. allies

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Sarah Palin dropped a hint of a possible presidential run Sunday night in Norfolk, Virginia, according to a report in the Daily Press of Newport News. The 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate told an audience of thousands of conservative voters in the Ted Constant Convocation Center that the country needs a new president:

"So folks let's start the task in November and what we start in November 2010 let's finish it off in November 2012."

Palin came to southeastern Virginia — a military Mecca filled with conservatives — for Freedom Fest, a concert and rally to support the troops, police and firefighters. Palin was the marquis guest speaking after former Virginia governor George Allen a few hours after crooner Lee Greenwood sung "God Bless the U.S.A."

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The local visit is part of Palin's weeklong swing through the south, with events in Atlanta and Texas. Palin is reportedly mulling a run for president in 2012, and many evangelical voters are wooing her slapping Palin 2012 bumper stickers on their cars and building websites backing her.

Palin said spending cuts are vital in Washington, but she told the veteran-laden crowd that cuts should never touch defense.

"There are no shortcuts on national security," she said.

The anti-Palin Associated Press grossly misrepresented the size of the crowd on the campus of Old Dominion University at "several hundred people." AP's Bob Lewis wrote that the former Alaska governor blasted the Obama administration for downgrading the nation's status as a superpower and being willing to sell out its allies. She accused the president of selling out Israel over its naval blockade of Gaza and not treating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the respect the head of state of a longtime U.S. ally deserves:

She also said Obama lacked the resolve to stand up to Russia and China.

"Do they think, really, that we're getting anything in return for all this bowing and kowtowing and apologizing? No, we don't get anything positive in return for this," Palin said at the event spearheaded by a Norfolk talk radio station.

"So while President Obama is getting pushed around by the likes of Russia and China, our allies are left to wonder about the value of an alliance with our country any more. They're asking what is it worth," she said.

Palin, former Virginia Sen. George Allen and Iran-Contra figure Oliver North, who ran for a Virginia Senate seat and lost, each took turns decrying what they said was the deterioration of U.S. military might and will under Obama's watch.

Palin said that Obama and an allied Democratic Congress had cut military spending while showing no such restraint on other expenditures, running up trillions in new deficits.

North and particularly Allen had already whipped the crowd into a lather.

- JP

Sarah Palin returns to Virginia June 27 for Freedom Fest 2010

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Freedom 1650 (WKHT), licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, debuted its Conservative Talk Radio format on May 6, but the station is already doing big things. The AM outlet, which simulcasts with sister station WPMH, is sponsoring Freedom Fest 2010, an event headlined by Sarah Palin Saturday, June 27, at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk.

Tickets are priced from $45 to $125 and can be purchased here. Directions to the Constant Center are here, and parking information is here.

Virginia should be familiar territory to Gov. Palin by now. Roanoke was one of the stops on her Going Rogue Book Tour last November, and during the 2008 campaign, she drew a huge crowd of 20,000 to a rally outside the Richmond International Raceway. The former GOP vice presidential candidate also roused crowds at rallies in Leesburg, Fredericksburg, Glen Allen and Salem, and she campaigned with her former running mate in Fairfax.

Update: Morning radio talker Steve Batton says he should be able to announce the names of the other guests by Monday:\

He did hint that they include a nationally known musician, a high-profile military person and a well-known author.

The event will also feature a salute to the military and first responders.

"It will be a very patriotic event," Batton said.

- JP