AP downplayed size of Sarah Palin's Tempe crowd

The Associated Press report on Sarah Palin's book signing event in Tempe, Arizona severely underestimated the size of the crowd lined up to see the former Alaska governor. The state newspaper, The Arizona Republic, actually had a reporter on the scene and puts the crowd's size at "at least a thousand", while the AP said that "hundreds" were waiting in line. We're more inclined to believe the numbers supplied by someone who was actually there rather than the truth-challenged, notoriously anti-Palin AP. Here's an excerpt from the Republic's story:

The late Johnny Horton's voice sang "North to Alaska" through loudspeakers at Costco in Tempe while a least a thousand people waited in line for the arrival of former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Then her fans heard "Barracuda" by the rock band Heart, and Shania Twain's "She's Not Just a Pretty Face."

Suddenly Palin walked in, carrying her baby, Trig, and the crowd waved and cheered, "Hi, Sarah!"

Finally she was shaking hands, smiling and autographing copies of her book, "Going Rogue."

The first man in line waited more than 26 hours to spend a few seconds with Palin. Drew Sweatte of Palm Springs, Calif., arrived at 8 a.m. Monday and later spent the entire night outside.

"It's my birthday present to myself," said Sweatte, who turned 23 on Tuesday.

Read the full story here.