Disappointment: Obama win a let-down for local Palin supporters

WASILLA — Supporters of Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, stood with blank stares at the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex as McCain gave his concession speech Tuesday night.

McCain conceded the election around 7 p.m. Alaska time, making Democratic Sen. Barack Obama the first black president of the United States.

By 8 p.m., Obama had 334 electoral votes to McCain’s 155, according to numbers provided by The New York Times.

The mood at the Multi-Use Sports Complex here went from jovial to glum as electoral votes continued to mount up in Obama’s favor as Lower 48 polls closed.

Still, when McCain thanked Palin on stage in Arizona, the crowd in Wasilla cheered loudly and didn’t seem to lose their enthusiasm for their hometown candidate.

Shortly after McCain’s concession speech, Tracey Porreca, a Wasilla resident and McCain-Palin supporter, said she thinks Obama was elected because people want change.

After four years, Porreca said she believes people will see the Republican Party should be in the White House.

“They’ll come back to the right side,” she said of voters.

Tuesday’s election results, though they became official before Alaska polls were closed, ended more than a year of politicking by both candidates. The campaign had heated up in the waning hours before the election, and Obama and McCain went on multi-state sweeps just one day before the election.

Tuesday began for many Mat-Su Valley residents when they greeted Palin in the pre-dawn hours at Wasilla City Hall.

Palin, who came back to Wasilla to vote, shook hands and signed posters of well-wishers who assembled in the cold to greet her.

Shortly after Palin voted, she and her family flew to Arizona to be with McCain while returns from the polls came in.

Back in Wasilla, people began leaving the sports complex shortly after McCain’s concession speech.

Christy Pinkerton, a Wasilla resident and McCain-Palin supporter, said she was sad with the election’s results.

She had nothing but praise for Palin.

“I think she did an awesome job,” she said.

As for Palin’s political future, Pinkerton said she can see Palin in the White House come 2012.

“I think in four years she’ll be running for president,” Pinkerton said.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.