Palin’s appeal evident at rallies

Frontiersman

LATROBE, Penn. — For fans of Gov. Sarah Palin, it appears what draws them to the Republican vice presidential candidate is common to whatever part of the country they live in.

After a rally in the small Pennsylvania town of Latrobe, raucous Palin fans lavished praise on the relative newcomer to national politics and sounded much lot like her supporters in the Mat-Su Valley.

“She’s just refreshing,” said Sandy McClain, a Latrobe local. “She speaks what I want to say.”

Since she was introduced as Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s running mate Aug. 29, Plain has excited the Republican base and brought out huge crowds with consistent numbers throughout her campaign tour around the country. During an early morning rally in Latrobe, a hangar at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport was packed to overflowing with supporters cheering wildly for Palin.

At these rallies, Palin seems to have a rock star quality, grabbing the crowd’s attention as she speaks and pausing expertly for applause and cheers.

It seems, at least for the supporters on the campaign trail Friday through southern Pennsylvania, McCain’s decision to pluck the governor from relative political obscurity as one from far removed from the Washington, D.C., Beltway worked. Being from Alaska, many supporters say the 49th state’s governor couldn’t be any further from Washington.

But Palin’s selection has also met with increasing fire leading up to Tuesday’s general election, and many conservative writers and pundits have gone off the reservation to express concerns over Palin’s spot on the ticket.

For the fans who show up for her rallies, however, none of what the media reports seems to matter, and reporters are often scapegoated as running a smear campaign.

That’s how McClain said she feels, and pleaded with a reporter not to investigate Palin after an interview like many say the media did with Joe the Plumber. McClain also noted she’s a registered Democrat, but will be voting for the Republican ticket this year mostly because Palin is on it.

“I think she’s wonderful,” McClain said.

Watching as Palin shook hands with supporters, Donald Simpson, from Pittsburgh, said Palin has energized the McCain campaign.

“She’s got spunk,” Simpson said. “I like spunk.”

A Republican, Simpson said he thinks a McCain-Palin administration would be more likely to take action on important national issues.

Simpson’s sister, Pat Poth, said the argument that Palin doesn’t have enough experience to be vice president is a ploy cooked up by the opposition to make Palin look bad.

Gov. Palin’s experience factor may be what is so appealing to McCain-Palin supporters.

During a stop at Leiss Tool and Dye factory in Somerset, Penn., owner Dan Leiss said entrenched politicians who have run the country for years haven’t proved to him that experience necessarily means competence.

As for Palin, “I’d be totally confident if she became president,” Leiss said.

Leiss is the type of voter McCain and Palin need to win the election, an Independent. Not affiliated with any political party, Independents can sway a race either direction because they usually don’t vote along party lines. With Barack Obama holding a narrowing lead in national polls over McCain, many political experts report McCain’s chances Tuesday will hinge on those Independent voters who are as yet undecided.

Getting the message to people like Leiss is Palin’s goal in the waning days of the campaign.

And, as Jim Hooker from York, Penn., said, her “breath-of-fresh-air” persona seems to be Palin’s biggest asset.

Now, all Palin can do is wait and see what happens Tuesday, a day that leaves the decision to the voters.

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