INDIANAPOLIS — A sea of red erupted for Sarah Palin on Friday afternoon, as more than 25,000 Hoosiers welcomed her to Noblesville like out-of-state family.
“Sarah Palin could easily hail from Indiana,” Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman told the standing crowd at the Verizon Wireless Music Center outside Indianapolis, about 5:30 p.m. “… any one of its small towns.”
Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee and governor of Alaska, took center stage amidst an overflowing crowd where VIP tickets merely assured entrance after hours in line.
Thousands of supporters, many wearing red shirts or waving red pom poms, were herded through the walkways and grassy areas of the open air pavilion by Secret Service and safety officials noting fire regulations.
“This is more people than I’ve ever seen here for any concert,” said Wabash Valley Journal of Business publisher Bob Flott, one of dozens of Vigo County Republicans who made the drive for Friday afternoon’s appearance.
And despite the topics discussed, the concert atmosphere was unmistakable as country music artist Aaron Tippin opened for her before cranking the stereos up for music ranging from Credence Clearwater Revival to AC/DC.
Palin herself came onstage to thunderous applause as Travis Tritt’s “Where Corn Don’t Grow” blared from the speakers, and she offered her respects by noting that her favorite movie has long been “Hoosiers.”
Palin spoke for nearly an hour, dotting her speech with humor as she noted past performances with “mainstream media” which she joked gave “Tina Fey more material” for Saturday Night Live skits.
But on the topic of politics, Palin got down to business quickly, fighting for her running mate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., over Democrat rival Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
“There’s only one man in this race who has ever really fought for you,” she said as the crowd chanted “John McCain! John McCain!”
Palin was quick to criticize Obama’s tax plans, notably what she said amounted to $1 trillion in new spending.
“What do you do when you’re in a hole and you don’t want to be there?” she asked. “The first thing you do is stop digging.”
Palin said she and McCain will fight what is predicted to be a $10 trillion deficit by freezing spending and balancing the federal budget.
And from overseas wars to energy policy to a pending federal investigation into alleged voter registration fraud by Acorn, Palin said America can’t afford to put Obama in a position of trust.
“It sounds a lot like socialism,” she said of Obama’s “true intentions to spread the wealth,” adding that “John McCain is the only man in this race who when he talks about the wars America is fighting, he isn’t afraid to use the word ‘win’ … It would be nice if just once Sen. Obama would say he wants us to win.”
Palin said she and McCain are calling on Obama to release records of his fiscal relationship with Acorn, a community action group recently investigated for alleged election registration fraud by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in many states.
Palin called on Hoosiers to come out for what she said is sure to be a close race, noting that “you know something about close races here,” hailing Indiana as home to the Indianapolis 500.
“Indiana, soon the choice will be yours to make,” she said. “Are you ready to help carry this state to victory? … Are you ready to send us to Washington, DC., to shake things up?”
Throughout the hour, chants of “country first,” “we love Sarah,” and “John McCain” broke through as the candidate plugged hard to maintain the state’s 44-year tradition of going Republican in the presidential election.
“I thought it was very strong,” Flott said, noting the “palpable excitement” in the crowd and powerful reception Palin received.
Vigo County Council at-large candidate Tim Hennessy also traveled to Noblesville along with his wife, Michelle, both describing it as “powerful.”
“I particularly enjoyed her thoughts on protecting small-business owners as that’s part of my campaign platform,” Hennessy said.
Vigo County Republican Party volunteer Dewayne Cress agreed in his assessment of the performance, and said the excitement has carried over throughout this year’s campaign.
Cress, a volunteer at the Republican Party headquarters, does not accept pay for his time, while many of the Obama workers do, he said.
Eighteen days remain until the election.
Brian Boyce can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
Election 2008
October 17, 2008
More than 25,000 Hoosiers welcome veep hopeful Sarah Palin to Noblesville
- Election 2008
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Vigo County election results
More than 44,000 ballots were cast Tuesday of the nearly 80,000 registered voters, giving Vigo County a 55.76 percent voter turnout. Voters who cast provisional ballots have until noon Nov. 14 to show proper identification in the clerk’s office. Members of the Election Board will certify the results by the end of Nov. 14.
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Obama triumphs, will be first black U.S. president
Barack Obama swept to victory as the nation’s first black president Tuesday night in an electoral college landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself. “Change has come,” he told a huge throng of jubilant supporters.
- Ellsworth downs Goode in District 8 In a strong Democratic election year, U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth was re-elected Tuesday to a second term as the 8th District congressman representing southwestern and western Indiana.
- House District 44: Former Greencastle major wins A former Greencastle mayor will head off to the Statehouse come January, and she said Tuesday night she’s ready to go.
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YOUTH VOTE: Sarah Scott students elect Obama, Daniels
Tribune-Star
Students and staff at Sarah Scott Middle School voted to make Barack Obama president and Mitch Daniels governor during a mock election Tuesday. - Vigo picks presidential winner again Vigo County voters chose Democrat Sen. Barack Obama as president, maintaining its status as a “bellwether” county, picking the winner in every presidential election since 1892 with only two exceptions.
- Harrison Township opts to keep assessor Voters in eight precincts in Harrison Township opted to retain a township assessor under a referendum vote on Tuesday’s election ballot. That’s was good news to Mick Love, who will retain his elected seat as Harrison Township assessor. The final tally on Public Question No. 1 was 6,587 for a “yes,” which would remove the office, to 9,506 for “no” which would retain the office.
- House District 46: Tincher pulls out win The race between Democrat incumbent Rep. Vern Tincher and Republican challenger Bob Heaton for the Indiana House District 46 seat went down to the wire Tuesday night, with Tincher pulling out a win.
- Republican Daniels wins 2nd term as Indiana governor Republican Mitch Daniels defeated former Democratic congresswoman Jill Long Thompson on Tuesday to win a second term as governor, but he may need a supply of olive branches to advance his agenda if Democrats retain control of the Indiana House.
- House District 45: Borders wins close race The Indiana House District 45 race between incumbent Republican Bruce Borders and Democrat Rick Marshall was too close to call for much of the evening Tuesday, with the final outcome apparent near midnight.
- House District 43: Kersey remains in seat Rep. Clyde Kersey, D-Terre Haute, will remain in the Indiana General Assembly for another two years, as the 12-year incumbent defeated Republican challenger Ryan Cummins for the House District 43 seat.
- Clay County's turnout one for record books Clay County’s voter turnout was one for the record books, officials said Tuesday evening.
- Parke County incumbents retain their seats Parke County incumbents retained their seats in Tuesday’s election. Republican County At-large Councilmen Dale Gerrish and John Pratt will be joined by fellow Republican J.B. Butler, a newcomer who received more votes than Gerrish and Pratt. The three GOP candidates won over the three Democrats in that race.
- Nearly 64 percent of registered Vermillion voters cast ballots Vermillion County voters turned out in big numbers Tuesday to hand victories to Democrats up and down the ballot. Nearly 64 percent of registered voters turned out in the mostly rural county, which includes the towns of Clinton and Newport.
- Sullivan County votes Repbulican in national election For the second time in its traditionally Democratic history, Sullivan County voted Republican in the national election. Overall, Democrats saw unexpected upsets, incumbent Republicans lost a few offices, and voter turnout here was exceptionally high, as expected.
- Indiana State students await impact of their votes Ashley Roce sat in the Cunningham Memorial Library eating pizza with her friends, waiting to see the impact of her first vote in a presidential election.
- Indiana transplants watch from east coast Indiana has done what couldn’t have been predicted in 2004: It has gone Blue — and by so doing, the Hoosier state has broken its 44-year tradition of being a Red state, and helped put a Democrat in the White House.
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Voter turnout in Clark County, Ill., highest it's ever been
Voter turnout in Clark County, Ill., was the largest it has ever been, but it wasn’t as high as County Clerk Bill Downey had hoped for.
- Presidential election turnout down in Edgar County Despite an increase in registered voters for Tuesday’s election, turnout was lower than the last presidential election in Edgar County, Ill.
- Incumbents easily win school board seats Three Vigo County School Board incumbents readily won re-election Tuesday. In District 1, Mel Burks and Jackie Lower retained their seats, defeating Larry Faulkner. In unofficial results, Lower had 24,321 votes, Burks, 19,253, and Faulkner, 11,383.
- Democratic Commissioner Mason gets another four years Vigo County voters on Tuesday returned Democratic Commissioner Paul Mason for an additional four-year term as one of the county’s top executive officials.
- Rader wins Vigo judge Superior Court Divisioin 5 The winner of Vigo County judge for Superior Court Division 5 is Dr. Michael Rader. With 23,636 votes, or 56 percent, Rader defeated Republican challenger Dan Kelly, who earned 18,216 votes, or 44 percent. Totals are unofficial results from the Vigo County Election office.
- Allsup defeats Royer in Vigo Recorder race In a night that was friendly to Democrats, Nancy Allsup won the office of Vigo County Recorder, defeating Republican Bruce Royer. Allsup, with 26,486 votes, or 65 percent, celebrated her victory Tuesday night with friends and family at the Paradise Pavilion in West Terre Haute.
- Mansard wins another term as Vigo County clerk Democrat Patricia “Pat” Mansard has won another term as Vigo County clerk. Mansard, who has served as county clerk for 20 years, was busily working Tuesday night to finish up election results, but she took a minute to savor her win.
- FINAL: VIGO COUNTY ELECTION 2008 RESULTS Final election night results from Vigo County
- FINAL: VERMILLION COUNTY ELECTION RESULTS 2008 Election results from Vermillion County
- FINAL: CLAY COUNTY ELECTION 2008 RESULTS Election results from across Clay County
- FINAL: PARKE COUNTY ELECTION 2008 RESULTS Election results from Parke County
- FINAL: SULLIVAN COUNTY ELECTION RESULTS 2008 Results from Sullivan County
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NEW: Vigo County’s election record cited by Karl Rove
Karl Rove, the man credited with orchestrating President George W. Bush’s two successful campaigns for the presidency, reportedly singled out Vigo County as a place to watch tonight when election returns start coming in.
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