Kristin Martin
Published: Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Thousands filled the Pensacola Civic Center on Oct. 7 to see Gov. Sarah Palin, Republican vice presidential candidate, speak during her campaign stop for the “Road to Victory Rally.”
“I bring greetings from the next president of the United States — John McCain,” Palin said when she walked out to the stage. “The people of Florida are ready to shake things up in Washington.”
Hours before the doors opened at 11 a.m., hundreds of people, who were holding umbrellas to shelter themselves from pouring rain, stood on sidewalks in a line that wrapped around the civic center.
Andy Blackman waited about four hours to get into the civic center. When asked if the wait was worth it, he said, “Oh yeah, definitely. This is my first [political rally], so everything is pretty cool.”
Malcolm Thomas, who is running for Superintendent of Schools, said if people stood in long lines outside in the rain just to see Palin, then they will go vote, too.
Anxiously awaiting Palin’s arrival, the crowd chanted, “Sarah, Sarah, Sarah,” and a band played songs. One group of women waved around miniature American flags and cheered, “Go Sarah! Go Sarah! We’re here to cheer for you!” A choir sang “Grand Old Flag” and other patriotic songs. The band played “God Bless America,” and people in the audience began singing along – some people stood up to wave flags, and the crowd gave an uproarious applause at the end of the song. People in the bleachers also did several rounds of the wave while waiting.
Pastor Joseph Rogers from Pace Assembly of God prayed to kick off the rally. He prayed for the nation to be blessed and spiritually awakened, and he thanked God for the troops that died for the freedom of America.
Then, state Rep. Clay Ford spoke. He said the term “SOS” applies to the election. Regarding McCain, “SOS” stands for “Service of Society,” and for Obama, it means “Service of Self.” Ford said Obama is “scary.”
Congressman Jeff Miller also spoke, and then introduced Col. Bud Day, who he called “a true American hero.”
“She is a straight talker,” Day said about Palin. “When she gets through talking, you’re not going to wonder, ‘What did she just say?’”
Thomas agreed, “She seems so real and natural, and that’s what we want.”
Gov. Charlie Crist spoke after Day. Crist said, “We’ve got to do everything we can, to do our part, to make sure we put Florida in the winning column for McCain/Palin.”
Minutes before Palin walked to the stage, the civic center’s lights flashed liked strobe lights, people waved glow sticks in the air and the crowd cheered.
As Palin walked onto the stage, she waved and blew a kiss to the audience before beginning her speech.
She began the speech by saying there might not be much in common between snowy Alaska and sunny Florida, but what the residents of those states do have in common is being proud Americans. She reminded the audience that John McCain previously was stationed in Pensacola.
“It was in your skies that he trained, and that he learned,”said Palin. “He became that naval aviator, and Sen. McCain is so proud to have been part of Florida’s strong tradition of military service.”
Throughout the speech, Palin spoke mainly of the differences between McCain and Barack Obama, Democratic presidential nominee. She said that unlike Obama, McCain supports the troops, will aid the economy, cut taxes, improve health care and continue to reform the education system so that all children will have a chance and students will have help paying for college.
“In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers; and then there are leaders, like John McCain, who uses his career to promote change,” said Palin. “He and I don’t just talk about change, we’re the only candidates in this race with a track record of actually making change happen.”
Palin said while Obama is looking to the past to find blame, McCain and she are looking to the future to find a solution.
She also spoke of Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers, a “domestic terrorist.” She said Obama’s story about how well he knows Ayers is continuously changing. Palin said the election is about finding a truthful president with good judgment and Obama is not that person – McCain is.
“Pensacola, the time for choosing is near, and it‘s all about what we believe in; and what John McCain and I believe in is what Ronald Reagan believed in,” said Palin. “America is not the problem; America is the solution.”