LANCASTER [PA] -- It's official, Sen. John McCain's crowds are now Obama-sized.
While McCain got a little taste of a rock star style crowd at a rally in Sturgis, the annual ultimate motorcycle rally held in South Dakota, that crowd was there for a lot more reasons than McCain. Crowds have never been a problem for McCain's rival Sen. Barack Obama -- for McCain, well, not so much. But that has changed since the surprise announcement of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska less than two weeks ago. Franklin & Marshal political science professor Terry Madonna said as he wandered around the crowd that "the Palin selection for veep has motivated a base of core voters in ways that were completely unexpected. It has turned a luke warm electorate to an electorate that possesses an indescribable energy level." The event is sold out with 7,500 tickets distributed within 48 hours. According to a Pennsylvania State trooper, they have an over-flow section in the parking lot for an expected 4,000 more. Karen Miller, 50, of Lancaster, was in line with her husband, Tom. A registered Democrat, she voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Pennsylvania primaries. "Palin is a strong woman going after the big boys in Washington" said Miller, "she has made the McCain ticket a powerful one and one of reform." Husband Tom, 54, said he didn't need Palin to persuade him. He was already on board with McCain after Hillary lost: "McCain is not afraid to buck the Republican Party he belongs to, he belongs to the people." Three hours before the event was to begin, the line of cars stretched over a mile from the exit off of the Lincoln Highway to the event site at Franklin and Marshal College. A line a few thousand deep wrapped it's way around F&M college. Last week, Obama held a rally next to F&M drawing a crowd estimated over 10,000 strong. Update: From Jim Roddey, chairman of the Allegheny County Republican Party: "On August 30, McCain/Palin drew 13,000 in Washington, Pa. By mid-week prior to their appearance, we were struggling to get the turnout up to 2,500. Once the announcement about Palin was made, we had request for more that 10,000 tickets. People without tickets from W.Va., Ohio, Maryland and New York showed up and stood in line for more than two hours for tickets. Most said that they decided to come to the rally when Palin was announced as the V.P. candidate." - http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/blogs/fortyfourthestate/show_comments.php?entry_id=3180 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
