Like many faithfuls in the GOP this year, I didn’t have a lot of excitement going into the fall campaign. As August began, I did feel a little bit of energy start to come out – but most of that was fueled by an anti-Obama spirit rather than anything else. I got more and more energized as things went along. When Obama picked Biden I was in – well, I’ll say it – fitsof joy over such a stupendously terrible choice. Then watching the DNC all week get me more and more revved up.
But nothing can explain the feeling I had Friday morning when rumors started swirling that Sarah Palin might be McCain’s pick as his VP. About an hour later when sources started confirming the pick, I didn’t know what to do myself. I was stuck in class but sending text messages to just about everyonne I know – overwhelmed with excitement about the pick. It was the first time, in a long time, that a campaign has managed to get me so energized.
This is the feeling we’re seeing all across America – especially in the otherwise quiet Republican ranks. We are enthused.We are overwhelmed. We just want to see as much of Sarah Palin as we can. We’re optimistic about the future of our party and our country. We’re excited about the political campaign in a year where we otherwise wouldn’t be.
No other candidate would have sparked such a unifying euphoria. No other candidate has the wide appeal that can enthusiastically bring together former Mitt Romney and former Mike Huckabee supporters.
Evidence of Palinmania can be seen everywhere – especially on McCain’s newly invigorated campaign trail.
As he touched down in suburbs outside of Milwaukee and Detroit, the just crowned Republican nominee found himself first on the newly-fashioned signs proclaiming the unlikely GOP ticket but seemingly second in the hearts of the thousands who thronged rallies to catch their first glimpse in person of Sarah Palin.
McCain drew loud applause, first at a morning appearance in the downtown of a quaint, Republican-leaning Wisconsin village and then at a more-boisterous amphitheater rally here in Michigan’s working-class Macomb County.
Yet it was Palin who many, especially women, in both crowds were thrilled to see up close just days after she exploded onto the national political scene.
Clutching signs with messages such as “Girl Power” and “Sarah Is My American Idol,” moms and their daughters lined the barricades just outside The Chocolate Shop in Cedarburg, Wisconsin that served as the backdrop for the rally.
The women said they had come to see both members of the new Republican ticket, but couldn’t fake it when asked who they were more excited to lay eyes on.
“Sarah!” a small group of them yelled .
I’m not trying to say here that this race is going to be purely about Palin. John McCain has grown on many of his and he has a strong appeal to independent voters looking to fix a broken Washington. The power of Palin is in her ability to electrify the GOP while still remaining an appealing candidate to reform-minded voters in working class America.
The response to the Palin pick is unbelievable. If Barack Obama is serious when he says that running for president qualifies him to be president – I don’t think there’s any doubt which candidate is doing a better job of that recently.
