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Palin Rallies Crowd In Election Day Run-up

By Kara Clark, Erika Jacobson & Samantha Bartram

(Created: Monday, October 27, 2008 4:34 PM EDT)

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With chants of "Use Your Brain. Vote McCain" and "SAR-AH SAR-AH" filling the air, a crowd of thousands welcomed Republican vice presidential candidate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to Leesburg Monday.

Traffic crawled along Fort Evans Road as carloads flooded into JR's Festival Lakes, the venue for the mid-morning campaign rally in support of the presidential bid of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). Lt. Wesley Thompson of the Leesburg Police Department said early estimates showed the crowd numbered around 6,500 individuals who braved the frosty air in support of the Republican presidential ticket. Representatives of the McCain campaign offered estimates of some 8,000 attendees at Monday's rally.

The rally had a decidedly local feel to it, with introductions and speeches by Loudoun County Board Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large), Keith Fimian, Republican candidate for the 11th District's congressional seat, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10), Attorney General Bob McDonnell and an invocation by Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run). The men's ensemble of the Community Church Choir of Ashburn also sang The Star Spangled Banner.

In his introductory speech, York spoke of the elephant in the room - namely, that he is an Independent.

"Some of you may be surprised to see me here. I'm an Independent here today to support John McCain and Sarah Palin," York said. "To my friends who are Independent and Democrat you know in your heart that Barack Obama doesn't have experience. He's a nice guy but he doesn't have the experience to be president of the United States. We need John McCain."

In their speeches, many local leaders also pushed for help in advance of next week's vote. Current polls show Obama with a national lead, and many political pundits have the state of Virginia pegged as one that could be pivotal to a candidate's victory.

"We need a whole new way of thinking and a whole new set of leaders.

Not only do we need your vote, but we need your help on the campaign trail," Fimian said. "We are the party of ideas, we are the party of solutions, we are the party of answers. Let us raise our sights once again. Let us elevate our vision once again. Let us recapture what is lost. Help us bring common sense back to Washington."

Speaker Tito Munoz enjoyed an especially spirited reception from the crowd, who reacted as if he were the star of the show rather than Palin. The local construction company owner and Colombian immigrant, known affectionately to the crowd gathered as "Tito the Builder," enthusiastically threw his support behind McCain and Palin, the latter remarking that Munoz was representative of how "everything is possible in America."

"We like to say, Tito was born in Colombia, but he was made in America," Palin said.

To that end, Palin used part of her speech to continue to highlight the differences between the two presidential candidates and noted how McCain would work to continue to open up opportunities for the small business owners of America.

"You have such a clear choice. It is the choice between a politician who puts his faith in government and a leader who puts his faith in all of us; between a politician who wants to spread your wealth and one who wants to spread opportunities and lower taxes. We need a leader who is ready on day one with experience and truth and good judgment, a leader that is not afraid to use the word victory when talking about the wars America is in," Palin said.

Palin also urged the crowd to take to the streets in support of McCain as even she admitted the race is "very close."

"On Nov. 4 it's going to come to the wire," Palin said. "It's going to come down to what we believe in. We believe in the forward movement of freedom, not the constant expansion of government. We believe that the virtues of freedom are worth fighting for. We believe the best of America isn't all gathered in Washington, DC. We believe America is not the problem; it is the solution. There is only one man in camp who has ever really fought for you. John McCain is the only man with the courage to keep on fighting for you, America."

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Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of Leesburg Today.
Total Comments: 15 comment(s)

doucare wrote on Oct 30, 2008 9:35 PM:

" Councilman Tom Dunn was also at both rallys. Maybe these Leesburg elected officials were doing their official duty by representing the Town Government at two important events. "

july wrote on Oct 29, 2008 2:34 PM:

" Rabble Rouser:

Kristen Umstattd is the Mayor of Leesburg. She attended BOTH the Obama and Palin rallies. Perhaps one shouldn't jump to conclusions without investigating all the facts first. "

TRUTH wrote on Oct 29, 2008 1:39 PM:

" Rabble Rouser:
Kristen Umstattd is the Mayor of Leesburg. She attended BOTH the Obama and Palin rallies. Perhaps one shouldn't jump to conclusions without investigating all the facts first. "

TRUTH wrote on Oct 29, 2008 11:03 AM:

" KEN REID shame on you. No matter your political leanings, you ARE still a representative of our Town. Your conduct at the Obama rally was not only an embarrassment, it was completely inappropriate and unprofessional. When the secret service have to get involved, you've crosssed the line.

I hope the voters remember this come election time. "

rabble rouser wrote on Oct 28, 2008 10:30 PM:

" Anyone notice Kristen Umstattd was there in support of McCain Palin.; Now, that's interesting! "

leesburg resident wrote on Oct 28, 2008 4:49 PM:

" These members of the BOS have drunk the GOP Kool-Aid.

My greatest admiration for what all POW's including Senator McCain have sacrificed for our country aside, what does this have to do with having executive experience or better experience to be president? None that I can tell. And McCain's career in the senate has been one of reinvention for reelection and appeasement of the far right of the Republican party. Pandering of the highest order. And ditching his wife when he got home and carrying on an affair while still married isn't much of a family-values kind of arrangement now is it. Oh wait a minute, it IS the democrats who really care about family values after all. Yes indeed. Our platform proves it.

Personally, I don't want McCain's explosive-tempered fingers anywhere near the nuclear codes and worse still is to imagine Sarah Palin in the Oval Office - even near it. Here's to a flight back to Alaska on November 5th. "

no meals tax wrote on Oct 28, 2008 3:13 PM:

" What the heck was Scott York doing there? Being that he's never seen a tax increase he didn't like, including his vote to put the meals tax on the ballot, I figured he'd be supporting Obama! "

sundance wrote on Oct 28, 2008 2:05 PM:

" Wow. Scott York never ceases to amaze. The man has no shame. "

valleymom wrote on Oct 28, 2008 12:58 PM:

" There were more than 2000 people there - I was there! It was a blast! and the woman has more experiance than the Democratic runner on training wheels! "

lost_in_VA26 wrote on Oct 28, 2008 11:38 AM:

" You obviously didn't attend the event "Leesburg Citizen." The Leesburg PD had the gates of J.R. Festival Lakes covered. The Sheriff's Dept covered the streets and directed people to the event. I attended both events and Palin's had half of what Obama's group had. It was a lovely event and the Republicans did a nice job managing it (just like I thought about Obama's Rally). You should be thrilled that both parties felt the need to come to our town (regardless of it being within the "corporate limits" of the Town of Leesburg or not). There were close to 7,500 in attendance plus all the volunteers and press as well. I am sorry you missed it because it was a lot of fun. As for the endorsement of the largest newspaper in Alaska, you obviously aren't too educated in how most of the press is considered Democrat and not Republican. Hence, why polls are not a true reflection of the real deal. You should just be sure to vote on November 4th and stop being such a close minded fool. Maybe if you had bothered to attend the event, then you could actually judge the crowd yourself. But thank you for your opinion. Also the Republican rally was in the morning and not late afternoon. Attendance is affected by the time of day in Northern Virginia. I took the day off to attend and I thought it was well worth it. I also left work early last week to attend Obama's as well. "

parentof4 wrote on Oct 28, 2008 10:36 AM:

" Yea, actually I believe JR Festival Lakes is in Leesburg...hence Leesburg Police territory. Otherwise, why was the town involved in hearings with the owner of Festival Lakes when he wanted to change the zoning? "

Ashburn Village wrote on Oct 28, 2008 10:11 AM:

" Vote NO on the York-Waters Meals Tax "

kmccorma wrote on Oct 28, 2008 10:03 AM:

" Most papers are for Obama. They want more death and crisis in this country for the next four years. An Obama administration guarantees that. "

livinginwonderland wrote on Oct 28, 2008 9:50 AM:

" Palin does not have to explain herself about the newspaper because most media is liberal and most people know this and most newspapers have endorsed Obama and before Obama it was Hiliry and before it was Clinton and so on. And Palin has better things to discuss then worry about the liberal media endorsing Obama. "

leesburg citizen wrote on Oct 27, 2008 8:12 PM:

" Loudoun Sheriff's dept. said there were only 2000 people at the event, they should know, this isn't Leesburg PD territory. Did Palin explain why the largest newspaper in Alaska (Anchorage Daily) has endorsed Obama? "



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