Omaha

Sarah Palin made a surprise visit to the town I grew up in. Omaha.

Sarah Palin's fans could give Obamaphiles a run in the devotion department if the more than 5,000 people who listened Sunday to her Omaha speech are any indication.

Palin's supporters hailed the folksy Alaska governor as a "real person" who could be one of their neighbors.

A "down-to-earth" person who has been maligned by Washington insiders and the mainstream media.

"She talks to us. She's one of us. She doesn't talk down to us like an Ivy League, Harvard person," said Craig Johansen, an Omaha sales representative who was referring to Harvard graduate and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Palin thrilled her Nebraska and western Iowa fans on Sunday with a 24-minute speech at the Civic Auditorium Music Hall. She led a familiar "Drill, Baby, Drill!" chant, took a few shots at Obama and tried to portray her running mate, Republican presidential candidate John McCain, as the real candidate for change.

The crowd roared when Palin - who is the nation's most famous hockey mom - accepted a sweatshirt and a jersey from the University of Nebraska at Omaha's hockey team. "I love that cheer - Go Mavericks," said Palin, who insists that she and McCain are the real mavericks in the presidential race.

Looks like Obama has been maved again.

"The pundits were saying, 'Check out where she's going. She's going to Nebraska.' The pundits were saying, 'The only reason she would be going there is because they're scared. They have to shore up votes,' " Palin said.

"I so wanted to reach into that TV and say 'no.' I'm going to Nebraska because I want to go to Nebraska," Palin said.

Palin's visit to Omaha was quick and it came with about 27 hours' notice. The Nebraska Republican Party didn't learn of the visit until Saturday afternoon. They quickly scrambled to find a venue, and sent out a request for help that was answered by more than 150 volunteers.

The volunteers made posters and did logistical work on the ground.

The short notice didn't have a big impact on attendance. On Sunday, people began lining up outside the Civic Auditorium at about 1 p.m. State GOP officials said they would have had several thousand more if they would have had a few days to prepare, but no one was complaining.

Before Palin reached the main crowd at the packed 2,453-seat Music Hall inside the Civic, she addressed the overflow crowd in Mancuso Convention Hall. Capacity at Mancuso is listed as 2,500 on the venue's Web site.

State Republicans had fervently hoped for a Palin visit.

"It was worth it," said Trey Ashby, 19, a Republican from Papillion who waited for six hours to see Palin with his sister Rebecca Albano, 23.

"She's a woman. She has kids. She has a career. She just seems like someone you could have a conversation with," said Albano, of Papillion.

Cheryl Martinez of Omaha called Palin "down to earth."

"She believes in things that basic Americans - normal Americans - believe in," said Martinez, 41, a marketing manager and a Republican.

The state's leading Democrat, U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, welcomed Palin to Nebraska, but took issue with her criticism of Obama for having associated at one time with a former member of a domestic terrorist group.

My guess is that she is going around working to nail the down ticket races in the hopes of getting a Republican House of Representatives when the McCain Palin ticket wins by an electoral landslide on 4 Nov.

My mom still lives in Omaha and is a die hard Democrat/Obama supporter. I'm going to give her a call a little later today to see if she has any reaction to the Palin visit other than "I don't like the sound of her voice".

There is a sort of live blog of the event at this link.

One other thing. No matter what the polls say:

Vote Dammit

There is no point in giving Obama the election. Make him work for it. Besides the polls could be wrong. It happens.

H/T Gateway Pundit.

Cross Posted at Classical Values