Published: October 17, 2008 10:45 pm         

More than 25,000 Hoosiers welcome veep hopeful Sarah Palin to Noblesville

INDIANAPOLIS — A sea of red erupted for Sarah Palin on Friday afternoon, as more than 25,000 Hoosiers welcomed her to Noblesville like out-of-state family.

“Sarah Palin could easily hail from Indiana,” Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman told the standing crowd at the Verizon Wireless Music Center outside Indianapolis, about 5:30 p.m. “… any one of its small towns.”

Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee and governor of Alaska, took center stage amidst an overflowing crowd where VIP tickets merely assured entrance after hours in line.

Thousands of supporters, many wearing red shirts or waving red pom poms, were herded through the walkways and grassy areas of the open air pavilion by Secret Service and safety officials noting fire regulations.

“This is more people than I’ve ever seen here for any concert,” said Wabash Valley Journal of Business publisher Bob Flott, one of dozens of Vigo County Republicans who made the drive for Friday afternoon’s appearance.

And despite the topics discussed, the concert atmosphere was unmistakable as country music artist Aaron Tippin opened for her before cranking the stereos up for music ranging from Credence Clearwater Revival to AC/DC.

Palin herself came onstage to thunderous applause as Travis Tritt’s “Where Corn Don’t Grow” blared from the speakers, and she offered her respects by noting that her favorite movie has long been “Hoosiers.”

Palin spoke for nearly an hour, dotting her speech with humor as she noted past performances with “mainstream media” which she joked gave “Tina Fey more material” for Saturday Night Live skits.

But on the topic of politics, Palin got down to business quickly, fighting for her running mate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., over Democrat rival Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

“There’s only one man in this race who has ever really fought for you,” she said as the crowd chanted “John McCain! John McCain!”

Palin was quick to criticize Obama’s tax plans, notably what she said amounted to $1 trillion in new spending.

“What do you do when you’re in a hole and you don’t want to be there?” she asked. “The first thing you do is stop digging.”

Palin said she and McCain will fight what is predicted to be a $10 trillion deficit by freezing spending and balancing the federal budget.

And from overseas wars to energy policy to a pending federal investigation into alleged voter registration fraud by Acorn, Palin said America can’t afford to put Obama in a position of trust.

“It sounds a lot like socialism,” she said of Obama’s “true intentions to spread the wealth,” adding that “John McCain is the only man in this race who when he talks about the wars America is fighting, he isn’t afraid to use the word ‘win’ … It would be nice if just once Sen. Obama would say he wants us to win.”

Palin said she and McCain are calling on Obama to release records of his fiscal relationship with Acorn, a community action group recently investigated for alleged election registration fraud by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in many states.

Palin called on Hoosiers to come out for what she said is sure to be a close race, noting that “you know something about close races here,” hailing Indiana as home to the Indianapolis 500.

“Indiana, soon the choice will be yours to make,” she said. “Are you ready to help carry this state to victory? … Are you ready to send us to Washington, DC., to shake things up?”

Throughout the hour, chants of “country first,” “we love Sarah,” and “John McCain” broke through as the candidate plugged hard to maintain the state’s 44-year tradition of going Republican in the presidential election.

“I thought it was very strong,” Flott said, noting the “palpable excitement” in the crowd and powerful reception Palin received.

Vigo County Council at-large candidate Tim Hennessy also traveled to Noblesville along with his wife, Michelle, both describing it as “powerful.”

“I particularly enjoyed her thoughts on protecting small-business owners as that’s part of my campaign platform,” Hennessy said.

Vigo County Republican Party volunteer Dewayne Cress agreed in his assessment of the performance, and said the excitement has carried over throughout this year’s campaign.

Cress, a volunteer at the Republican Party headquarters, does not accept pay for his time, while many of the Obama workers do, he said.

Eighteen days remain until the election.

Brian Boyce can be reached at (812) 231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.