Sarah Palin Visits Fort Myers

My wife and I had a wonderful opportunity today to attend a Republican campaign rally featuring Sarah Palin. Approximately 9,000 people jammed into Germain Arena in Fort Myers, Florida to see the vice presidential hopeful. Palin attended two private fundraisers in Naples earlier in the day before motoring north to the packed stadium. Escorted by Florida heavyweights, Charlie Christ and Mel Martinez, Palin arrived to thunderous applause and a very warm welcome.

I heard nothing overly profound today from Palin's lips. She shows a deep, genuine respect for men and women in uniform and understands the difficulties they face. She addressed the energy crisis and affirmed McCain's stance on developing more renewable resources. Palin also focused on the phony Obama tax cut claim and how impossible it seems with his $1 trillion increase in spending. She also stressed the relationship between Barack Obama and domestic terrorist and 60's radical, Bill Ayers. I've often wondered why the McCain camp has not played that up a bit more. It's a very disturbing fact. Unless I missed it, I did not hear much about the current financial crisis. Maybe that's too depressing to mention during a high energy positive rally.

Apparently, Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott garnered all the controversy by mentioning McCain's opponent's full name, Barack Hussein Obama, during his speech at the rally. By the time I made it home, Scott's address had already received national notoriety. I'm not really sure why Obama's middle name is off limits. I guess because the Hussein name is a clear indication of Muslim heritage. I would think the McCain camp would want to exploit that.

Overall, I'd say it was worth the 1/2 mile hike from the neighboring Miromar Outlet parking lot and the two hour wait in the blistering Florida sun to get inside. Way to go Sarah! Have a safe trip to your next destination.

Please enjoy my amateur video clip of a portion of this event.