A brief word on Palin crowd estimates

"Chief of Police for the Department of Agriculture?!" Why the heck is there a "Chief of Police for the Department of Agriculture?!"

Hmmm... Misdemeanorin' moo-cows? Bad-check chickens? Felonius fowl?

No wonder the state is going bankrupt...

I absolutely agree that the crowd size was under estimated ... hummm.

What was mind boggling was this: my wife and I stood in line for over 2 hours and we never saw a single person get upset or impatient or cut in line. We also did not see security of any kind until the very end. We met and talked with some really nice people in line.

Even when we learned that the arena was full, the response I heard form a couple folks was "It would have been great to get in, but I am really thrilled to see this many people turn out for Gov. Palin".

I've never seen anything like it, and I think it really is a testament to the people that were there.

Yes. At the time, we were supporting Iraq in its war against Iran which, if you recall, a few years earlier had held a bunch of Americans hostage. It was the middle of the cold war and times were different. We also supported Osama Bin Ladin against the Soviet Union. It was the cold war and there were a number of cases of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Sure, Hussein was a bad guy, but at least he didn't have hundreds of thermonuclear warheads pointed at the US.

Back then, we didn't have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight that we do today. (If, indeed, it is 20/20. We don't know what would have happened had we done something different. We could be speaking Russian right now.)

In 1983 when Donald Rumsfeld met with Saddam Hussein he did not raise the issue of Iraq's use of chemical weapons.

Rumsfeld is one of the people who got us into the mess in Iraq.

SeattleSlim

Saddaam Hussein killed millions, some by NERVE GAS. For whatever our reasons good or bad for going into Iraq, a madman and his murberous regime is DEAD. Over 29 million people have the RIGHt to self determination if we do not cut and run.

You sound like Neville Chamberlin at Munich in 38. We cannot show weakness or what Biden says will come true and many Americans will die here in the US. We did not start this war, but by God we will finish it.

It's a free country, you shouldn't threaten to fire people just because you backed the wrong guy. And you say you're a republican because you're not on welfare? Most people aren't, even the illegal aliens you show such hatred for.

I am a democrat because I don't believe in giving billions of taxpayer dollars to Halliburton, and I don't believe in going to war and killing people for no reason, even if they happen to be in Iraq.

May God have mercy on your bitter soul!
OBAMA / BIDEN !!!

We're putting something in tomorrow's print edition.

— RTB 

I was also at the rally and can attest to the fact that there were thousands who stood in line but did not make it inside the Expo Center. I would estimate far more than 2,000-5,000 outside. How convenient that those who only receive the print edition won't see Mr. Beckwith's explanation or corrected figures on the crowd.

You reported in Sunday's "News and Observer", "the Alaskan governor told more than 5,000 wildly cheering supporters in the Expo center at the State Fairgrounds....."

The expo center holds 10,000 people and I was one who did not get inside. I and about 5,000 more stood outside to listen. We were in line by 4:20, and by 6:30 when we finally reached the doors and went through security, we had to stand outside. It was not fair of you not to mention the crowd numbers standing outside to support Palin, but only a low ball guess to the number inside. I would love to get the number of people who went through security...that would be one way to get the truth.

It was such a big news event that 20,000 people came out to see Obama in Raleigh a few days ago. I guess if you covered that... it was really 40,000 to 50,000 people and you just made the same little mistake as you did for Palin's supporters.

I would love to hear from you as to why your number of supporters from Palin was not more accurate...of course you did state more than 5,000, but doesn't more than 15,000 also tell the truth......it's a truth too favorable for Sarah Palin and McCain, right!

My new slogan is... Got a Brain? Vote McCain!

Whether it was 1 or 10,000 it's unbelievable that ANY American with a functioning brain would put a someone as ignorant and divisive as Sarah Palin within a heartbeat of the the Oval Office.!

The following hand written report was found after the Palin rally. This paper was wadded up and stained with what appeared to be diet Coke. It is a tragic story and please be aware that it is sad. But this story must be told as it may win a Pulitzer.

The report reads:

This is Joe the Reporter. I’m embedded with the Palin campaign as it visits Raleigh. I have been trying to get an estimate of the crowd size but every time I look up I see someone with a beard. I am wearing my helmet with full face shield…. and it, along with the dragon skin body armor, makes it difficult to count. Each time I get up to 10 people I try to write it on my pad but I am shaking so badly I get mixed up. I really am trying. I got up to 64 people while ago and then everybody jumped up and yelled for Sarah. It scared me because I thought the big beard Palin supporter had found me. I have on knee pads to protect my pants. I am wearing the pants from my black suit with white stripe. It is my best suit and I wanted to wear these pants because they have a low rise and they make me look buff. I am so worried about the big bearded Palin supporter. If I get out of this alive I may try to get another job. They are looking for someone down at the post office. My cousin has risen very high with the post office and now has his own window. He said they have guards at the post office and never worry about big bearded Palin supporters….. because it is a Federal crime to send a postal employee sprawling to the ground. He also gets to wear a uniform and is a real hit with all the ladies. Ladies love a man in uniform and you should see the way the girls swoon over him at Hardee’s. So I may be a postal worker if the big bearded Palin supporter does not get me. If anyone gets this please tell the world my story. Tell them I died trying to count the number of people at the Palin rally. I may be dead or you may see me at the post office. Be kind to your postman because he may be a refugee newspaper man. So I’m either dead or at the post office. If I am dead, have them send the N & O hat I won in the Opie contest to Coach Amato. And please support making it a Federal crime for a big bearded Palin supporter to kick a newspaper reporter in the back of the knee, sending him sprawling to the ground. Make sure the "sprawling to the ground" is part of the Federal legislation. It has such a nice ring to it. I've got to go nowwwwwwwwwwwwww.............

I don't know how many people the expo center holds, but there were several thousand who never made it inside. When they closed the doors, the line stretched from the Expo center, looped a few times in the paved area by the Expo center, went 3/4 of the way around Dorton and then looped back on itself about another 3/4 of the way around Dorton.

Despite comments I've seen from commenters here and elsewhere, I did not see any poor behavior among the crowd, even after they had been turn aside after waiting for 2 hours. But, in any sufficiently large crowd, there are always going to be a few bozos, regardless of whether the crowd is Republican, Democrat or composed of little old ladies.

I am sorry to report that many of we conservatives were working even on Saturday. In many cases preparing layoff lists for next week just in case. As for me it was easy. On Friday I checked my employee parking lot and anyone with an obama bumper sticker is on the list. As for the obama rally last week. Of course the attendance was 5 to 1 against a Palin rally. Think about it. Rally during the week? Only an obamacrat on the dole could show up in such numbers. Do not work for a living, never did, never will. I am a Republican. Why? Because everyone cannot be on welfare.

I think you are being unfair to the newspaper reporters. Don't you recall what happened to the reporter at the Palin rally near Elon?

One of the Greensboro reporters was kicked in the back of the knee and sent sprawling to the ground by the big bearded Palin supporter!

Do you expect the newspaper reporters to be counting the people...... or looking out for the big beard Palin supporter? I do not know how much money these newspaper people make but I don't think it includes hazardous duty pay or combat pay. And I'll bet the reporters had on some of their better clothes.....they were probably trying to impress Sarah. Being sent sprawling to the ground is especially hard on men's pants.

They were probably so nervous about the big bearded Palin supporter that they weren't able to count. If they did try to count the people their hands would have been sweating so bad that the ink would run on their steno pad. I would have been scared to.

Ease up on the newspaper reporters. They were under duress. Take up the count with the TV people or the helicopter people or Opie.

Leave the newspaper reporters alone!

I assumed that the N&O was just trying to be charitable to the capital city's reputation by underestimating the number of idiots who would actually attend a McCain/Palin rally.

We arrived at 2:30 p.m. and the line outside was already long. Got into the building by 4:15 and it quickly filled to capacity. There had to be 10,000 in the building alone and I would suspect that there was a huge gathering of folks outside. It's amazing that the media is so in the bag for Obama that they misrepresent the event they are covering. Gee, I thought news reporting was suppose to be UNbiased. How the times are changing.

Oh yeah, of course the N & O rag doesn't have a helicopter; they are lucky they still have a printing press!

Again, I could not see the overflow from where I was. Also, the N&O does not have a helicopter.

— RTB 

Again with the bias reporting.

I was there. After waiting in line for 2 hours and clearing security, we were guided out a side door, set up for the over flow. It was a fenced off area where speakers were in place so we could hear what was going on inside. Later Sarah and Todd Palin came out and waved to us.
If the building was filled to capacity, standing room only, and the outside area was filled to the parking area, how do you still come up with 10,000.
There were at least that on the inside alone, according to Raleigh police.
Where was the media? Where were all the media helicopters and filming crews? OOOps I know... NOT covering a Sarah Palin Rally!!!! If you can't trash them you have nothing to report. So very typical - another reason I won't waste my money on another one of your papers! Sad...very sad.

Posting the same comment more than once is not allowed under our spam policy.

— RTB 

Complicating things was the fact the the McCain campaign does not provide crowd estimates.

I suppose after getting caught lying about the crowd size a few times, they just decided to leave it up to the press.