Sounds like McCain has a kind of father-daughter thing going on the stump. He's beaming like a proud papa
Consider the Enthusiam Gap Closed [Mark Hemingway]
Yes, I was also at the McCain-Palin rally today along with Jim, Byron, and Yuval — NRO really flooded the zone today. I'd hoped to get some observations up sooner, but my afternoon involved a family trip to the emergency room. It turns out my little peanut is allergic to them, but don't worry everybody is just fine.
Anyway, I wormed my way into the V.I.P. section, and was standing about 30 feet from the podium. Here's what I saw:
As campaigns go on and on, you can tell when campaigning begins to wear on people. No matter how charismatic they are, at a certain point every candidate reaches a point where they look like they'd rather be undergoing oral surgery than talking about energy indpendence. Not Sarah Palin. Because she's been in this campaign for under two weeks, she looks like she's having the time of her life — and it shows. She spent a lot of her time on stage picking the most creative signs out of the crowd and laughing with her husband. She was particularly fond of woman with the Washington Capitals jersey that said "McCain-Palin" on the back. It's hard to imagine she'll lose that joie de vivre in less than two months of campaigning.
One good indication of the enthusiasm were the number of creative signs and campaign paraphenalia by those present. I saw two high-school girls together — one had a custom T-Shirt that said "The Future Mrs. Track Palin," and her friend's shirt said "Piper Can Do My Hair" (my memory may not be exact). There were also lots of special needs children and mothers present. One mother had a rather lovely and affecting sign with a picture of her son with Down syndrome that read "47 Chromosomes from Heaven." Geraghty and I saw another woman with a sign that said "McCain Hero with a Heart and a Veep Just Like Me." Just like me? Women really seem to identify with Palin.
Far from being outshone, McCain is really, really enjoying the energy Palin has brought in. When he mentioned her in his remarks and the crowd just started chanting "Sarah! Sarah!" he just began beeming and he began waving his arms like he was conducting to the crowd. Last time I saw McCain this close and personal was in January when I was on the Straight Talk Express just before the Michigan primary (which he lost). He was still feisty then, but also obviously weary. Today he looked born anew.
Even after the event was over, people were rushing after the bus and lined up along both sides of the street to watch it drive off. That's a pretty darn excited crowd.
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