Live musings from Ohio rally as McCain introduces VP pick Palin

Alissa Griffith | UWIRE Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. John McCain address the crowd for the first time as the presumptive Republican presidential ticket.

By Alissa Griffith, Youth Vote '08 columnist
Live notes from John McCain's Dayton, Ohio, rally. 

1:15 p.m.: This Vice Presidential debate will be interesting. Sarah Palin is a pretty good speaker. No Michelle Obama, but she's good. However who can outtalk Biden? He is going to have to tread lightly so he is not viewed as "picking on the woman." Rally's over. Time to wade through the crowds.

1:05 p.m.: The crowd LOVED her. However, as much as they ate it up, her speech was extremely underwhelming especially considering Biden's first speech and Obama's speech last night. In the Republicans first opportunity to blast the Democrats after the DNC, they oddly didn't take the opportunity.

12:47 p.m.: I find it odd that McCain is standing next to her. When Sen. Biden spoke, Obama sat on the side giving him his spotlight. McCain is just kind of hovering. It looks SO WEIRD to me. Oh and for the record, no appeal to the youth vote so far.

"If you want change in Washington, if you want a better America. Then we're asking for your vote on November 4th."

And strange that McCain's wife's arm is in a cast. (Editor's note: Read why here) 

12:43 p.m.: "There is only one man who has truly FOUGHT for America and that man is John McCain." Palin says. She has yet to mention Obama or Biden for that matter.

12:31 p.m.: They haven't stared slamming Obama yet. But that's just because he is giving a GLOWING introduction of his VP. She just came out and is giving her Miss America wave! The crowd is going nuts!!!!

12:27 p.m.: McCain said he is proud to announce Palin in the week we celebrate women's suffrage. This is a GLOWING introduction...

12:15 p.m.: "She doesn't have any baggage and she's a governor which is good. They were looking for a governor instead of a senator or Congressman since the Dems have two senators," an said an older Ohio resident and McCain supporter sitting next to me. 

12:05 p.m.: Apparently there is a lot of traffic so McCain is late. It's around noon. That's not a good sign. Did he have another rally today or are we just victims of bad planning.

Never fear, because the McCain cheerleaders are here! They revved up the crowd with a chant and T-shirt throwing for all of 30 seconds. Now we sit. And wait.

11:58 a.m.: What do bored Americans do when waiting for McCain? The wave, of course!

Alissa Griffith | UWIRE A crowd in Dayton, Ohio, waits for Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to take the stage as the presumptive GOP presidential and vice presidential nominees.

11:34 a.m.: Fred Cooper, a young person next to me just said the rapper Daddy Yankee just endorsed McCain and made a song for him. (Editor's note: Read more here).

Of the seemingly unidentified group who is singing before McCain comes out on stage, Cooper had this to say "You would think they could get a better group than this. Every country singer is Republican...[this group] was probably practicing in their garage last night."

11:21 a.m.: Zinging quote from Jon Husted, the Ohio speaker of the house. He's speaking before John McCain and Sarah Palin take the stage.

"We all know Barack Obama is not prepared to be president, although he does play one on TV. He's the biggest star in the world. But this is Ohio not Hollywood...we like a workhorse not a show horse"

10:50 a.m.: I don't know what I expected coming to a Sen. John McCain's rally early on a Friday morning, but I didn't expect this.

On television, McCain rallies look empty and devoid of enthusiasm. Nutter Center is anything but empty and unenthusiastic.

McCain's campaign is expecting 15,000 people. I highly doubt that. But, there are a LOT of people here... more than the 15 I was expecting. 

There are at least five high school bands and cheerleading teams in the stands livening up the crowd,  which isn't ethnically diverse at all.

But there are definitely youth who support McCain. I'm sitting next to a recent graduate of University of Toledo who is a strong supporter of McCain (he used to work on the campaign).

There are a LOT of signs too like "Democrats for McCain", "Hillary supporters for McCain" and "NOBAMA and Moms Love McCain".

Side note: For all the talk of Ohio being a working class state, there are a lot of people not at work on a Friday morning.

Alissa Griffith is a former columnist for The Post and a senior at Ohio University.