 Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin exits the baseball field at Elon University toward her campaign bus, the “Straight Talk Express,” Thursday, Oct. 16. Photo by Holt Menzies |
by EDWARD SZTUKOWSKI
News Reporter
"All my rowdy friends have settled down” is not just a song by country music singer Hank Williams Jr., it became a rallying cry Oct. 16 for hundreds of John McCain and Sarah Palin supporters who came to watch the vice presidential hopeful speak at Elon University.
The country music star was in attendance to introduce Palin, as well as rile up the crowd while he explained although “all my rowdy friends have settled down,” they were going to rile things up in Washington.
After Williams played a song to introduce her, Palin came to the stage to thank the crowd for the warm welcome.
“It certainly is warm,” Palin said. “This Alaskan girl is roasting.”
After the thanks
and introductions took place, Palin laid out the key differences
between McCain and Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
“[During
the debates] everyone in America got a look at the choice that we
face,” Palin said. “It’s the choice between a politician who puts his
faith in government, and a true leader who puts his faith in all of
you.”
She said McCain is a reformer who wants to lower taxes, create jobs and get the economy back on track.
“John
McCain is going to Washington to work for people like ‘Joe the
Plumber,’ and people like so many of you with small businesses,” Palin
said.
Energy
independence, the job market and the war were all well represented in
the speech, as Palin presented her and McCain’s plans for the future.
Palin
said she and McCain would fix the $10 trillion dollar debt by imposing
a spending freeze on all but the most vital functions of government.
“We will balance our federal government by our first term,” Palin said.
Palin likened her and McCain to President Ronald Reagan during the speech, eliciting cheers from the crowd.
“What
John McCain and I believe in is what Ronald Reagan believed in,” Palin
said. “We believe in the forward movement of freedom, not the constant
expansion of government.”
After
Palin finished speaking, the majority of attendees seemed pleased with
the speech overall, and felt it adequately answered questions they
hoped would be answered.
 Wearing capes and paint, supporters gather to hear Sarah Palin speak at Elon University. Photo by Adam Dixon |
“I
really like what she and McCain stand for, and the speech covered
everything I wanted to hear,” Willie Pickard, an attendee, said.
While many members were McCain and Palin supporters, a number of Obama and Biden supporters also attended out of interest.
“I
thought it was a good moment in history,” Elon sophomore Chris Jarret
said. “I thought [the speech] was a little superficial, but I didn’t
really take issue with anything she said.”
Donald DePriest, a Vietnam veteran from Winston-Salem, had strong opinions about Palin as well as Obama.
“I’ve
had a good opinion of Palin ever since she was vice presidential
candidate,” he said. “She speaks well, and she speaks like common
people. She doesn’t try to use big words and is a very genuine person.”
DePriest said Obama is playing class warfare and the economic crisis is leading us into depression.
“We have
let the country get away. We’ve let this concept form that everyone
deserves something from the government and that isn’t the American
way,” he said. “We have to earn our way.”
DePriest also questioned Obama’s character and the people he has been receiving support from.
“[Fidel]
Castro gave Obama his blessing to be president, and [Hugo] Chavez says
that Obama should be president,” he said. “What does that tell you
about these people? They aren’t dumb…there’s something in his
background that they can rely on.”
While
Castro has hinted to supporting Obama, Chavez has declared he would not
support either candidate because he feels there is no difference
between them, according to theguardian.co.uk.
Even though DePriest said he would love to vote for a black presidential candidate, morals were more important to him.
“I don’t think we know who Obama is,” DePriest said. “The more we learn, the more it scares us.”
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