Country First Rally In Fredericksburg, VA

The gates opened at 10, with the program scheduled to begin around noon. This was the second of three Palin appearances scheduled in Virginia for the same day, and the crowd were beyond enthusiastic.

I arrived at 8 a.m., intent on getting a good spot once inside. Well, to my surprise there were already hundreds of people in line. Vendors lined the streets and, despite the cold temperatures, the conversation was warm and friendly with excited anticipation for the program, as well as the election next Tuesday.

Once inside, I got a good idea of how massive the turnout would be for the day. The numbers were estimated between 8,000 and 15,000 people. I could not see the end of the mass of people from any vantage point I had the entire day.

I'm proud of our town, and, just like our population, the crowd of McCain-Palin supporters was diverse, including many young people, African-Americans and Democrats.

Despite the fact that Fredericksburg is a college town, there were only a couple dozen protesters. Even the protesters I encountered near the exits were respectful and did not hurl insults at us or shout obscenities, as I've unfortunately experienced from pro-Obama protesters at all other political events I've attended in my support for John McCain for President.

Speakers at the rally included former VA Governor Gilmore, Congressman Whittman, and State Senator Richard Stuart.

Now a candidate for U.S. Senate, Gilmore pointed out that, "The polls are being used to discourage you from voting and working," and Sen. Stuart reminded us that at this exact time in the last election, he had been behind in the polls by double digits, and everyone had counted him out. Yet, here he was before us, our Senator.