BY
DERRICK PERKINS
Sarah Palin, Republican
nominee for vice president,
wrapped up her first trip to
New Hampshire before a crowd
of several thousand supporters
and onlookers filling almost half
of Salem’s high school football
field on Oct. 15.
Introduced by Sen. John Sununu,
congressional candidate
Jennifer Horn and Shonda Schilling
– wife of Red Sox star Curt
Schilling – the Alaska governor
addressed a roaring crowd in
front of a sign depicting the state
of New Hampshire and the words
“Gateway to Victory,” a play on
Salem’s town motto of “Gateway
to the White Mountains.”
With her husband Todd
– whom she called “Alaska’s first
dude” – sitting behind her, Palin
reiterated remarks on energy
independence, low taxes and
the need for Sen. John McCain’s
leadership that she made across
the state earlier in the day, at rallies
in Dover and Laconia.
“There are two types of people
here in Salem, the fine people
of New Hampshire and the
fine people from Massachusetts
who got sick of all those taxes
and came up here,” Palin told
the crowd, earning the loudest
applause of the evening.
People began showing up
for the rally as early 2 p.m.
and waited in long lines that at
times stretched around the high
school building to clear security
checkpoints to get into Grant
Field. Salem police and the Secret
Service maintained a visible
presence around the field before
and after the rally.
Traffic backed up on Geremonty Drive – where the high
school, along with the town offices,
District Court and library
are all located – just after 2 p.m.
A thick line of people were
still waiting as the sun began
to set on Salem High School’s
Grant Field at 6 p.m. Afterward,
police and public safety officials
estimated the count at just over
4,000 spectators.
Town officials adjusted their
schedules earlier in the week in
anticipation of the large crowd.
Superintendent Michael Delahanty
said he had originally
planned to proceed with the
regularly scheduled continuing
education classes held at the
high school following the end
of the school day, but canceled
them after plans to shuttle rallygoers
from the Rockingham Park
racetrack fell through.
Salem’s high school marching
band was also relocated to Londonderry
for practice, though
soccer and field hockey games
already scheduled took place on
Grant Field prior to the rally.
The Budget Committee
changed the location of their
meeting from the town hall to the
Ingram Senior Center to avoid
the expected traffic.
For Matt Murphy, who drove
up earlier in the day from Cape
Cod, the rally fulfilled a regular
journey northward to show
his support for his candidate of
choice.
“We came up here four years
ago for George W. Bush and in
2000. It’s our pilgrimage to New
Hampshire to see the presidential
nominees,” he said.
Waving red, white and blue
cheerleading pom-poms and
waving glow sticks, rally-goers
– largely McCain and Palin supporters
– filled set of bleachers
and spilled out onto the track
and field to see the GOP vice
presidential nominee.
“She was excellent,” said Tony
Degennaro of Tewksbury, Mass.
“She’s for us and she’s for the common
person. She knows what we
need. She’s down to earth. We’re
so glad we didn’t miss it.”
“I just think its about time we
had a feminist and not a liberal,”
said Tracy LaSalle, of Goffstown.