Face The State Staff Report
Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin, of Alaska, who was in Golden Monday stumping for the second time in little over a week, may be responsible for John McCain's jump in favorability among Colorado voters.
PalinRachael Dickson/Flickr
A Rasmussen Reports poll released this week concludes that McCain has taken a modest lead from Democrat Barack Obama with 48 percent of voters preferring McCain to Obama's 46 percent. Just a week ago, the poll showed almost the exact opposite sentiment with Coloradans favoring Obama by 49 percent to 46 percent.
Palin was in Colorado Springs with McCain 10 days ago in one of her first public appearances as the GOP's VP nominee. The event drew over 10,000 participants.
And just a day after the poll showed that the McCain-Palin ticket was experiencing a rise in popularity among undecided voters in Jefferson County, Palin made a return visit to the county for a Monday morning rally.
What was originally planned last week as a pancake breakfast for 2,000 had to be changed to a rally so that more than 5,000 Coloradans, who clamored into the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, could see Palin.
McCain spokesman Tom Kise said the campaign was more than happy to accommodate the huge turnout and that the event was a major success despite the late changes.
“Everyone was really fired up,” said Kise. “We signed up a ton of volunteers and every yard sign and bumper sticker we had was gone by the end of the event.”
The rally drew a wide variety of participants, including some Democrats who were on hand to hear Palin’s positions on the energy crisis and tackling corruption in Washington.
Andre Armstrong, a registered Democrat and engineering consultant, says he came to be part of an historic occasion.
“The last time when I did something like this was when I took my daughter to see Bill Clinton in 1992,” said Armstrong, who was accompanied at the event by his 28-year-old daughter, Crystal Lewellen.
Clinton was the last Democrat to carry Colorado in a presidential election. The preceding Democrat before him to win the favor of Colorado voters was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
Armstrong said he was particularly impressed with Palin’s characterization of the energy crisis and how she believes we should be focusing on "energy security" and not simply on finding "energy independence." Armstrong said he thought that Palin showed she had “a better grasp of the issue," and added that although is not an active McCain supporter, he intends to vote for for McCain and Palin in November.
Sen. Mike Kopp, a Jefferson County Republican, stood directly behind Palin during her stump speech. He said it was an exciting and rare opportunity to share a word with Palin’s husband, Todd.
“[The crowd] just about blew the roof off the place,” said Kopp. “They didn’t want to leave.”
Kopp said he was amazed to see the huge response Palin’s visit was able to generate among those not normally engaged in political activism.
“I’m seeing a ton of people run to volunteer and give money for the first time,” he said. “A mark of true leader is someone who does not just inspire people, but who leads them to action.”
Colorado is already shaping up to be a major battleground state. Democrat presidential hopeful Barack Obama spoke to a crowd of approximately 5,800 in Grand Junction Monday morning. On Tuesday, he spoke at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. Click here for FTS's slideshow coverage of the Obama event.