Palin excites Republican base in Greenville

GREENVILLE - When Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate, he was hoping to create some buzz.

If Palin's appearance at East Carolina University's Minges Arena on Tuesday is any indication, his decision was an overwhelming success.

Palin wowed more than 8,000 supporters during her half-hour speech.

"She has brought a breath of fresh air into this whole process," Greenville's Margaret Sparrow said.

Sparrow and her husband, Kinston native Jeff Sparrow, were on the arena's floor for Palin's speech. Jeff Sparrow said the way Palin has energized the Republican party has been refreshing.

"I think she brings a lot of excitement to the campaign," Sparrow said. "She's really getting people involved."

Palin's speech was what Sparrow said the nation needed to hear.

"I thought she was right on with all her good points about lowering taxes, getting people back to work and keeping our money here in North Carolina by drilling here," Sparrow said.

Jimmy Landreth and his teen-aged son, Brian, drove a nine-hour roundtrip from Statesville to hear Palin speak. Both father and son left Minges Arena satisfied.

"I think it was a pretty basic speech, but it was a good conservative speech," Landreth said. "We're conservative and we're concerned that the other side is getting a little socialist on us. We want to get back to the Constitution."

With the McCain-Palin ticket falling behind the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Landreth said he was happy to support the Republicans.

"We came to support Sarah Palin and John McCain, because they need it," Landreth said.

Johnston County's Charlene Laudrille said she didn't want to miss the historic opportunity to listen to perhaps the first female vice president in American history. Laudrille said Palin's ascension into the national conscience was good for all women.

"We've come a long way, from not being able to vote to now," Laudrille said. "It's awesome, absolutely awesome to see her up there."

But Laudrille was equally impressed with the fact that the McCain campaign chose to send Palin to eastern North Carolina.

"It means a lot to me that she took the time to come here to Greenville," Laudrille said. "She was in Florida today and she'll be in Florida tomorrow, but she took the time out to come to North Carolina."

Bryan C. Hanks can be reached at (252) 559-1074 or at bhanks@freedomenc.com. Check out Bryan's blog at http://bhanks.encblogs.com.