The Mudflats

Once again, a grateful nod to our “Boots on the Ground” Mudflatter who took one for the team and actually bought a copy of Going Rogue, waited in line and got to meet the “author” herself.  (We all remove our hats in deference to the intestinal fortitude of Mudflatter LibertyLover)  The scene – Tempe Arizona.  The mission – a signed book.  The story?  Read on…

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By LibertyLover

Before I left home, I had to decide what to wear so as not to give away my status as a card carrying member of the “liberal elite.” (The Phoenix area is a pretty conservative area in general and I walk daily amongst these people. But I have never voluntarily waded into a crowd of over 1000 conservative faithful.) I chose jeans. And, although it would have been fun to wear mudflat boots to the event, I opted for the more geographically appropriate cowboy boots.

I arrived at 9:30 am at Costco and scored a place to park in the shade (very important in AZ, even though it was only supposed to be 70 degrees and blue skies). No protesters were evident. I was thankful that the venue was not at the Walmart store across the street. The line was already to the middle of the back of the store in the loading dock area. I joined the line with my camera, my SP book, receipt and Costco card in hand. I prepared to make friends with my new conservative friends for the day. My new line buddies and I commiserated about how chilly it was even by AZ standards. It was a brisk 50 degrees and we were waiting for the sun to warm us up a bit. I was glad that I grabbed a jacket on the way out the door.

A Costco employee directing traffic informed us that a man about 50 people in front of us was designated #750 in the line. Apparently the rule was going to be that the first 500 were guaranteed a signature. Then if Sister Sarah was so inclined and the line was moving well, then she would sign up to Mr. 750. After that, she may decide to sign up to the full 1000.

The people who were immediately in front of me was a teacher lady and her hubby who insisted that Palin would be President someday. Teacher Lady was a grade school teacher in a small town south of Phoenix. The lady behind me was a nurse. She was with a lady friend who got her husband to come down and buy membership cards to fulfill the Costco membership requirement.

Teacher Lady and Hubby

10:00 am- 11 am
A local radio station that plays conservative talk radio drove up and parked and then put out speakers to broadcast Rush Limbaugh… it was going to be a long wait for me if I was going to be forced to listen… thankfully, at some point, the broadcasting stopped or maybe I just tuned it out…At around 10:30 am, Teacher Lady’s Hubby informed us that Sarah was in the building. He saw her come in. I heard from another lady that she had Trig in her arms as she arrived. Not sure what door that she arrived at to go in the store, but shortly after we were told she was in the building, I noticed that there were 3 SUV’s parked parallel to the line with drivers sitting in the driver’s seats. 2 Chevy Suburbans… one black with a “Sarah!” bumper sticker on the back window, one gold and a White Ford SUV. No Big Sarah Bus.

11am- 1 pm
After a period of time I asked my line buddies if they would save my place if I took a picture of the crowd. It was not a very diverse crowd, not surprisingly; only one person of color sitting IN the line… There was only a smattering of political signs… and the wearing apparel varied from regular clothes to flag shirts to political t-shirts among the tshirts I did see were these messages… Team Sarah, Palin Power, A woman’s place is in Washington, DC, Alaskan Grown, Palin 2012, Run Sarah Run, and this “patriot.”

Teacher lady — said that Obama wasn’t doing a good job. I asked her what she thought he was doing badly. She said “spending too much money” and objected to the bailouts… I said that Bush approved that and then she said but it was Obama’s stimulus bailout that she had objections about. I informed her that only 1/3 of the stimulus money had even been spent yet…(Gosh it’s hard to not speak out and give myself away as a liberal)

Teacher Lady made the remark that Obama should commit the full number troops that General McChrystal wanted and that Obama should listen to his advisors… I remarked that he had other advisors… but she didn’t think that his other advisors were “any good”… Did I mention that teacher lady was a Fox News watcher?

I said that we were “still at war and we needed to support Obama as our “Commander In Chief” and the decisions that he made.” (Teacher lady didn’t like my remark very much…I don’t know why… it was just a recycled Bush/Republican talking point with Obama’s name substituted…)

Nurse lady agreed with me… said she didn’t vote for Obama but she felt we needed to support him as C-I-C and as the President with whatever his decisions were. Nurse lady said that she had never been to any poltical event before in her life… I asked her why this one, and she was asked to get a couple of books signed for her relatives. She was not rabidly political. I was thankful for that. talked to her about flu shots and the H1N1 flu.

Blonde Lady behind Nurse Lady had opinion about everything… talking point….. after bloody talking point… she felt like with the number of people in line, that these people were really going to change the direction of the country…this conservative band of brothers and sisters…

Immigration. How Joe Arpaio (Our local rogue sheriff) doesn’t take sh*t from anyone. (This is always a topic in Arizona.) The Iraq and Afghanistan wars and Obama’s upcoming speech. (I thought that we had escaped the inevitable conservative discussion of how Obama and Democrats wanted to take away a person’s right to bear arms and the 2nd amendment. But just before being shuttled into Palin’s receiving line, Teacher Lady made a comment about that.)

War…Everyone was anticipating Obama’s speech that night… Blonde Lady said “we already knew what he was going to say and could write it for him… man with her said they should wait and see and that maybe he’ll do the right thing. Blonde Lady replied “We can always hope.” (So you see, Obama inspires hope even in the heart of conservatives. )

At some point Hubby of Teacher lady made the comment that he thought the line was quite respectful and made the assertion that if the line would have been to see Obama, then the line wouldn’t be nearly as tame… he made the assertion that fights would be breaking out all over the place… I responded with a “Really? You think so?” and his response was “You must not watch much news.” “I responded that I didn’t watch much TV at all, but I did read newspapers and when I had time… the Internet.”

Chris Simcox, the Minuteman Co-Founder, was working the line getting signatures to have his name on the ballot to run against John McCain for Senate in 2010– asked him if the Minutemen were still on the border — irony was that he said the government has been doing a good job about that. (I didn’t think government ever did anything right.) Asked him about Shawna Forde – the lady that killed a man and his daughter in a home invasion and is now in jail…he said that she wasn’t affiliated with his group (even though she had been) and that his group “turned her in” in Washington State. I somehow avoided signing my name to any contact info or petitions to put anyone on the ballot.

I made a few trips inside to take pictures and crowd watch…My line buddies were kind enough to save my space.

A subject that didn’t come up much within my new circle of “friends” was health care. Although, I did overhear Blonde Lady and her group critically mention the Saturday night vote in the Senate where they voted to open the debate on the Health Care bill. (I guess none of them ever heard about the Republicans and Tom Delay holding open debates well past time for the votes to close and twisting arms on the floor or John Boehner passing out checks from lobbyists on the floor of the House.)

The “populist” theme continued among the crowd… that Palin was a real person, not someone born to money… (but she seems to have remedied that issue for herself, hasn’t she?) People coming out of the store found her to be “warm and genuine.”

1:10 pm – 2 pm

Costco lady came out to tell us that Sarah was going to try to sign the full 1000. Yippee! A man with a counter clicked off the final 250 people that would be allowed to enter the inner sanctum. I was one of the “lucky” ones and made the cut of the first 1000 lucky people to meet Sarah. I felt slightly guilty that someone who really wanted to meet Palin would not get to because of me (but not that much).

As we approached the curtained area, staff was telling people to open their books to the “Going Rogue” fly page. and putting a post-it with initials on the book so you would get your own book back…Music was playing on the loud speaker on stands bracketing the curtained area. Shopping carts aided in creating a barrier to keep out the people not standing in the official line. And policemen were posted keeping people back. Shoppers within Costco not in line to meet Sister Sarah gathered at the end of each aisle and at every gap in the black curtains jockeying for position to get a glimpse of her or snap a quick picture as people moved past Sarah. On one of my trips inside I thought I had gotten a pretty good shot, but it came out a little grainy…

Personal items like purses and shopping bags had to be left on the table and were transferred for you to a table on the other side. You handed your numbered card to a Costco lady. No cameras or cell phones with cameras were allowed within the walled off area – so no up close pictures. (I found out later why. ) Books would not be personalized – just signed. Palin shook everyone’s hand and made it a point to ask everyone their name. Thanked each individual for coming out.

A scene from the movie Diehard popped into my mind for some reason as I waited for my turn to meet Palin…(When the Holly Genero character meets Hans, the bad guy, for the first time…) “Personally, I’d pass on the job. I don’t enjoy being this close to you.”

I could feel my heart pounding slightly in my chest as I approached Sarah and my palms were slightly sweating because I realized that I had nothing to say to this woman! I guess I didn’t think I would have made the cut. I was not a fan and I didn’t want to lie. I was also berating myself for not having come up with something to say the whole time I was standing in line! I finally calmed down before I got to Sarah.

When it was my turn, Palin extended her left hand and took my right hand. There was no way to politely avoid taking her hand. (Palin alternated shaking hands with her right and left hands.) She looked me in the eye and smiled. I made a rather lame comment about how her hands must be getting tired. She said she was “doing OK.” and signed my book. SP had a small red scratch on her chin… but aside from that, her makeup was flawless and her hair was loose cascaded down her back. She made it a point to ask me my name. And she thanked me for coming out today. It took all of about 5 -10 seconds. She did not wink.

You know how sometimes you think of the perfect thing to say but only when you walk away? My thought was: “I’ll bet you’re ready to quit about now, huh?” But I doubted my ability to pull it off with a straight face anyway…

Chuck Heath was standing at the end of the partitioned area and I chatted with him about the Temperature difference from Alaska… he said it was in the 20’s when he left… he had an Alaska state pin on his left chest. He wore a salmon colored shirt…Sally Heath stood next to him and greeted everyone warmly… She had on a Costco name tag with a big “Sally” on it. I did find her parents to be very genuine people though…very pleasant, warm and welcoming. Did not see Trig.

Costco guy was shooing people out of the area trying to keep the people moving through. After collecting my purse and camera, I tried to get another pic of Palin but she was blocked by the elbow of the photographer that was taking pics of Palin shaking hands.

I said goodbye to Nurse Lady and got her email to send her pics if they came out. Nurse lady and her friend each had two books but we were told that Sarah would only sign one book per Costco card… But they each got both of their extra books signed.
Sally and Chuck Heath were also signing books if asked, but I decided against waiting for that…and headed to my car…

Sally (far left) and Chuck Heath (in salmon shirt)

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As for why the black curtains everywhere and the inaccessible photo ops… The reason was made clear as I left and checked inside the book and found a little business card with the name of the professional photographer and her website… in 5 days one may access the event online for a picture of your meet and greet moment with Sister Sarah. (A visit to the website of the photographer shows that you can purchase a picture of your moment with Sarah captured on film for posterity for the lowest price of $15.99 (for a 5X7!!!) to highest price — $35.99 for a 11×14… refrigerator magnets and greeting cards were also available… (as we used to say in Texas: She must be “pretty proud” to charge prices like that!) No info on website as to whether SP gets a cut of that or not….

I worked so hard to turn my back on any camera that was pointed my way. Including the news camera on a stick that made it’s way down the line asking people to hold their books in the air. I used my book to hide my face…But I didn’t see the professional photographer until too late…not sure that I could have avoided her anyway.

Final Impression of Sarah Palin: Hard to judge someone from 5 seconds of speaking with them – particularly a politician or a person who is in the public eye. I cannot say that I got enough face time to make an adequate assessment. In fact I kind of feared that meeting the woman would cloud my objectivity of her actions… kind of a “familiarity breeds compassion” type thing but I realized that the people that have actually grown up with her, worked with her and/or been thrown under the bus by her are more to be believed as to the content of her character than a 5-10 second meet and greet where Sarah Palin has her public face on.

1:50 pm—

Wandered back to the loading bay and observed a small crowd of about 50 (plus 3 TV news cameras) waiting for Palin’s entourage to emerge from the back of Costco. While we were waiting for Sarah to emerge, there was a Lady with a little girl and her “Crazy Montana Mom” (her words) who sniped at me that they had been waiting there for a long time waiting for Sarah and she didn’t appreciate where I chose to stand, but her cross words directed at my presence were really the only ones I had heard all day.

Those that didn’t make the 1000 person cutoff, got a pre-printed sticker with SP’s signature for each book and for their wait. A young man in an Operation Iraqi Freedom hat showed me his stickers.

Palin and company left the building at 2:05pm. Quitting time!

Trig was in a car seat next to Sarah in the middle seat Gold Suburban but the windows were tinted so I didn’t see much of him just his sillouette. Chuck and Sally Heath were in middle seats in the White Ford and boxes and suitcases were in the Black Suburban.

Palin rolled down the window and waved out the left window…she handed a rose to a lady out of the window… I was on the opposite side of the vehicle but I could hear her thank people for coming.

And then they were gone.

It was 2:15 pm when I exited the Costco parking lot in my car. I headed home for a well-deserved piece of chocolate and a walk in the sunshine.

There you have it. A report from the belly of the beast. Probably more than you ever wanted to know…Side note: I have no personal knowledge of her saying “Thanks, but no Thanks.” to the hair-net wearing, be-gloved Costco lady serving Alaskan Salmon, however. J That was probably just a rumor.

Price of Costco book: $ 15.79 plus tax
Time spent waiting for Sarah: 4.75 hours
Getting in the car and going home while listening to progressive talk radio: Priceless

(Afternote… SP’s visit didn’t even make the print version of the next day’s newpaper… Just a small article in the online edition. I guess the AZ media is just not that into Palin.)