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Sarah Palin Visits Central Fla. On Book Tour

Posted: 5:53 am EST November 24, 2009Updated: 6:22 pm EST November 24, 2009

Hundreds and hundreds of people were in the Villages and in Orlando Tuesday. Some even camped overnight to meet and get an autograph from Sarah Palin.

When the Villages’ book signing is over Tuesday evening, Palin will make her way out of Sumter County to her next book signing on Colonial Drive in Orlando.

In the Barnes and Noble Villages there was a book signing, but at times it looked a lot like a campaign rally. The Palin bus is a case in point.


SLIDESHOW: Lines Form For Palin Visit
INFO: Where, When You Can See Sarah Palin

People went wild when they saw Sarah Palin and said they're ready to vote for her again. Several hundred admirers of former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin waited outside the Villages book store. Most arrived by 7:00 Tuesday morning, but some had been waiting a lot longer than that.

"We got here at 2:00pm yesterday. Almost 22 hours ago," Palin supporter Kevin Kerbow.

Kerbow was first in line.

"Because we absolutely did not want to miss Sarah Palin," he said.

With son Trigg in her arms, the former Alaska governor was greeted by rousing cheers. That's to be expected in a county where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 7,000 voters.

"God bless you! I can't wait to get in there and shake your hands," Palin told the crowd.

Palin addressed the crowd briefly and no one was allowed to meet her unless they purchased her new book. She signed hundreds of copies, including two for Jean Brewer.

"She’s not stuffy. She has the same problems other people have and she can relate to the ordinary person," Brewer said.

Tens of thousands of people turned out when Palin visited the Villages during the homestretch of the 2008 presidential election. It was one of the largest crowds she ever attracted during the campaign. And, while she has turned back suggestions she will run in 2012, voters like Jean Brewer want Palin to stay in politics.

"Whatever direction her career leads her, I'll still support her," Brewer said.

Palin would not take questions from local reporters. That has been her method of operation throughout the book signing tour.

At her next stop at the Barnes and Noble on Colonial Drive, Palin fans started lining up Monday night. Hundreds of people have the book ready to be signed.

The crowd is divided up into groups and everyone has a wristband. Some are even there with a book in a stand-by line, just hoping to get an autograph.

Chris Beachamp camped out overnight to guarantee a spot in line to get a signed copy of Sarah Palin's new book, "Going Rogue."

“What is it that has you so excited to see Sarah Palin?” WFTV reporter mark Boyle asked.

“Governor Palin speaks to issues that conservatives need to see. Health care, conservatives don't have a voice at all. Life, they don't have a voice right now,” Beauchamp said.

Some people lined up at the Barnes and Noble at 7:30pm Monday night. The line wrapped around the building.

The former governor of Alaska and vice presidential candidate is expected to arrive after 7:30pm, but no one seems to mind the wait.

“We like what she stands for. She's a woman of faith. Gets down to business and she is not a phony,” another supporter said.

Staff at the book store handed out wrist bands to supporters Tuesday morning once they had purchased a copy of the $20 book.

Tuesday’s stop in Orlando is part of Palin's nationwide book tour. Her autobiography hit store shelves on November 17th and in its first week 700,000 copies were sold.
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