Palin draws 60,000-strong crowd in Florida

The Villages (Florida, US), Sept.22 : The Palin wave shows no signs of diminishing.

On her first trip as John McCain's running mate to the battleground state of Florida, Palin drew a massive crowd of 60,000 people.

A Fox News report said that she was welcomed like a star, with tens of thousands cramming into a plaza and nearby streets in the enormous retirement community about an hour north of Orlando.

Some waited more than five hours in 92-degree heat to see her speak for 23 minutes.

After some jokes about the difference between golfing in Florida and Alaska, Palin moved back to the same points she has been making since accepting the Republican vice presidential nomination.

She called for serious reform on Wall Street, better regulation and removal of excess federal agencies that were doing their job badly.

Palin's Democratic opponent, Joe Biden's largest crowd during a visit earlier this month was about 2,000. But he made four stops in his two days, and ventured into Republican strongholds like Fort Myers and Sarasota.

He took questions from the audience at each stop and did interviews with local media.

Still, Palin had star power. One teenage girl held up a sign that read, "When I grow up, I want to be Sarah Palin." Another sign read, "This chick supports Sarah Palin." Many said they didn't even know who Palin was until last month.

ANI