The folks at Legacy Books weren't sure if Sarah Palin would speak when she arrived. At some stops she did. Others, she just signed. They set up a podium anyway. She did not use it. You'd figure an Alaska girl with a belly full of moose meat would be used to a little cold. Maybe she saw Palin Man. 
Todd Palin actually got a bigger response when he followed his wife down the railing. Of course, he was carrying their son Trig, so he was kind of cheating. I will say that the campaign-rally-like chanting I expected never really materialized. There was a weak "Palin! Palin!" chant that didn't really go anywhere, followed a short while later by its cousin, the "Sarah! Sarah!" chant. That kind of petered out quickly as well. Not complaining. 
I didn't (necessarily) mean to frame this photo of Palin signing books with her situated directly above the "Science Fiction & Fantasy" section. That's just as close as I could get. The framing was a bonus. This particular photo was taken right after some woman (one of the VIPs, I believe) got Palin to pose with her own Down syndrome toddler. I guess she had good intentions, but it sort of creeped me out. The kid, too: in short order, he was bawling. 
This guy is radio host Mike Gallagher's kind of people. 
Him, too. (One other note about Gallagher: the table for his live broadcast was set up directly in front of a stack of bright pink books about The Clash. I doubt he picked up on the -- admittedly subtle -- irony of that.) 
Sarah and Charles Heath, Sarah Palin's parents. They've been on the entire tour. What's that been like? "Verry interesting," her father told me. He's like an Alaskan Gary Cooper, if he looked like Larry David's dad on Curb Your Enthusiasm. 
"Sarah's Aunt Katie" -- which I heard her say roughly 100 million times -- was also there. If you ask me, though, she looks more like the aunt of Kate Gosselin. 
This woman was dressed EXACTLY like Palin on the cover of Going Rogue. Apparently, that even impressed Palin. This was snapped just after she asked Palin's father if he saw any resemblance, which he answered by nervous laughing her away. I've never seen anyone seek attention that desperately. Except for Palin, so the costume worked on several levels. Also: every woman there who wore glasses was wearing Palin-style glasses. Seriously. Every woman. 
This sign pretty much sums up the feelings of everyone that showed up for the event.
