On Halloween in central Pennsylvania, fear wasn't just in the air, it was along the highway. "A vote for Obama is a vote for Socialism," read a big sign alongside Route 22, about 18 miles outside of York, Pa., where Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was making a stop on Friday afternoon.
After her monster rally in Williamsport, Pa., on Thursday evening, Palin spent All Hallow's Eve on a mini bus tour of the Keystone State, another expenditure of valuable pre-election days that suggests that Palin is convinced they can steal the state from the Democrats. On Friday, Palin spoke before a crowd that had started lining up at 11 a.m. at the York Expo Center to hear Palin scare the bejesus out of them. Though definitely not the Jesus.
Former Gov. Tom Ridge, who recently stated the obvious, that "the dynamics would be different in Pennsylvania" if he'd been tapped as McCain's running mate instead of Palin, had the task of introducing the Alaska governor to about 4,000 of her rabid fans, many of them sporting "Joe" stickers meant to bolster John McCain's recent assertions that we -- or they -- "are all Joe the Plumber." Sarah and Todd Palin, along with youngest daughter Piper (dressed for Halloween as a snow princess), took the stage to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."
And according to the stump speech Palin's been giving all over Pennsylvania, under a Barack Obama administration, no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike. "Our opponents can fill a stadium, but they can't keep you safe," she said inside, while outside, supporters answered questions about what kept them up at night. Their answers spoke volumes about the terrorizing effects of the McCain-Palin ticket's relentless drive across this state. Supporters of the Republican candidate for president believe they are looking down the barrel of a gun loaded by Karl Marx, held by Barack Obama. The McCain-Palin fear-mongering tour is exposing -- or exploiting -- unrest and anxiety wherever it goes.
One of the many things that had 84-year-old World War II veteran John H. Gay on edge was worry for Sarah Palin's safety. "She's a brave woman, an old-fashioned American woman who's not afraid to have kids," said Gay. "She's one of the bravest women around, and someone might just assassinate her." But he was tormented by images of a fantastical Stalinoid world to come. According to Gay, Obama believes the communist "mantra" "from each according to his abilities, and to each according to his needs"; that "if we go the socialist way, you young people will lose all your freedoms -- mentally, physically and religiously." As he envisioned a possible future under Obama, he spoke of scarce hot water and hulking Soviet-era high-rises of the sort that ring Moscow.
And he was not alone in his concern that if the Democrats win on Tuesday, it'll only be a matter of time before Americans are getting in bread lines. "I'm afraid of the slippery slope to socialism," said 51-year-old Mike Brecht, whose 21-year-old son is fighting in Mosul, Iraq, and was adopted from Russia when he was 7. Brecht claims that his son, who was 2 when the Berlin Wall fell, still remembers life behind the Iron Curtain. "He can tell you all about his one turnip a day that he ate," said Brecht of his son. "Everybody got the same turnip."
"The other candidate scares me to death," said 65-year-old highway safety consultant Rob Mott, who had pasted his "Joe" sticker over a World's Best Grandpa sweatshirt, rendering him "Joe the Grandpa." What scared Mott about Obama is that "we just don't know him ... who he associated with over many years, his background, just hasn't been explored by the media or anyone else. It's four days away. We ought to know about him by now." But what about all the press over Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers? "I don't think he's been truthful and upfront," said Mott.
"We might end up with a socialist government in office and if that happens, it might be hard to get it out," said Candice Ward, a 23-year-old Miss Kent County from Delaware. "We have a democracy right now and it's no time to lose it." Ward was wearing her tiara, and had come to support Palin, a fellow beauty pageant contestant. "She placed second runner-up in Miss Alaska, and I was third runner-up in Miss Delaware."
Some Republican ticket supporters have been frightened by the prospect of one-party rule, a late addition to the McCain-Palin attack-arsenal. "I am afraid of the far-left agenda being put forth by a far-left senate, Congress and administration," said Jean Smith, of Dover, Pa., a 49-year-old who said she'd come to Friday's rally because she'd never been to a political gathering before and wanted to do it before she turned 50.
But the Smiths, like many of the religious Republicans who have become the boiled-down foundation of a Sarah Palin-led conservative base, were comforted even in their fear by their faith. "The first thing we do is pray for our leaders," said Smith, when asked what she would do if Obama became president. "Regardless of whether they're right, left, middle, whatever. God is the god who raises up leaders and changes hearts and he is really in control ultimately."
That's exactly what Galen Cook, a 36-year-old quality inspector from Tyco, thought too. He was at the rally to drop off his résumé with Palin -- he hopes to work in Republican government someday -- but when asked what he would do should the Democrats prevail on Tuesday, he replied, "The Lord's in control."
Retired Red Cross volunteers Ed Athoff and his wife, Barbara, 66 and 71, respectively, were coming to grips with the looming possibility of defeat in much the same fashion. Barbara, a huge Palin fan, said that "any woman who can manage a state, five children, and the housework, can manage a country." And Ed called Barack Obama "scary, from the word go. I think he's going to take this country in the totally wrong direction." Both Athoffs agreed that that direction was wrong on economic and moral grounds, "especially morally," said Ed, citing abortion and gay rights as their major disappointments with Obama.
But if Obama and Biden should be elected, Ed emphasized, "We both believe that it's all God's plan. And sometimes I believe that God allows us as humans to stumble and fall."
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