Palin kicks off book tour in Michigan
Enthusiastic supporters wait for hours to meet her
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Sarah Palin has been called the rock star of the Republican Party, and on Wednesday her supporters treated her like one.
They began lining up the night before the first stop on Palin’s publicity tour for her newly released memoir, “Going Rogue,” shivering in the windswept Michigan cold, camped out on the concrete outside a mall.
After the mall opened in the morning, the estimated 1,500 in line were outfitted with orange wristbands, which would guarantee them a bit of face time with the former Alaska governor.
Palin arrived at the store around 5:30 p.m., and after stepping off her bus, she briefly greeted the roaring crowd that had gathered on the plaza outside the mall. She held her son Trig.
“Thank you so much for showing up for the book so that you can read my words unfiltered,” she said.
She compared Michigan to Alaska, saying both have “hunting, fishing and hockey moms.”
From there, she shook hands with attendees, then went inside, pursued by a swarm of cameras. She paused to give an interview to “Access Hollywood.”
The crowd appeared to be ecstatic at the notion of seeing Palin. Many want her to run for president in 2012.
The tour has many of the same trappings as a campaign. Palin will be traveling aboard a brightly painted bus. Today, she will sign books in Fort Wayne, Ind. She is scheduled for an appearance in Coeur d’Alene on December 10.