Palin visits Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE – Less than two weeks after John McCain made “Joe the Plumber” a household name in the 2008 elections, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin introduced Hoosiers on Saturday to two more average Joes.

Palin singled out “Doug the Barber” and “Chris the Electrician” as two hard-working Americans from the crowd of about 10,000 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.

She used the pair to support her claim that “Barack the wealth-spreader” wasn’t representing average Americans.

    SLIDESHOW: Sarah Palin

The visit was the second in eight days to the Hoosier state for the Republican vice-presidential nominee. Palin will return Wednesday to Jeffersonville, Ind., where Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden spoke last month. This will be her third visit to Indiana in two weeks.

Palin’s recent Indiana blitz comes as she and McCain try to secure typical Republican strongholds like Indiana, which Biden and Sen. Barack Obama have made a push to turn blue.

Palin spent most of her 40-minute speech drawing comparisons between Obama and McCain and criticizing Obama’s economic policies.

“He says he’s for a tax credit, which is when the government takes more of your money to give it away to someone else according to that politicians’ priorities,” she said. “John McCain and I, we are for a real tax cut, which is when the government takes less of your earnings in the first place.”

She called on attendees to explore Obama’s tax plans.

“You have to really listen to our opponent’s words,” Palin said. “You have to hear what he is saying and even the nuances there in his answers because he’s hiding his real agenda of redistributing your hard-earned money.”

She said a McCain-Palin administration would lower income taxes, double the child tax deduction for every family, cut the capital gains tax and cut the business tax so companies will stay in America rather than move overseas.

Palin appeared with her husband Todd and two of her daughters, Piper and Willow. Several local Republicans spoke before her, and country music star Hank Williams Jr. played for about 15 minutes.

Junior Pat Buschman, a member of the IU College Republicans, was selected to sit in the coveted seats just a few feet behind Palin.

He said the presence of Palin’s family reaffirmed traditional conservative values. Buschman attended last week’s rally in Noblesville, Ind., at the Verizon Wireless Music Center. He said Verizon had a less intimate and personal atmosphere than the close quarters of the coliseum.

At one point while the crowd erupted in cheers, Buschman saw Palin turn to Williams and say, “This is so amazing.”

“I don’t think she was expecting it to be so crazy,” Buschman said of the energetic crowd.

For Buschman, being so close to the possible next vice president was a unique experience.

“The political stuff is cool, but some of the side things she said isn’t what you get to see on television, unless you get up close like I was.”

Buschman said “Joe the Plumber” symbolizes how McCain and Palin can connect with everyday people.

“She seems real down-to-earth and more like average Americans,” he said. “It’s her showing everybody ‘I’m not a Washington insider. I’m here to come to Washington to reform it.’”

While “Joe the Plumber” might be the most talked about person in this election, Buschman said he feels that Joe underscores McCain’s and Palin’s message.

“I think it’s working,” Buschman said. “He’s just a normal person with normal questions.

I think it is reaching people. I think you’re seeing more and more people jump on McCain’s side.”

Palin said when Americans go to the polls Nov. 4 they will be voting for a vision of the country. It’s a decision, she said, with two starkly different options.

“This is a choice between a politician who believes in spreading the wealth,” she said, “and a leader in John McCain who believes in spreading opportunity.”