Thoughts and behind-the-scene happenings from the Palin rally

A few days have passed since Sarah Palin's visit to Cape Girardeau. Quite a few of you have read at least some of our coverage of the Alaska governor's rally at the Show Me Center. But here are a few stories and observations I picked up that didn't reach the paper. Most are rather minor but worth noting.

When I pulled up to the Show Me Center parking lot around 5:45 Thursday morning, I noticed the long lines forming nearly three hours before the doors opened for ticket holders to enter. Though as a Nebraskan I'm accustomed to cold weather, it still was a bit chilly as I roamed around the area hunting down vendors for my story about folks who sold items.

As a member of the media I was fortunate enough to have near immediate entry into the Show Me Center, which I took full advantage at around 7:30 a.m. After security used the wand to check for any potential dangerous devices I might have been carrying, I made my way onto the floor. Instead of making my way to the media area, I instead chose to roam around the arena. I spent most of the morning in the hallway and sections of the second level. It was here that I found the most interesting stories.

One girl who looked to be no older than 10 years old gave me her two cents about why I should vote for McCain (though I'm not saying which way I'm leaning). If Obama is elected, she fears that something very violent could happen inside the United States (sentiments echoed by others in America) and that she would hate to leave a place she likes so much.

A light moment occurred when a security member chased a small bird with the goal of catching the creature and releasing it out the door. The pursuit took about 30 seconds but he finally grabbed the bird with one hand before setting it free into the wide open space.

I also enjoyed meeting Peter Hove, a photographer from the Politiken paper in Denmark. Their circulation is around 180,000 but they also do on-line. They have six staff in American on Wednesday evening and will work up to election day, with their last planned stop at the Obama rally in Chicago.

The past three days the American election has been the top story on their site. Hove expected the experience to be exciting considering the staff will be seeing the candidates in real life after watching them on the television screen.

But perhaps my favorite part of the entire day was watching hoards of people rush into the Show Me Center at 9 a.m. - the time doors were supposed to close. But at 9:09 a.m., there were eight completely and two partially empty sections. As people continued rushing into the two doors, the empty sections began filling up. At 9:22 a.m., there were only 3 completely and one partially-full empty sections.

By 9:30 a.m., the arena was near capacity.

I'm sure many of you have other thoughts that come to mind. Feel free to fire away.