On the coat tails of Joe Biden , Sarah Palin toned down her language and responded to recent criticism before a large crowd at the Roswell International Air Center, yesterday.

“It’s ridiculous that I have to preface so many of my comments with ‘it's not negative’,” said the Alaska governor before a 10,000 strong crowd of New Mexicans and Texans. Her speech marked a shift from the heightened vitriol of the last few weeks. William Ayers had been dropped from the teleprompter altogether while the general anti-Obaman rhetoric was more measured and specific.

“It’s been like this since nine o’clock” said a security official monitoring the snaking line of thousands outside the airport hangar-come-political arena. The hot day saw several people carried out of the crowd before Palin spoke, and several more during her address.

Chants of “Sarah! Sarah!” punctuated the speeches preceding Palin, which included a 20-minute set by country star Hank Williams Jr. Williams was in fine form revving up the crowd with his funny politicized drawl.

Click play to see the crowd chanting for Palin. (Scroll down to continue story)

Whatever one thinks of the Republicans, they know how to put on one heck of a show. After Williams, the “McCain-Palin” jet taxied into the cheering crowd’s line of vision. Out of it frantically poured the secret service and representatives of the national media who funnelled into the press area, brushing aside as many local reporters as possible. The local folks had been there for several hours and had taken all the good spots.

With “Eye of the Tiger” blaring from the speaker-system, Palin emerged to an enraptured crowd, waving with one hand and holding her baby son, Trig, in the other. The combination of mother-child-politico to soundtrack was part movie, part revival and part Latin-American revolution.

La Madonna de los Republicanos had arrived.

Palin's arrival. (Scroll down to continue reading)

Hank Williams Jr. reappeared on stage with Palin to lead the national anthem. He then sang “the McCain-Palin tradition,” which included swipes at Bill Clinton, the “left-wing liberal media” and “Democrat liberal hoodoo.” Palin stood behind smiling and clapping, having effectively outsourced the cheap shots to Williams.

In her speech, Palin sounded statesmanlike, mentioning neither Professor Ayers nor terrorists.

The speech

“I am glad to be here, live from Roswell on Sunday afternoon,” said Palin, referring to her appearance on Saturday Night Live the night before. She got straight to business after that, seldom making jokes and concentrating on the taxation, the economy and Obama’s record.

“It would be nice to hear Obama says he wants us to win,” Palin said regarding Obama’s stance on the surge in Iraq, comparing him to Senator McCain who “isn't afraid to use the word victory.” She lambasted Obama for deciding to run after only 304 days in the Senate and dismissed accusations of negativity and fear mongering by bringing up Obama’s connections.

“It’s not negative... you deserve all the answers … These associations are important because they go to the heart of a person’s judgement,” Palin said, prefacing her exposition of Obama’s ties to Acorn. Bringing up their endorsement of him and their contributions to his campaign she quipped, “they’re working pretty doggone hard on his behalf.”

“It is not mean spirited or negative when you call them on their record and ask them about their intentions … It’s time we call Obama on it,” said the governor, referring to his taxation policy. The audience greeted his “tax credit” plan with a round of boos before Palin dipped into the details.

If 40 per cent of Americans were to receive a tax credit then, she said, “where's he going to get the money from?”

“Joe the Plumber and Ed the Dairyman,” was her answer. Ed is a new edition to the McCain-Palin entourage. Obama’s “spreading the wealth” proposal would kill the businesses “that Joe the Plumber dreams of owning and Ed the Dairyman dreams of growing,” she said.

“Now is not the time to experiment with socialism,” and paying higher taxes is not “patriotic,” as Biden says,” she said. “To Ed the Dairyman and Joe the Plumber, it sounds more like socialism”

“A great time of worry and hardship,” was how Palin described the present climate as she blamed economic problems on “corruption and greed in Wall Street and Washington.” McCain and Palin would “get the economy back on the right track” and “put government back on your side.”

“You can do the math or just go with your gut,” Palin said of the Republican ticket’s tax plan that would “absolutely lower your income taxes,” cut capital gains tax and “keep American business in America.”

In closing, she said the nation has a “choice between a politician who puts his faith in Washington and a leader who puts his faith in you.”

“We have a vision of America where every life counts,” she said. “That is the spirit I want to bring to Washington.”

She asserted that the election was “going to come down to what we believe in.” Invoking President Reagan, she proceeded to flesh out what she meant.

“America is not the problem, America is the solution. ... We make mistakes but we learn from them.” The American Way was comprised of “perfect ideals.”

“America is that beacon of hope for all. We still believe that we are that shining city on a hill that Ronald Reagan used to speak of.”

Palin left the crowd to roars, not just cheers. While the event was emotionally charged, it appeared more attenuated compared to those of two weeks ago. “USA, USA” wasn’t chanted at any time during the day and the press were asked not to interview anyone in the crowd once inside.

One last thing…

During the day, I befriended an ex-military fellow filming the event, who in turn shined up to the Secret Service agents. At one point during Palin’s speech, the men in black began shuffling around behind us and talking into their earpieces.
My military friend inquired. He was discretely informed that John McCain was on the plane and was planning to make a surprise appearance.

In the end, the senator didn’t show, but the crowd seemed happy enough with the governor.

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Here is a clip from a Palin rally earlier on in the week where Hank Williams also sang his song "the McCain Palin tradition"

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Ben Wright is a volunteer Newspaper Tree contributor who is English and living in El Paso

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