"Alaskan Women Reject Palin" Rally

I attended the Welcome Home rally for Sarah Palin this morning. Hooo. It was an experience. About a thousand (maybe) hard-core Palin supporters showed up to hear her speak at the new Dena'ina Convention Center in downtown Anchorage.

After shaking it off with a good double shot of espresso, and a brisk walk back to my car, it was time to head to the Alaska Women Reject Palin rally. It was to be held outside on the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtown Anchorage. Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men. I had no idea what to expect.

The rally was organized by a small group of women, talking over coffee. It made me wonder what other things have started with small groups of women talking over coffee. It's probably an impressive list. These women hatched the plan, printed up flyers, posted them around town, and sent notices to local media outlets. One of those media outlets was KBYR radio, home of Eddie Burke, a long-time uber-conservative Anchorage talk show host. Turns out that Eddie Burke not only announced the rally, but called the people who planned to attend the rally "a bunch of socialist baby-killing maggots," and read the home phone numbers of the organizers aloud over the air, urging listeners to call and tell them what they thought. The women, of course, received many nasty, harassing and threatening messages.

So, as I jettisoned myself from the jaws of the 'Drill Baby Drill' crowd and toward the mystery rally at the library, I felt a bit apprehensive. I'd been disappointed before by the turnout at other rallies. Basically, in Anchorage, if you can get 25 people to show up at an event, it's a success. So, I thought to myself, if we can actually get 100 people there that aren't sent by Eddie Burke, we'll be doing good. A real statement will have been made. I confess, I still had a mental image of 15 demonstrators surrounded by hundreds of menacing "socialist baby-killing maggot" haters.

It's a good thing I wasn't tailgating when I saw the crowd in front of the library or I would have ended up in somebody's trunk. When I got there, about 20 minutes early, the line of sign wavers stretched the full length of the library grounds, along the edge of the road, 6 or 7 people deep! I could hardly find a place to park. I nabbed one of the last spots in the library lot, and as I got out of the car and started walking, people seemed to join in from every direction, carrying signs.

Never, have I seen anything like it in my 17 and a half years living in Anchorage. The organizers had someone walk the rally with a counter, and they clicked off well over 1400 people (not including the 90 counter-demonstrators), which would make this the biggest political rally ever, in the history of the state. I was absolutely stunned. The second most amazing thing is how many people honked and gave the thumbs up as they drove by. And even those that didn't honk looked wide-eyed and awe-struck at the huge crowd that was growing by the minute. This just doesn't happen here.

Then, the infamous Eddie Burke showed up. He tried to talk to the media, and was instantly surrounded by a group of 20 people who started shouting O-BA-MA so loud he couldn't be heard. Then passing cars started honking in a rhythmic pattern of 3, like the Obama chant, while the crowd cheered, hooted and waved their signs high.

So, if you've been doing the math... Yes. The Alaska Women Reject Palin rally was significantly bigger than Palin's rally that got all the national media coverage! So take heart, sit back, and go to Mudflats to enjoy the photo gallery. Feel free to spread the pictures around (links are appreciated) to anyone who needs to know that Sarah Palin most definitely does not speak for all Alaskans. The citizens of Alaska, who know her best, have things to say.

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Comments

[chillinform]

This is so wonderful to see. The image I was beginning to see form was ... the Alaskan people had a lot in common with our furry little friends the lemmings. Just following the pack to uphold the now infamous " ...80% approval rating..." for the sake of saving face. So, thank you AKMuckraker for bringing this to our attention!!!
I am new in the political game. I am excited and at time extremely outraged at the comments and opinions demonizing each other on both sides. But I must say, I am encouraged again since reading articles and comments here on the Huffington Post.

[frsbdg]

If you haven't already seen it yet, this diary at Daily Kos has lots of pictures and 2 videos from the Alaska Women Reject Palin rally.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/14/103042/902

[petermax]

"... Eddie Birk read the home phone numbers of the organizers aloud over the air ..."
From Plamegate to PalinGate

[heartsick]

Isn't what Eddie Burke did illegal? How can a supposedly legitimate radio host release the names and numbers of people who hold a different political position and invite people to harass them and not break the law? What if one of these women is seriously harmed? Is he then liable? He should be!

[blaqntelligence]

A great big heartfelt thank you from Atlanta!

I watched palin's homecoming. To watch the media one would think all of Alaska turned out to welcome home their conquering heroine. But something about the staging felt weird. It felt well, staged. All the hollering did not give the impression of many people rather the impression of a FEW attempting to protray many.
Again thank you.

[JodyH]

Did Palin actually win the 2006 election? The Alaska Division of Elections fought the Democratic Party from obtaining the data that was used in determining the winner. They did the same thing with the 2004 election data until a court ordered them to release it. Then it was discovered that immediately after the November 2004 election there were more than 290 manual entries (meaning an actual person went into the database and deliberately altered the data).

Alaska used the Diebold optical scan electronic voting system which has been shown to be highly vulnerable to vote total manipulations in every single independent study. The audit logs showed that the state elections division was still accessing the database shortly after the Democratic Party filed suit. If the Elections Division has nothing to hide then it should make sure the citizens of Alaska can have confidence that Palin actually did win.

Try a Google search with the key words Alaska, Diebold, database, optical scanner, GEMS. You will be shocked what you find.

Never doubt that zealots will use every trick at their disposal if it furthers their agenda. In the case of Palin, it is an American theocracy.

Someone mentioned a high approval rating of Palin according to a poll conducted by American Viewpoint. That polling company was started in 1985 and is a Republican polling company.

Now start checking the data for the 2006 election that put her in office.

[stargazer007]

I am glad that so many people showed up at the “Women Reject Palin” rally. I need a “pick me up” at this point, because I am truly disheartened right now. It is hard to ignore the polls that the media “feeds us” and they now have McCain and Palin leading Obama and Biden. I echo the concerns of other bloggers who have been asking, “How can this be? Why are so many people ignoring the issues and voting for these people after the disaster that we have lived through for the past eight years?” And now I read last week about the ruling coming out of Indiana about the “voting” requirements and 20 other states having these requirements (the rule requires that voters present a “valid driver’s license” and the opponents of the rule are saying that this will disenfranchise many elderly, black and minority and disabled voters) and I am thinking to myself, “We are being set up for a big let-down.” I am sorry that I cannot be positive. We keep talking about issues when it is clear that they are not interested in “the issues.” I think that if we have any chance at all, it is to ensure that every single vote is protected and counted. I have gone onto the Obama web site and signed up for his “voter protection” program. So, I hope for the best but I am bracing myself for the worst.

[neocon666]

There's over a month before the election, why are you so disheartened. McCain is enjoying the attention Sarah Palin is getting, and when that dies down he's back to being the old man and the sea of politics. You have to exepect it to be back and forth until November 4th, with Obama as the ultimate winner.

[canow]

We wrote about this today at the CA NOW blog: http://www.canow.org/canoworg/2008/09/we-arent-the-on.html

[RallyGrrrl]

Thank you for reporting on this, AKMuckraker.

I think it's great that so many citizens in Alaska are actively trying to change their world.

And I disagree, kappa08. I think leadership is not born but raised. It is discovered by people who don't know enough sit down and be quiet. It is unfolded by teachers guiding reflective students. It is a power brought on by the desperation and hope that comes from a lack of options.

Leadership is learned. It is not born.

[ofbbg]

Amazing the way a free concert and free beer can draw a crowd, isn't it? (Oh, wait - that was the 20,000 in Berlin, none of whom vote in American elections). 1700 hundred dissatisfied customers of a governor whose approval rating is 80%!! I'm flabbergasted!!

[ramal]

That's 700 more then were at the official "Welcome Palin Home Rally" in downtown Anchorage.

[robeson]

Alaska Women Reject Palin
The most accurate poll yet.

[SailFree]

SOME Alaskan women oppose Palin. Assuming they are all Alaskan women.

[AngerAndDetermination]

Yes, the evil liberals probably hired actors in California and flew them up to Alaska to pose in front of a public library.

Ah, Republicans: They do not care whether the words they say are true, or even if they make sense, as long as the words win elections for Republican candidates.

[NYCCTOLA]

There is a segment on CNN about this event, go to Homepage and scroll to the right on the video section or go here to view the piece. The more views it receives the more prominence it will receive.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/09/15/yellin.palin.women.cnn

Lets buzz this article up

[mykebee]

How can we insure that Jon Stewart gets both the above video and this one that states there will be another rally this Saturday?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8pewzwBybc

[westbrooks01]

I don't think Obama supporters rally the Republican troops into action. I don't think they motivated the same way Obama supporters are motivated. If anything, they would probably just put more faith in their leaders to make things right.