Sarah Palin was in Philadelphia today to drop the first puck at the Flyers' game (see the separate diary on this), but also stopped by at a hotel in Center City to host a quick closed door fundraiser for which donors dropped $25K each to hobnob.
Where were the adoring crowds? Hmm, maybe they were tailgating down at the FU Center or something. But there were hundreds of protesters there to greet her and make sure the message got out loud and clear that Pennsylvanians will have none of the politics of division and that she may be able to come clean up some dollars from some dumb donors, but she won't win any votes here.
Video link, pictures, and play by play below the flip.
I missed the "money shot" here of Palin arriving, as I was startled to see her driving about ten feet away from me. She did the little wave thing to the crowd, and turned and waved and smiled at me. (I was wearing my "Alaska" hat my mom brought back from a cruise, in place of my usual Obama hat; she must've thought, square white guy with an Alaskan hat, he's my base!) A picture of the back of Palin's head against the headrest of her vehicle below.
Kos doesn't allow Picasa as a host, so I will have to narrate the pictures from here. Sorry about that, I'm too tired to go to a blessed photohosting site at this point. Full Picasa album here, the numbers below correspond to the numbered photos in the album.
The crowd was lined up on the street in front of the hotel, but also on the median strip in broad street. This allowed us to do a variety of call and response chants and make the convoy go down a gauntlet to get to the alley leading into the hotel. We also got a great reception from motorists passing by, lots of cabbies honking for us. (No 4, 9)
The view towards the median, where there were a lot of great creative signs. (No 11)
This one -- er, that one -- was one of my favorites. (No. 12)
This young man is being interviewed by a reporter about his sign, which says "Palin Jinx" with the Flyers logo. He was concerned that dropping the puck was going to jinx the season, and was a very ardent Obama supporter. (No. 13)
OK, THIS was my favorite sign. (No 17-18)
We had several trolley buses (for tourists) come down while we were out demo'ing, and were the objects of curiosity and pictures. We got a few rude gestures, but we also got a LOT of thumbs up, including from the tourguides, who were laughing. A little excitement away from the big Obama events for the out of towners! (No. 20-21).
Another concerned Flyers fan! (No 34)
Now this was totally cool. A bride and groom apparently leaving their reception to go to, well, probably their honeymoon, went out into the median and joined the protesters! Later we saw them off amid big cheers and a pop out of the sun roof of the happy couple. Good luck to them! (No. 36-39)
This Sarah Palin demonstrator was going on about something, but I'm not sure what it was. (No. 42)