Subverting Sarah

Most everyone has probably forgotten about the election by now, what with credit crises and terrorist attacks in Mumbai and holiday shopping to do, but here in Georgia, it still ain’t over, people.

Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss was challenged by Democrat Jim Martin last month, and the results were close enough to warrant a run-off election, taking place tomorrow. A win by Martin would give the Democrats a majority in the Senate (a good thing, IMHO), so the Republican Party is pulling out all its stops to campaign for good ‘ol boy Saxby, putting its #1 celebrity on tour for a pep rally.

Yes, you guessed it: Sarah Palin was in Savannah today. And I parked illegally to make sure I was there.

I thought they’d bar me at the door, because, y’know, I just look like trouble, but in my innocent search for a “press entrance” (even when there’s not one, people just seem to let you in) I managed to waltz through the back door of the Civic Center out to the main floor without a single person noticing. I can only hope for the same level of security if Justin Timberlake ever visits.

So there I was, a little liberal in fuschia tights amongst a mostly old, very white, pretty small crowd chatting and checking their cameras while Saxby himself puffed up at the podium about how he’s a champion of small businesses and wants reform in the government (absolute pigsh*t; Saxby’s been a Bush robot since he cheated his way into the Senate and has his sticky fingers in all kinds of corrupt business dealings, including questionable alliances with Imperial Sugar) but obviously, we were here to see SARAH. Although I was probably the only one who really wanted to throw something at her.

Appearing suddenly from behind a black curtain, there was the bespectaled object of the audience’s desire. She seemed tired – the sarcasm didn’t bite, she stumbled over her topics, Iraq and the economy and abortion all running together in a single run-on sentence, but this crowd wasn’t here for intelligent political discourse anyway. The cheers never really got up to a roar, though, and I got the feeling that SP’s celebrity isn’t quite that of say, Taylor Swift. I didn’t get quite close enough to sneeze on her, but I did manage to snap a couple of photos:

I know there will be those of you disappointed in me for not staging some kind of rebellious act (Carrying a sign that says “Evolution Rules!”? Lobbing a stink bomb onstage and yelling “The whole Republican Party smells!”?) but I didn’t see the point in getting arrested.

Instead I’m going to keep asking every eligible Georgia voter to get back to her/his polling place and vote for Jim Martin tomorrow. And if Sarah Palin ever has cause to visit Savannah again, I will have waterballoons ready.