Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: Sarah Palin in Weirdsville, Ohio

By: Rebecca
Published On: 10/12/2008 9:52:30 PM

I just got off the phone with my political friend from Ohio. It seems that she just had a close encounter with Sarah Palin in Weirdsville, Ohio. Actually Roben calls Gallipolis Weirdsville because, according to her, there are so many weird people there. Roben had heard that Palin had decided to make a spur-of-the-moment stop in her town because Palin had needed to buy diapers for the baby. Yes, believe it or not, Trig is traveling the country on the bus, the Straight Talk Express. Actually, Sarah is driving her van with the three girls in the back while the baby is attended by someone else in the bus.

Roben had protested at designated location with her homemade sign "Sarah Palin does not speak for this woman" on display. After doing the protest she had taken off in the car with another campaign worker looking for the other Obama volunteers when she found herself driving next to Palin's van in the Walmart parking lot. Roben said she looked over and Palin's car was about three feet away. According to Robin, Palin is a very small woman whose head barely stuck out above the car's steering wheel. Yes, incredibly, Palin herself was driving the van and her three girls were huddled in the back seat. Roben said the girls looked homesick and fearful.
I asked Roben if Bristol, whose is supposed to be 6 months pregnant, was also in the back seat. Roben says she was there. Roben said the girls were wearing dark "church" dresses and looked frightened of the strange new landscape of Weirdsville. I remarked that it is probably not good to haul a 6 month pregnant girl around the country in the back of a van, not to speak of a special needs infant, even though the infant was ridng in the Straight Talk Express.

Roben said Palin looked out of her element, like she had bitten off more than she could chew. I remarked that Palin seemed to have the idea that she could be a full time Mom and run for Vice President at the same time, something we both agreed was totally unrealistic if she wanted to do either well. At any rate, Palin was able to buy the diapers and make it to her speaking engagement.

Once Roben found the other campaign workers they told her they had encountered some Pain supporters who were very hateful. One had said "Why don't you burn that sign and burn yourself while you're at it." Based on this and some other reports I have read lately I would say: "If hate were gasoline Palin could ride for free."


Comments



Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind (Mary I - 10/13/2008 9:55:00 AM)
Find this "report" amazing. The secret service detail assigned to Palin would never allow her to be behind the wheel of a car transporting her and family members. They are the ones with the driving knowledge to take off in a hurry if a security issue comes up.
During the 22 years I sold real estate, I worked with more than a few SS agents including the Director of the SS under Clinton. They were all great guys and they drove my car as we house hunted.  They have their own style of driving. Again, no way Palin would have been behind the wheel of a car on their protective watch.


Agreed, this is utterly ridiculous. (Lowell - 10/13/2008 9:57:54 AM)
I'm almost tempted to delete this diary for spreading stupid rumors.


Not so fast (Rebecca - 10/13/2008 11:07:34 AM)
The person who saw this is a personal friend. She doesn't lie. I was surprised myself and we both wondered why the Secret Service allowed this. Maybe the SS was near by, I don't know.

I am talking with my office mate who has worked in intelligence and he says the SS will not prevent a candidate from driving, although the SS will be near by.

In fact, my office mate just told me he saw John Edwards driving his car through Georgetown when he was a candidate, and the SS was nearby. That disproves your assumption that the SS would not allow a candidate to drive his or her own vehicle.



Close Encounters (Mary I - 10/13/2008 11:28:30 AM)
Rebecca...There is a difference between a candidate running in a primary as in Edwards who did not have SS protection and the Presidential and VP in the national election.  Could call the retired SS agent who was charged with the responsibility of all the protective details during the election that Ronnie won or could call the retired Director of the SS to confirm what I have said, but why bother....I think Lowell's comment said it all.


Challenging your assertion again (Rebecca - 10/13/2008 11:35:52 AM)
My office mate says he saw Edwards driving when Edwards was running for Vice President with Kerry in 2004.  


Something fishy here (Eric - 10/13/2008 11:53:39 AM)
I don't know the rules the SS has regarding whether a person under protection can drive or not.  Perhaps not.  They did let have Cheney a gun, so who knows :-)

But the bigger point is that there absolutely no way there were just a few SS hiding in the vicinity.   There would have been many escort vehicles with a combination of local, state, and federal police/law enforcement/protection.  She would not have been out on her own and/or not surrounded by security - whether she was driving or not.  



Driving (NP - 10/13/2008 3:10:58 PM)
Maybe she took an opportunity in a tiny weird town at a walmart to drive her kids to give them a sense of normalcy.  It has to be hard for them to have all those big wired men so close.  It couldn't happen in a big place but maybe it did happen for a few miles to run a family errand (that any hired help could have taken care of).  I hope Rebecca's friend gave her a thumbs down.  

I see where Levi didn't register in time to vote.  



More Comments from the Witness (Rebecca - 10/13/2008 3:30:57 PM)
Roben sent me this to clarify. Now I would appreciate it if people would stop calling me a fibber. That's is not pleasant and honestly, considering how much hearsay appears on this site and is accepted as truth, it makes me feel like I'm being singled out. So this is diirectly from Roben:

Dear Becki,I tried to log on to the site but couldn't.So here's some additional remarks you might post in my behalf about Palin and the car.
                It's possible the woman I saw could have been a decoy,because they do that sometimes, but there were motorcycle cops in front and back of the car and flanking it,as it was midway through the procession.The car had more security flanking it than did the Straight Talk bus,which led the procession.At Wal-mart the buses and cars were arranged in a line in front of the store, with deputies at the front of the line and back.The idea seemed to be to have good security but be as unobtrusive with it as possible.
                 Apparently she got on the bus unbeknownst to the other protestors,sometime after it stopped, and picked up the baby,because she had him with her in the store. The local paper ran a picture of her in Wal-Mart,carrying him over her shoulder and smiling.Her hair was down by then (again, seemingly trying to look unobtrusive)but the small pearl earrings, style of glasses,and suit coat were the same,so it was probably her I saw..When she climbed off the bus after a few moments in the store, the baby was not with her.She probably had a police escort back to the car,maybe the same deputy sheriff whom I saw was  talking to her.
                 The newspaper report quoted a Wal-Mart customer as saying, 'She's a good Christian woman and the fact that she stopped for the baby's diapers proves that she puts family first."PLEASE.
                 I admit I was surprised myself that while the whole caravan had  deputies, motorcycle cops clearing the path, occasional motorcycle cops flanking it,and sheriff's cars front and back, the total amount of security was not  enormous or excessive.There probably would have been more if she had been scheduled to speak, but she was only driving through.
                 I hope that helps.. thanks for writing it anyway. Best,Roben.



Well, (Eric - 10/13/2008 4:20:32 PM)
that makes much more sense all around.  I guess we'd need some input from a security expert to say if Palin had been allowed to drive or not - or maybe it was a decoy or perhaps even someone who looked like her.