Sarah Palin supporters were hearty and hyped, dressed in McCain-Palin T-shirts, some with one arm encircling handmade posters while the other hand hung onto their John McCain caps.

Children in strollers were bundled up against the blustery winds as more than 10,000 people gathered throughout the afternoon, lines snaking around Memorial Coliseum and to the adjacent baseball stadium as they waited to hear the Republican vice presidential hopeful.

Listening to a political speech is not what most children envision as a good time on a Saturday. Not so for Keith Johnson, 9, and his three siblings. It was the second time in less than 10 days that the Johnson family had attended a Palin rally. They had also traveled from their Crawfordsville home to Noblesville on Oct. 17 to hear the woman who Keith says is one of his heroes.

“I'm embarrassed to say how early we came,” Keith's mother, Becky Johnson, said. The family had arrived at the coliseum at noon, wanting to ensure what happened in Noblesville didn't occur again. At that event they were so far away from Palin, “the kids really didn't get to see her. They were really disappointed.”

On Saturday the Johnsons were front and center in the bleachers, the children chomping on snacks until the toe-tapping music of country singer Hank Williams Jr. reverberated around the room.

Hours before Palin entered the arena, Keith and his sister Mariah, 7, took turns waving a yellow, hand-printed sign, “Vote for Trig's Mommy.”

When asked why that particular sign, Keith pointed to his sister Gabby, 4.

“My sister has Down syndrome and Trig has Down syndrome, too,” he said.

Among the VIP attendees on the floor in front of the raised podium were Palin look-alikes, hair swirled on top of their heads, brown glasses resting on noses. A father in military uniform lifted his daughter to his shoulders so she could see. In seconds she wanted down again, more interested in dancing to the music than watching for what one coliseum employee called “a candidate with rock-starlike followings.”

In the sea of people were: youths in blue jeans; green-shirted volunteers for Mark Souder, the incumbent 3rd congressional district contender; elderly with canes or in wheelchairs; men and women dressed in the gamut from business suits and dresses to flannel shirts and sweat shirts; even one man wearing furry moose antlers, a symbol of Palin's love of hunting.

Clothing even came up during the Alaska governor's 45-minute speech when she told the crowd the cool, crisp air reminded her of home.

“You gotta put a jacket on” Palin said, gesturing to the suit coat she was wearing and emphasizing, “It's my own jacket.”

The crowd laughed at the reference to recent criticisms of the McCain-Palin campaign's alleged exorbitant wardrobe expenditures. Palin has said she never wore most of the $150,000 clothing purchases and most have been returned, tags still on.

The core of Palin's speech focused on the contrast between what she says is the McCain-Palin plan to lower taxes and “spread opportunity,” vs. the Obama-Biden platform she called “spreading wealth.” With a goal of less government and more trust in the people, Palin said “We'll let you keep more of what you earn and produce so that you can hire more people.” She criticized Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's plan as one that “takes your money and gives it away to someone else according to that politician's priorities.”

Keeping to the norm of any whistle-stop political rally, she didn't share specifics on how McCain will lower taxes and create jobs. But the crowd was buoyed and encouraged.

“She was everything I imagined - and more,” Pat Espinosa of Fort Wayne said as she left the arena.

Joyce Fate of Fort Wayne said Palin is the shot in the arm Republicans need right now, and Fate is not concerned that McCain is trailing Obama by as much as 11 points, according to some polls.

“I think they can still pull it out,” she said of a Republican presidential victory.

Fort Wayne retiree Wally Durham said he and his family already have cast their votes for McCain-Palin, noting, “It's 5-0 in our family.”

Like Fate, Jennifer Schomburg said she ignores early poll predictions. What she most likes about Palin is “she's not the same as most politicians who've been in Washington for years. She's newer and brings fresh ideas. We need that.”

Fort Wayne resident Gwen Moberg likes Palin's candidness, saying, “She says what she thinks - and she may be the only one doing that.”