What a long, memorable and wonderful day. Can’t wait to do it again!

Joe McGinniss,

Let’s say, just for argument’s sake, you’d spent the last 24 hours waiting in line to have your copy of ‘Going Rogue’ signed.

It had been cold, very cold but you were not downhearted. You’d never, ever, in your whole life, done that kind of thing before for anybody, but hey, you thought it was going to be worth the wait, and the hundreds of people who had kept you company agreed.

That nice lady….what was her name…. Terry Johnson, yeah that’s right ….she came along and talked with you about Governor Palin, and Terry was really helpful ‘cos she gave you a bookmark with the names of a few websites where you can read the unfiltered truth about Sarah Palin, not the disingenuous crap which some writers spout.

Back at home I had used my AutoCad to make “Going Rogue” bookmarks. They said, “Going Rogue an American Life By Sarah Palin” they continued “24/7 Photo, Video and Editorial content! TeamSarah.org, Conservatives4Palin.com”, also “Follow Mrs. Palin on Twitter and Facebook”, finally “Created By: Mrs. Terry Johnson”. Looking back I should have added SarahPAC.

I …… started passing my bookmarks out at the end of the line. I explained that I was “community organizing”. I introduced them to TeamSarah as a “fan site with photos, video clips and chat” and Conservatives4Palin as “a solid Palin related editorial site”.

[…]

Many Palin fans were there, some picked me out from my bookmarks and others from my “Sarah Palin for President” golf shirt. They asked me about Mrs. Palin and what I thought about a hope for a presidential run. As I spoke I connected them with TS and C4P. I explained…”If you love Sarah… don’t listen to the media… Like Glenn Beck said, ‘Get hooked in with like minded people”. There at the restaurant I gave 7 bookmarks to one woman from the Villages for her bridge club, her ladies loved Sarah!

And so you could say, Joe McGinniss, that everybody had been kind of excited and really looking forward to meeting the Governor:

…. the crowd went wild at the sight of the beautiful “Going Rogue” tour bus as she arrived late from Jacksonville. It was breath of fresh air after a long, yet good night.

At 4:15pm I finally made my way to the table. I had to move quickly. “I love your shirt”, Mrs. Palin brightly said shaking my hand. “Thank you”, I replied. Then I moved in close to her across the table so that she could hear me. “I’ve been ‘community organizing’ for you here today… I’ve been passing out bookmarks for TeamSarah and Conservatives4Palin… they’re bright pink you’ll see them as they come through the line… I’m your Adrienne Ross for the state of Florida”. I didn’t think she’d flinch at my brazen, bold self promotion and she didn’t.

“Thanks”, she said, the name of Ms. Ross perking her ears.

“What’s your name?” she asked taking my hand again.

“My name is Terry Johnson… thanks for coming today Sarah”.

As I left the table I ran into her Dad signing books in line. I shook his hand and said, “That’s quite a daughter you have there, Chuck.”
“It’s all her mother”, he replied. Talking to him felt just like talking to my own father and just that comfortable.

Inside Mrs. Palin signed all the books with priority bands then went through the stand-by bands finishing by even signing books from walk-ins. When the lines ended and there were about 75 people milling around I went back into the store to watch her sign the final books.

After she signed the last book she stepped away for a break before coming back to take pictures with the B&N staff and security. Piper stood playing in front of the table to pass the time.

As we waited for her return I noticed a woman wearing a “Going Rogue” tour t-shirt.

“Oh, I love your shirt”, I commented.

“I love yours too… hey I’m Sarah’s aunt Katie”, she said reaching out to shake my hand. So glad to meet her I thought what a beautiful,
gracious and comfortable woman. Later I grabbed Chuck Heath again and whispered to him, “You said she’d run if we wanted her to”. He looked at the “Sarah Palin for President” on my golf shirt and smiled.

Now let me just ask you this, Mr McGinniss, if you’d been in that line for 6 or 12 or even 24 hours and you got to meet Sarah Palin, would it really matter to you how she’d got there? I mean, would that little bit of pettiness have been on your mind? I mean would you have insisted that she arrived by bus….or would it have been better that she walked there over burning coals?

What if she’d flown in, in a plane, you understand, not literally… though now you mention it, what if she’d abseiled a couple of hundred feet out of a helicopter, or floated in by hot air balloon, or sky-dived, …. or driven in on a sleigh pulled by a golden moose… no, make that one golden and one silver moose, with tinsel around their antlers and fairy lights trimming the sleigh.

Come to think of it, would it just have been enough that she’d taken the trouble to turn up at all, no matter how?

The crowds were friendly, courteous and excited. The long lines were hard but everyone tried to keep their manners. Not a cuss word was heard at either stop. They passed the time talking about politics, religion, Glenn Beck, Obama, Tea parties, the media and of course Mrs. Palin…. They were glad to hear and see that they were not alone in their love for her.

Before she signed the last book in Orlando I headed home. My head was ringing like I had been to a rock concert. I got back into my bed at 11:00 P.M. What a long, memorable and wonderful day. Can’t wait to do it again!

Sarah from Hong Kong spoke of the Tea Partiers, “people who took the lead without waiting to be led”. It was amazing to see what one person could do with 500 homemade bookmarks. In the acknowledgements for “Going Rogue” (page 413) Mrs. Palin wrote of TeamSarah, Conservatives4Palin and other like organizations, “you are proving that we can make a difference in the world-and we don’t need a title to do it”. Being seen on the national stage is great and Sarah does that beautifully… yet its individuals who change this country one person at a time.

Joe McGinniss, read more of Terry Johnson “On The Road In Florida” here … she’s one of those real people, responding to the “illusion”, the “mask”, the “charade”, the “apparent fakery” of Sarah Palin….. and a million miles from your “they’re not going to like hearing they’ve been had”. Disingenuous crap indeed.

Thank you, Terry, for your initiative.

It inspired one of our contributors to design a C4P business card. Feel free to print off a stack of them and hand them out to people while you wait to get your copy of "Going Rogue" signed, at your local Tea Party event or wherever you may find yourself discussing Governor Palin or C4P.