Politician shook hands, spoke with every person as she autographed books
Nancy Adams and her daughter Jolie Taubin of Covington had waited all day Monday to be one of the first people to meet Sarah Palin and shake her hand at a book signing in Metairie. They said the wait was worth it.
View full sizeFormer governor of Alaska and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin chats with Katelynn Decker, 9, of LaPlace on Monday as Palin signs books at Barnes & Noble in Metairie. "It was an experience you won't forget," Adams told her 9-year-old daughter after they met Palin.
Adams and Taubin were two of hundreds of people who waited hours to meet Palin on Monday night at a book-signing at Barnes & Noble on Veterans Memorial Boulevard.
Palin signed copies of "America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag." The book hit bookshelves Nov. 23, and Metairie was an early stop on the national tour. Palin will be in Baton Rouge at a Books-a-Million on Tuesday morning.
When Palin stepped behind the book-signing table, the excited crowd cheered and broke out in scattered chants of "Run, Sarah, run," encouraging Palin to run for president in 2012.
About 300 people were waiting in line Monday morning for the bookstore's doors to open so they could buy the book and get a wristband for the signing, said Jennifer Simon, community relations manager for the Metairie store. Bookstore employees wouldn't release a final count of wristbands given out.
Palin smiled widely, shook hands and spoke with everyone as she autographed books.
"Six children," the mother of five and former vice presidential candidate exclaimed to one woman. "You have me beat."
Attendees said they were surprised at how friendly Palin was. "She's very personable, very charming," said Gwen Mitchell of Destrehan.
"I didn't expect the personal touch," said Carole Fernandez of Westwego, who was at the signing with her sister Brenda Fernandez and two of her sister's grandsons.
Palin asked both boys, Austen and Ashten Taylor, for their names, ages and where they go to school. The boys, 12 and 9, respectively, are home-schooled, their grandmother told Palin.
"You may have shaken hands with the future president," Brenda Fernandez told the boys after they stepped from the table. "This is something they'll never forget."
Brenda Fernandez told Palin that she voted for her daughter, Bristol, 10 times during the younger Palin's recent stint on "Dancing With the Stars."
"Thank you for keeping her in there," a smiling Palin told Fernandez. "She had a blast."
Some of the people at the book signing used their short time in front of Palin to try and persuade her to run for president in 2012.
"Who better to take care of the soldiers than the mother of a soldier?" asked John B. Wells of Slidell, retired from the Navy after 22 years. Wells had gotten in line early Monday to get a wristband and decided to camp out at the store all day to get an early audience with Palin.
He said he told Palin that if she is elected president to take care of the military and the veterans. He said she told him, "'Definitely. That's my first priority.'"
Metairie resident Betty Purcell also had been waiting all day to meet Palin, who she praised for being a Christian and a leader. "It's really neat to be able to touch someone who's doing what she's doing," Purcell said.