Palin casts vote, stays mum on Stevens
Posted: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 1:18 PM by Carrie Dann
Filed Under:
Sarah Palin
From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
WASILLA, Alaska -- Palin returned home to Alaska Tuesday to vote, telling reporters that she hoped she would wake up Wednesday as vice president-elect.
Palin – having flown all night from Nevada – arrived in Anchorage Tuesday and drove for an hour to Wasilla, killing time at local haunts until polls opened at 7 am. She waited in her car for five minutes before emerging at Wasilla City Hall to vote with her husband, Todd. There, she hugged and kissed poll workers and stuck on an “I Voted Today” sticker.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Palin said she was “optimistic” and “confident.”
“Now tomorrow, I hope, I pray, I believe that I'll be able to wake up as vice president-elect, and be able to get to work in a transition mode with the President elect, John McCain,” she said. “So anxious to get to work for the American people.”
Palin had pushed to come home to vote, aides said, even though she had secured an absentee ballot. While in Alaska, she is picking up a large assortment of friends and family, who will travel back with her to Phoenix for the McCain campaign’s election night party.
Palin’s parents, in-laws and three youngest children are all traveling separately, having campaigned with her in the continental United States in recent days.
Palin’s quick trip back home included several pit stops, almost a guided tour of the area. She went to her favorite coffee house – the second of the morning – greeting friends at Mocha Moose in Wasilla. On the way back to Anchorage, she stopped at a Chevron gas station owned by her sister, whom she has often referenced on the campaign trail when discussing small business owners.
While it is assumed Palin voted for herself, she did not say whether she voted for Sen. Ted Stevens, who was convicted last week of ethics violations for accepting gifts, and Rep. Don Young, who is under investigation by the FBI.
“I am also exercising my right to privacy and I don't have to tell anybody who I vote for, nobody does, and that’s really cool about America also,” she said.
Palin’s return to Alaska ends a two-month campaign that included 132 events in 105 cities and 25 states, campaign aides pointed out Tuesday. They also said she had conducted more than 100 local and national interviews.
Palin ended her five-state tour Monday in Nevada at around midnight local time, and flew a little less than two hours to Seattle for refueling. It was then on to Alaska, a three-hour flight. The campaign’s early arrival led to a scramble in the dark – the first coffee shop the campaign tried to stop at in Anchorage was closed. With time to kill until polls open, Palin made a brief trek to her Wasilla home.
It had been nearly two months since Palin came to her home state, and the early September chill had been replaced by snow capped trees and a 20 degree frost. She acknowledged reporters who had come a long distance to cover her vote.
“Hopefully you are enjoying the beautiful weather, the crispness and cleanliness of this most beautiful state,” she said. She also noted the election results will be historic, no matter the outcome.
“It’s so well for the progress this country is making, and barriers of course being removed and glass ceilings being shattered, again, as the representation on both tickets will show,” she said.
Later, at Mocha Moose, Palin reflected a bit on her future if she does not become vice president.
"You know if there is a role in national politics it won’t be so much partisan,” she said. “My efforts have always been here in the state of Alaska to get everybody to unite and work together to progress this state. It certainly would be a uniter type of role."
