Sarah Palin's popular tour rekindles rancor of 2008

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — When tickets to see Sarah Palin in Michigan ran out, people drove to her appearance here, three hours away.

Thousands had lined up overnight, starting nearly 24 hours before she was to begin signing books, camping out in 39-degree weather for a moment with the woman many see as the great conservative hope, a role model, "one of us."

They brought their sleeping bags, their children, homemade chocolate Cheerios bars, and balloons to twist into animal shapes and hats for the crowd. And they brought their anger — about bailouts, jobs and health care.

Palin's tour to promote her book, "Going Rogue," has led to reams of publicity and high-profile television appearances, including interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters. But Palin, the former Alaska governor, has skipped the big cities authors usually visit in favor of smaller places in areas, not coincidentally, where she and Sen. John McCain of Arizona performed well on last year's Republican presidential ticket.

As the tour stopped in the political battleground states of the Midwest — aboard a campaign-like bus emblazoned with a billboard-size picture of her — it has rekindled much of the political rancor of last year.

"(Obama) isn't governing, he's still campaigning," said Joe Miller, a lab technician who had taken a vacation day to wait in line Thursday at a Meijer superstore in Fort Wayne. "He's trying to convince us that he's doing a good job. He hasn't done anything, except spend money."

As she signed a book in Grand Rapids, Palin told one man that Michigan was "a microcosm of America."

The places she visited were also ones where unemployment runs high, and many in the crowds that have turned out to see Palin said they had lost jobs, knew someone who had, or were working two or three jobs as they looked for one good one.