Palin speaks in St. Charles; Cain is crowd favorite

Many of the conservative Republicans who came to the Family Arena Friday night to hear Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck criticize the president said their preferred candidate for GOP nominee is businessman Herman Cain.

About 5,000 people showed up to hear Palin and Beck, a conservative talk-show host, on the same night when the beloved St. Louis Cardinals were battling the Philadelphia Phillies in the pivotal Game 5 of a divisional play-off series.

The event's main sponsors were FM NewsTalk 97.1, where Beck is heard, and Hansen's Tree Service in O'Fallon.

Of the eight announced GOP candidates who have appeared in national debates, Cain seemed the clear favorite of those in the audience. They cited his business experience and the fact that he is not a politician.

Cain, 65, has never held elective office, although in 2004 he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in Georgia.

Palin, the former Alaska governor and the 2008 running mate of GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, had announced two days earlier she will not be a candidate for the 2012 presidential election.

"I really think Herman Cain is the guy," said Ben Perkins, 38, of St. Peters.

Rob Geary, 41, of Kirkwood, likes Cain. "He is not a politician. He is somebody who knows how to run a successful business."

Cain, who lives in Atlanta, is the former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza.

Katie Geary, 33, said she agrees with Palin's political views but believes Palin would have been too "polarizing" to give the GOP the best chance at beating Obama next year.

She likes Cain not only for his business background. "I like the fact that he is black, because it gives liberals no ammunition," she said.

Bob and Pat Tobler, both 77, of Wildwood, said Cain's business experience gives him the edge. They also like candidate Newt Gingrich.

"We love Newt, but we don't know if he is electable," Pat Tobler said. "Maybe he could get in the Cabinet."

Kris O'Brien, 45, of O'Fallon, s! aid she wasn't disappointed by Palin's announcement. She never thought Palin would run in the first place. She and her husband Robert prefer Cain.

"He has a plan," she said. "Nobody else does."

Herman Schoeber, 68, of Granite City, Ill., said Palin would have made a strong candidate. But she would have had to undergo closer scrutiny during the campaign to have earned his vote.

"The strongest candidate is Herman Cain," Schoeber said. "He's a very intelligent man. And the fact that he has not been a career politician, somehow that works for me."

Palin spoke for 50 minutes, then answered questions submitted by audience members for another 15.

She said Obama was guilty of "crony capitalism." She specifically mentioned the Obama administration's support of $535 million in loan guarantees to a Solyndra, a California maker of solar panels that went bankrupt. Democrats have said the loan process for Solyndra began with the Bush administration.

Palin was asked how she and her family were able to contend with intense media scrutiny that some conservatives believe is biased and unfair.

In response, Palin said, "I was reading your local paper today ...."

That reference drew a chorus of boos and jeers, as did numerous hostile references by speakers to the "mainstream media."

Palin then recounted in detail a story on page A1 of that day's St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the recent deaths in Afghanistan of three soldiers from Fort Leonard Wood. Palin mentioned, for example, that one of the soldiers was able to see his newborn daughter through a video link a week before his death.

Palin, her voice breaking, said the trials of being in the public eye pale in comparison.

Beck spoke for 70 minutes, mixing his conservative views and criticisms of Obama with humor and his faith in God.

About 10:10 p.m., Beck was saying liberals were winning the battle for the minds of young people. "They have our children by the throat," he said.

For some reason the audienc! e erupte d into cheers.

Beck was briefly confused until someone told him the Cardinals had just won 1-0.

"That was a spooky moment," Beck said.