NOBLESVILLE - Jimmy Campbell stood shirtless on the riser behind Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Friday with the letter "K" painted in red on his chest.
The Ball State University junior's seven friends lined up to his left - shoulder to shoulder - each with a different letter painted on their bare bodies.
The sold-out crowd of more than 24,000 people at the Verizon Wireless Music Center could read the message clearly.
"It spelled out 'MAVERICK'," J.D. Dalfonso, junior public communications major, said. "They were called the 'maverick men' all day at the rally."
Dalfonso considers himself the "manager" of the maverick men because he spearheaded the idea and watched their support grow throughout the day.
Dalfonso said he first heard of the idea Tuesday when he was contacted by a family friend closely associated with the John McCain campaign.
He was confronted with a proposal: Get eight "strapping young lads" to paint "maverick" on their chests and he could have as many VIP tickets as he needed to see Palin speak.
Finding people who could attend the week before Fall Break was difficult, he said, but the VIP tickets worked as a good bargaining chip.
"I told them about the tickets, then I told them what they needed to do to get them," Dalfonso said. "Luckily I found enough people to go so I got to keep my shirt on."
The group arrived at the rally at about 10:30 a.m. as the first flocks of people began to line up. They started to get ready, some behind closed doors and others in public, and drew a crowd of local media and attendees before they moved behind the podium to be closer to the doors when they opened at 3 p.m.
"It started to get cold up there," Campbell, a junior political science major, said. "We were outside from 10:30 that morning to about 9:30 that night."
Palin started speaking at about 5:30 p.m., an hour later than the originally scheduled start.
Her visit to Indiana marks the first time a member of the Republican presidential ticket came to Indiana since John McCain visited in July. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has campaigned in the state 46 times since last spring because of the contested Democratic primary.
Palin spoke about energy and the economy and questioned Obama's relationship between Bill Ayers and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. It's not negative campaigning when candidates talk about someone's record, she said.
"That would be a lot of baggage to drag into the Oval Office. Americans are entitled to answers before Election Day. In the words of John McCain, we need a little straight talk."
Her statements came less than two days after the third presidential debate, when McCain accused Obama of running the most negative presidential campaign in history and Obama said 100 percent of McCain's advertisements are negative.
The vice-presidential nominee also addressed the crowd about alternate forms of energy. America needs to build more nuclear power plants and explore coal energy, she said.
"There's more coal in this country than oil in all of Saudi Arabia," Palin said. "We need to take the all-of-the-above approach."
The McCain-Palin ticket would balance the federal budget by the end of their first term, Palin said.
"John has the backbone to face the $10 trillion debt that the federal government dug a hole with," Palin said. "John knows that the first thing you do to get out of the hole is to stop digging."
Palin looked out to the sea of red, white and blue, just like the maverick men standing behind her.
Raising cardboard signs, cheering with pom-poms and waving 8-inch American flags, the crowd of supporters was good to see, even though Indiana is still a swing state, Campbell said.
As Palin spoke, she admitted Indiana's polls were closer than average this year and compared the race for the state's 11 electoral votes to the Indy 500. Soon after, the crowd's screams echoed through the event like a racecar opening up its engine for the final lap.
"Indiana is coming down to the wire," Palin said. "It's going to be very close. You know something about close races, and that's why I'm here to ask for your vote."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
