Palin hears plenty of boos

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin came to town yesterday fully expecting to be booed by Philadelphia hockey fans.

"The Flyers fans, they get so enthused that they boo everybody at the drop of a puck," Palin said.

The Republican vice presidential candidate even stoked the ire of her own supporters at a pricey afternoon fund-raiser, when she said she would be cheering New York Rangers center Scott Gomez, who is from Anchorage. She was booed.

"OK, OK, I'm getting used to the boos already," she said.

For those keeping score, Palin was first booed on Broad Street at 3:35 p.m. as she peered out the window of her SUV while it passed a crowd of protesters outside the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue, site of the fund-raiser.

At the Wachovia Center, loud music drowned out the fans, who greeted Palin with a mixture of cheers and boos, clapping, and thumbs down as she dropped the ceremonial first puck of the first Flyers game of the season.

In the midst of taking on Flyers fans and Barack Obama supporters, Palin also toned down prior criticism of Obama, telling her own supporters that the campaign could be fought "with respect" and that they were "not going to be negative or mean-spirited when we call out Barack Obama on his record."

"It is not lost on me that here tonight we are in the City of Brotherly Love. And William Penn saw this as a place where people of any color and background could live in harmony," said Palin. "This campaign is going to be hard-fought, but we can fight it with respect."

Her words followed Sen. John McCain's telling supporters that Obama was "a decent man," a statement some attending yesterday's event said they disagreed with. Palin said the campaign would uphold standards of "tolerance and truth-telling"

"And there have been things that of course that have allowed those standards to be violated from both sides," she said.

Earlier yesterday, at a stop in Altoona, Pa., Palin told reporters that she felt vindicated by a finding in the "Troopergate" investigation that she had done nothing unlawful by firing Alaska's top cop, but did not comment on the finding that she acted in violation of state executive-branch ethics laws.

"I'm thankful that the report has shown that there was no illegal or unethical activity there in my choice to replace our commissioner," she said. "Now we look forward to working with the personnel board."

Outside the Bellevue, Palin, sitting in her car, gave a little back and forth wave to the protesters, who in return gave her thumbs down and rounds of boos.

"Back to Alaska, They shouldn't have Asked ya!" read one poster on the median.

Police said about 400 protesters lined the streets outside the hotel, the same number that organizers expected at the fund-raiser, chanting to each other and to passing motorists. Inside, Palin got her hair and makeup done at Pierre & Carlo Salon & Spa.

At times, Republicans attending the event and protesters confronted one another.

"They are hooligans," said Bucks County restaurateur and McCain supporter Andrew Abruzzese, after he flashed a peace sign at protesters, who responded with raised middle fingers. Another Republican complained of being jostled.

Of Palin's rise from PTA activist to City Council to mayor to governor to vice presidential candidate, Abruzzese said: "You couldn't get a more natural progression than that."

Several Republican attendees complained of the protesters' vulgarity, especially in light of recent criticism of the behavior of people at McCain-Palin rallies.

Outside on Broad Street, waiting for Palin to leave, one man was heard saying: "Let's stone her, old school."

Another protester shouted at someone entering the hotel, "Wait till your daughter wants an abortion, you hypocrite."

Wally Nunn, a prominent Republican fund-raiser who contributed $25,000 to be able to mingle with Palin, said he was disappointed that McCain had come to Obama's defense.

Nunn said he did not believe Obama to be a decent man. Attending the event with former '60s radical turned GOP activist David Horowitz, he said: "This guy Obama scares me."

On center ice last night, Palin wore a plain, belted, tan jacket, not a Flyers jersey, a standard political gesture she left to her daughter Piper, 7. She was there at the invitation of Comcast Spectacor chairman Ed Snider, who runs the Flyers and is a McCain supporter.

And Palin kissed the Rangers' Gomez before dropping the puck with Erdenheim resident Cathy O'Connell, winner of the Flyers' "ultimate hockey mom" contest. She merely shook hands with Flyers center Mike Richards.

By contrast, Obama told supporters in Philadelphia yesterday that with his Chicago White Sox eliminated, he was rooting for the Phillies in the baseball playoffs.

Some Flyers fans expressed disappointment with Snider's decision to invite Palin. "The Flyers need to stop supporting racists," said Seth Munoz, 31, of Collingswood, who carried a "Flyers Support Racism" sign.

Bob Denbow and his nephew Justin Shultz had $75 tickets to the Flyers game and said they were going to boo Palin. "If I knew she was going to be there, I never would have gotten tickets," he said.

Tickets to the Bellevue fund-raiser, organized by local businessmen Craig Drake and Frank Giordano, ranged from $1,000 to $25,0000, for varying levels of interaction with Palin. Leslie Gromis Baker, a state McCain official, would not reveal the amount raised. She said 25 people paid the highest level or more.

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