Republican enthusiasm was high Saturday in Raleigh’s first visit from vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin. She spoke to thousands of tightly-packed supporters at the State Fairgrounds’ Exhibition Center, criticizing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s economic plans. “Now is not the time to experiment with socialism,” she said. Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Palin have made rounds in North Carolina after the state has become a tossup in the election. North Carolina early voting wrapped Saturday, and the nation will finish voting Tuesday. The state has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976, and Obama is ahead in some polls. Palin focused first on the economy.Obama would be “spreading [citizens’] wealth” around, Palin said, while a John McCain presidency would bring tax relief for all citizens. According to Palin, Obama’s definition of a typical middle class income continues to decrease, and his administration would hurt small business owners. The audience’s ecstatic cheers and boos often drowned out the end of Palin’s sentences, and they booed intensely at Obama’s tax plans and the possibility of a Democratic super-majority in Congress. The “Drill, Baby, Drill” cheer sprouted while she spoke on energy independence. “There is more coal in this free country than there is oil in Saudi Arabia,” Palin said. Bob Dole, former presidential candidate and senator spoke in support of Sen. John McCain and Palin before the vice presidential candidate arrived.”I am the president of North Carolina,” he said. “I won here in ’96.”In Palin’s speech, she continued to attack Obama for “raising the white flag” in Iraq and not properly supporting the troops abroad. She said Obama’s record showed he was in the “far left” and his words can “fill a stadium but they cannot keep our country safe.”

Check out photographer Luis Zapata’s slideshow from the Palin Victory Rally.