Many families with children with disabilities embrace Sarah Palin

From intro to a story in The New York Times Nov. 2:

NEW PARIS, Pa. — Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska was swiftly working the rope line Oct. 31 at an apple orchard in southwestern Pennsylvania when she met a supporter who brought her to an abrupt stop.

Amber Brown, 23, held a poster that read: “I have Down syndrome and I’m voting for you. I’m a fighter too!”

Seeing Ms. Brown, Ms. Palin wrapped her in a tight hug.

“I love that poster,” she said. “You’re a fighter and you’re beautiful.”

Then Ms. Palin hugged her again. Before climbing back on her campaign bus, she circled back to Ms. Brown and hugged her a third time.

Ms. Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, continues to attract enthusiastic crowds wherever she travels, and invariably among her supporters are those drawn by her advocacy for children with special needs.

Ms. Palin, 44, is herself the mother of a child with Down syndrome, 6-month-old Trig, who frequently travels with her. Within minutes after boarding her campaign plane at the end of a long day, Ms. Palin can often be seen leaning over Trig, cooing and feeding him from a bottle.

He is usually brought on stage with the rest of the Palin family, held by Willow or Piper, two of Ms. Palin’s daughters. On Halloween, Trig went trick-or-treating with the Palin entourage, dressed as a baby elephant.

In the two months since she was named as Senator John McCain’s running mate, Ms. Palin has made Trig, and children like him, the emotional center of her campaign.

And families have turned out at every stop, carrying signs, wearing T-shirts and pressing to the front of the rope lines for a hug or a photo with a candidate many of them see as a potential first friend in the White House, someone poised to bring better schooling, more Medicaid financing and greater attention to their cause.

Ms. Palin’s first policy speech as a vice-presidential nominee addressed school financing for special-needs children. She promised that under a McCain-Palin administration disabled students would have the option of attending private schools at public expense. As governor of Alaska, Ms. Palin increased financing for special-needs students, signing a bill that promised to triple per-pupil spending over three years for those students whose educations cost more.

But beyond policy, the families say they see in Ms. Palin someone who understands their struggles — who “gets it,” as Ms. Palin might say — and connects with them in a personal way.

After giving that policy address on Oct. 24, in a hotel meeting room before about 150 parents and children with special needs, Ms. Palin was leaving the room when one of the babies was heard crying.

“Don’t worry one bit about any crying baby,” Ms. Palin said. “That’s the sound of life. I love it, that’s good. I say that, too, because the next one crying could be my son.”

Ms. Palin’s mention of the subject is the emotional high point of her stump speech, a late moment when she talks about what she would do as vice president and mentions a “mission that is especially close to my heart.”

Speaking to more than 8,000 people last week in Jeffersonville, Ind., Ms. Palin had just begun to mention children with special needs when she was interrupted by a shout, “We love you, Sarah!”

She continued, saying they “have been excluded and been made to feel that there is no place for them in the life of our country. And this attitude is a grave disservice to these beautiful children and to their families and to America. And I’m going to work to change that.” The crowd erupted in cheers.

Ignoring her teleprompter, Ms. Palin gazed to her left. “I’ve got to make a comment about this poster,” she said. “ ‘I’m extra-special just like Trig.’ ”

“Now what she’s saying there,” Ms. Palin said, “that extra chromosome that our blessed bundles of joy were born with. It’s like a bumper sticker that was mailed to me from a Down syndrome group in Arizona. You know how we have bumper stickers on the back of our vehicles saying, you know, My kid’s a better soccer player than your kid, and, My kid’s on the honor roll and your kid isn’t, well this bumper sticker says, ‘We win — my kid has more chromosomes than your kid.’ ”

Afterward, Anita Kearns of Louisville, Ky., who had watched the speech with her children — Josh, 27, who has Down syndrome, and Katie, 19 — was beaming. “She stands for everything that matters right now,” Ms. Kearns said. “Free enterprise, the American way, working for your family.”