Krissy Jacobs proudly held a sign over her head, slowly turning so folks in all directions could read its three-word message: “Rogue is Vogue.”

The Missouri Southern State University graduate, now a resident of Nixa, voted for the McCain/Palin ticket in 2008. She couldn’t miss the chance of meeting Palin in the flesh during the latter’s book tour stop Wednesday at the Springfield Borders bookstore.

“She’s so compassionate,” Jacobs said of the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate. "Democrats call themselves the ‘party of the people’ but it’s Republicans like Palin that are more in tune with what … ordinary people think.”

Thousands of people from Springfield and surrounding cities went “rogue” Wednesday morning as Palin signed books, flashing that now world-famous grin, from 10 a.m. to noon. Lines stretched through the store and to the door, out the door and around the north end of the building.

In fact, numerous Palin supporters camped out all night in the cold for a chance to meet her.

There were cheers when Palin’s bus pulled up to the store, a huge vehicle emblazoned with Palin’s smiling face.

Her book, a national bestseller titled “Going Rogue,” talks about her life as a mother, as a governor and as a player in the "dog-eat-dog" world of D.C.-based politics. The memoir has already sold more than 1 million copies in just two weeks.

“From Oprah to Springfield, now that’s pretty neat,” Jacobs said.

Carthage Press