UPDATED: ‘The first dude’ in Palmyra

The First Dude: Todd Palin greets supporters in Palmyra. Politicker photo.

UPDATED 7:02 pm

PALMYRA -- Moosehead Trail Trading Post isn’t a venue equipped for large crowds, and up until recently Todd Palin wasn’t a speaker used to large crowds.

Still, more than 600 people showed up in the parking lot of the Palmyra variety store to see the husband of the Alaska Governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

His remarks were short, lasting just about five minutes. The crowd rallied around him after and he spent a half hour working the rope line.

“Maine reminds me of Alaska, but you have a lot more colors in your leaves than we do,” he said.

During his speech, he said his wife and Presidential candidate John McCain are running on past accomplishments, “unlike others that can’t point to their record,” he said.

Palin called his wife a reformer who made great strides as the Alaska governor. When he talked about how she cut state spending, someone yelled out: “Hey, while you’re here…”, referring to Maine’s budget woes.

“She just shakes her head at a lot of these wasteful spending projects that are not best for what communities need,” Palin said. “McCain and Palin are both proponents into putting control into local state control.”

The crowd cheered loudly when Palin said the National Rifle Association endorsed the Republican ticket.

“That just shows that they know that the McCain and Palin ticket is one that will support the outdoorsmen. Sarah and I are very active outdoors, in hunting, so that’s a great endorsement,” he said.

Palin did not mention “Troopergate”. Friday an Alaskan legislative report found that Sarah Palin violated state ethics standards when she tried to get her former brother in law fired from the state police.

Officials from the Republican Party told the press that they couldn’t ask Palin any questions.

“There will be no exclusive,” one official said.

Earlier, Palin told the Associated Press that he would not comment on the report.