Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Denny and Melanie Doyal got in line Saturday three hours before Sarah Palin's first solo campaign rally outside Alaska. They were among the latecomers.

Terril Tungate was at a Carson City, Nevada, park by 10:30 a.m., seven hours before the Republican vice presidential nominee took the stage. When Palin finished, Tungate emerged from the throng clutching an autographed campaign sign.

``It was the bomb,'' the 52-year-old legal secretary shouted over the cheers. While she's long supported Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Tungate said, ``now it's 10 times better.''

As Palin set out over the weekend for her first campaign swing without McCain at her side, the 44-year-old Alaska governor attracted an exuberant audience and fired up hard-core Republican voters like Tungate. She stuck closely to scripted applause lines in her standard stump speech, avoiding unrehearsed statements to the public or the press.

More than two weeks after McCain picked Palin for the ticket, his campaign is still selective about sending her out alone. Since a short trip to Alaska that included two campaign events in her home state, Palin held just two solo rallies before rejoining McCain for another round of joint appearances.

``There's only one man in this race who is ready to serve as our 44th president: he's my running mate and my friend, Senator John McCain,'' Palin said this morning in Golden, Colorado, during her second rally.

The Arizona senator, 72, has pulled even with or slightly ahead of Democratic nominee Barack Obama in most national polls since picking Palin on Aug. 29, and has been drawing the biggest crowds of his campaign.

`Drill Baby, Drill'

Before Palin's Carson City speech, Nevada Lieutenant Governor Brian Krolicki fired up the crowd. ``Is this what 10,000 people looks like?'' he asked. ``What does 10,000 people sound like?'' The audience roared in response.

When Palin took the stage to the sounds of Van Halen, the cheers were loud enough that nobody would mistake the rally for one of McCain's signature town hall meetings. Supporters chanted ``Sa-rah, Sa-rah,'' and ``drill baby, drill.''

``You're right, you are right -- drill baby, drill,'' Palin said as the crowd interrupted her speech with the McCain campaign slogan calling for increased U.S. oil and gas production.

Except for last week's television interview with ABC News's Charles Gibson, the vice presidential hopeful has been kept under wraps. Palin has drawn criticism for some comments to Gibson, including statements about possible war with Russia and shakiness on other issues.

Few Ad-Libs

With a few ad-libs, Palin's speech focused on the same points she's stressed in earlier campaign stops, touting her record in Alaska as governor and as mayor of Wasilla.

``I reminded people there that government is not always the answer; in fact, often, government is the problem,'' she said, echoing a line made famous by Republican President Ronald Reagan.

Palin said she has cut taxes, taken on oil companies and lobbyists, vetoed almost $500 million in state spending, enacted ethics reform, and ``tried to live by example.''

``As mayor I took a voluntary pay cut, which didn't thrill my husband; and then as governor I cut the personal chef position from the budget, and that didn't thrill my hungry kids,'' she said to laughter and cheers. ``And I put the state's checkbook online for all to see, and that didn't thrill the bureaucrats.''

`Bridge to Nowhere'

Palin stuck with her statement that she told Congress ``thanks, but no thanks'' on federal funding for Alaska's ``bridge to nowhere,'' after reports that she supported the structure while campaigning for governor and canceled the project after Congress failed to provide enough money. She stressed her opposition to federal spending earmarked for hometown projects, after seeking those appropriations as mayor and governor.

She introduced ``Alaska's first dude,'' her husband, Todd, and ran down his resume: commercial fisherman, oil-production worker, steelworker, and four-time champion of Alaska's 2,000- mile Iron Dog snowmobile race.

Palin called McCain, who has represented Arizona in Congress since 1983, ``the only man in this race who's got what it takes'' to change Washington.

``John McCain doesn't run with the Washington herd, he's willing to shake things up,'' Palin said. ``That's why we need to take the maverick out of the Senate and bring him to the White House.''

Supporting the Surge

In Alaska last week, Palin spoke at the deployment ceremony for her son Track's U.S. Army unit, which is shipping out to Iraq later this month for a 12-month tour. In Carson City, she reminded the crowd of McCain's support for President George W. Bush's ``surge'' strategy of sending more troops to Iraq to reduce violence there.

``It was John McCain who refused to break faith with our troops, who have now brought victory in Iraq right within sight,'' Palin said. ``As the mother of one of those troops, that is exactly the kind of man I want as commander-in-chief.''

After the speech, the Nevada crowd stuck around, taking pictures and passing signs and flyers forward for autographs as Palin and her husband worked the front of the stage.

The Doyals emerged from the scrum to say it was worth a three-hour wait to attend their first political rally.

``We love her,'' said Melanie Doyal, 42.

George and Judy Johnson, retirees from nearby Minden, had also attended their first campaign event. ``She brought us out,'' said George Johnson, 66. ``She really has the world excited.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Carson City, Nevada, at njohnston3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 15, 2008 13:35 EDT