As the sun came up at J.R.'s Festival Lakes in Leesburg this morning, GOP supporters arrived energized and ready to cheer for their favorite vice presidential nominee, Gov. Sarah Palin.

Thea Barone, left, 16 and Kristin Bandhold, 14, decorated these t-shirts last night. (Photos by Erica Garman)

I ran into attendees from Maryland and Fairfax County, but as expected, it seemed a majority of the attendees called Loudoun home.

"It's exciting that she's here," said Kim Miller of River Creek, who attended the event with her friends Jennifer Stathis and Valeri MacIntyre of Beacon Hill. "Her visit empowers us."

"She fishes. She hunts. She's a mother. And, she's pro-life," added Miller. "She's just real."

I quickly went through security, and once inside I met Thea Barone, 16, and her friend Kristen Bandhold, 14. They came to the rally with Kristen's mother, Karen Bandhold.

The girls attend Heritage High School in Leesburg and last night they decorated T-shirts to wear to this morning's event.

"I was so excited when I found out [Palin] was coming here," said Barone.

"I just learned in government class that Leesburg was the capital of the United States for three days in 1812. Hmm, maybe that's why all the candidates are coming here," she added, jokingly.

Retired Loudoun County Public School teacher and Leesburg native Joy Griffith attended the rally with her neighbors Randy and Mary Poland.

"I am Joe the Plumber" on back of trash truck in parking field.

The three friends predict a close presidential race in Loudoun.

"Judging by the yard signs in our neighborhood," said Mary, "It seems pretty evenly distributed between McCain and Obama."

I asked if they'd witnessed any "sign animosity" in their neighborhood, as Val Cavalheri highlighted in Living In LoCo last week.

"No, we live in a well established neighborhood," said Randy, "We're all friendly and calm about such things."

Carol Smith of Round Hill was sporting an "ALASKA" sweatshirt at the rally. I asked what made her such a huge Sarah Palin fan.

"[She] is like one of us," Smith replied, noting that her uncle was a POW in Vietnam with Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.

Attending today's event with Smith were Sandy Mueller, also of Round Hill, and Luisa Warmuth, a past foreign exchange student from Berlin, Germany, who was visiting the Muellers during her school break.

In Germany, said Warmuth, national campaigns last for about two months. "No buttons, no troubles," she added.

Steve Giordano and his wife Nancy of Leesburg brought their two children to the Palin rally. Steve's brother, Chris Giordano, also of Leesburg, brought his son, Mathias.

The Giordano family owns and runs a small software company that employs about 40 workers.

Chris and Marta Beck of Leesburg, with their son Sebastian. Marta says she’s leaning toward Obama, but considers herself undecided.

"And we're proud to say we pay 100 percent of our employees' benefits," said Steve. "We're not a big fan of Obama's policies."

Nancy chimed in: "I'm petrified."

After Palin wrapped up her speech and the crowd dissipated, I spoke with Marta Beck, an undecided voter from Leesburg who came to the rally with her husband Chris and their son, Sebastian.

"As a parent of children with special needs, I was very interested in what [Palin] had to say, since I know that is a subject very dear to her," said the mother of four.

"I'm still leaning toward Obama, however," said Marta, "but I'm not yet 100 percent sure."

Do you think the recent Biden, Obama and now Palin visits to Loudoun have helped area voters' decide who they'll choose for president?

If one of the candidates' LoCo rallies helped cement your choice, please let us know in the comments field below.

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