A sea of red welcomed McCain to an O'Fallon ballpark Sunday.

Supporters lined up outside the park early Sunday morning. Many traveled across the Show-Me State to show their support for the soon-to-be presidential nominee.

Joe Gilgour and his wife made the three hour trip from Sedalia.

With a baby on the way and student loans due, Gilgour says he likes McCain's plan to lower taxes.

"We have a lot of bills. I have student loan payments. It's going to be a lot harder to pay those things if I have more taxes being taken out of my paycheck," said Gilgour.

But Gilgour wasn't always a sure vote. He didn't even plan on coming to Sunday's rally, until McCain announced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

"We're just excited to have Sarah Palin on the ticket and we wanted to come out and show our support for John McCain and Sarah. We were probably on the fence before this move, and now we're 100 percent behind him," explained Gilgour.

Coming from a family of hunters, Gilgour says he, like many other Missourians, appreciates Palin's stance on gun rights.

"It's a proud tradition. These are law abiding citizens who got their guns legally and shouldn't have restrictions put on them," stated Gilgour.

Gilgour isn't alone. Voters of all ages welcomed Palin to the campaign.

"With Sarah on the ticket, she's gonna be a fireball for John McCain. We always talked about if the Democrats said, 'If he picks Hillary Clinton, it'd be the dream ticket.' Well, I think the Republicans got the dream ticket now and we're all excited. We've got the dream ticket and we're all excited," said supporter Bill Bethel.

Only November will tell if that dream ticket is a winning ticket.

McCain traveled to O'Fallon Sunday from a rally in Washington, Pennsylvania yesterday.

He'll speak at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota on Thursday.

Posted by: Jessie Fowble