As Crowley notes, she was noticeably absent from the TV airwaves.



While Biden was making the network and cable rounds for his guy, Team McCain had Palin with an invite-only crowd at an Irish pub in Philly.



CNN's Peter Hamby turns a memorable pool report, which you can read in full after the jump.



Don't miss the kicker.



Broad Street Bullies, indeed.

Fresh off an afternoon jog along the Schuylkill River, Sarah Palin stopped by a debate watching party at The Irish Pub on Walnut Street in downtown Philadelphia. It was an invite-only event that pulled in about 450 McCain supporters who had been drinking and eating for several hours before the candidate arrived (around 7:20PM EST). It was Palin's first campaign stop in Philadelphia this cycle.



It was a boisterous night, both inside and outside the bar.



About 300 protesters had gathered outside the event, loudly chanting "Obama! Obama!" Some set off flares. Your pooler has covered Palin since Aug. 29th, and this was one of the largest, rowdiest group of protesters I have seen so far.



Some of the protester signs included:



"McSame/Failin'"



"Hey Hockey Mom -- keep the puck out of PA"



"Just like Bush in lipstick"



And so on.



Inside the watch party, it was the picture of a warm, boisterous Friday night in a Philadelphia pub, except that only one of the flat screen TVs was tuned into the Phillies-Nats game. The rest were on C-SPAN in anticipation of the debate, so these Palin fans were sipping brew as Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa) offered statements on the House floor regarding the US-India Nuclear Agreement.



Two of Palin's senior advisers pulled up a chair to the bar to down a couple pints of stout.



Palin entered the bar after the press pool was pre-positioned in the rear of the venue. Donning a red Phillies jacket that was purchased for her earlier in the day, Palin came in to a loud roar, and the bar quickly descended into a mob scene. She was dressed casually, wearing jeans, a brown leather belt with a leopard-print buckle, and a white t-shirt underneath the Phillies jacket that read "Sarahcuda."



The governor was also sporting an odd, psychadelic "John McCain 2008" button that a supporter had given her.



Pub-goers swarmed her asking for pictures and autographs, pleading with secret service agents and handlers just to get a handshake. She made her way through the crowd, all smiles, and stepped up on a dais in the corner to make some brief remarks:



"Thank you. Thanks for inviting us into The Irish Pub and we know this is going to be a great night for our ticket. Thank you for being here for rooting on John McCain tonight in the debate even, you guys, thank you. Yeah.



"Great to be here in the city of brotherly and sisterly love. Thank you and we feel that. And truly all the support that you're providing us in this area that is so paramount to victory on November 4th. We thank you so much for all your support. Hope we all get around to meet each and every one of you so I can personally thank you guys for the support that you're showing and for being so reform-minded and knowing that we have opportunity to put government back on the side of the people and shake things up in DC.



"And for that I thank you for being on the team, and hopefully we can bring more people from this area on that team, you guys, truly. As our mission, getting to dc shaking things up, working for you. John McCain and I will never forget whom we are working for is for you. So we love you guys, city of brotherly love. Thank you."



The candidate then took another 45 minutes working her way through the sweaty crowd, glad-handing and saying hello to most of the crowd. She said "thank you" and "bless your heart" to many folks. One supporter wished her luck on the trail and Palin said, "Thank you. I'm having so much fun."



She signed autographs in this way: "S Palin '08"



A group of middle-aged guys were wearing blue-and-red hockey jerseys that said "USA" and "VP" on the front, and "Palin" on the back. One of the men told me he had them made in Canada. They had Palin sign the jerseys, and then they gave her one.



Dr. Maria Demario, a doctor from Media, leaned in to say, "Bless you. Stay true to your convictions. We are so proud of you." Palin smiled warmly and said thanks.



Josh Okulski, a Philadelphia native, had taped juxtaposing photos of Obama on a bicycle and Palin on a motorcycle to the back of his jacket. He showed it to Palin and she said: "Where did you get that? That's crazy!" Okulski then snapped a self-portrait of himself with the governor on his iPhone.



At one point while working the crowd she made a reference to "our union brothers and sisters," but I could not hear the full context.



A local reporter in the scrum leaned in and asked Palin if she was seeing much of Philadelphia.



"Two months ago I did when I was here for the National Governor's Association meeting," Palin said, "so we got a lot of that in there, but with my 13 year-old who's with me this time, Willow, we're taking her around to see some of the sights also."



Towards the end of her walk-through, he chatted with a man wearing a gray Philadelphia Flyers hat. He gave it to her, and she wore it for the final few minutes of the event. No Eagles gear.



When she emerged from the bar, she was met with a harsh chorus of boos from the protesters outside.



As she entered the motorcade to head back to her hotel, one man's voice cut through the din of the crowd.



"I can see Alaska from Walnut Street!," he yelled.

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