As the sun cast long shadows on the infield of Clipper Magazine Stadium on Friday evening, more than a dozen workers set up steel barriers, a stage and a walkway stretching the entire length of the right-field line in preparation for a political powerhouse.

This morning, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will make her second appearance in Lancaster County since being named the Republican vice presidential nominee. A crowd of 7,000 to 8,000 supporters is expected to welcome her.

The rally begins at 9:30 a.m., with doors opening at 8:30 a.m. Tickets are required for entry.

Police would not say if there would be any road closings or detours because of Palin's appearance.

The last-minute preparations involved numerous campaigners running around the bleachers Friday, making sure signs were in place and security was ready.

Annie Skehan, 12, of Lancaster, was painting pro-Palin signs with her brother, Jack, and her sister, Mary Campbell, on the concourse of the stadium. She created a sign for herself that said, "We love Sarah."

Annie said she hopes to get to see and hear Palin today. She said she was at Sen. John McCain's and Palin's joint rally at Franklin & Marshall College in September, but she couldn't see over the crowd and the cheering drowned out the speeches.

Annie said she has become politically active in this presidential race, engaging in political discussions in her sixth-grade social studies class at St. Anne School and watching the debates on television.

"I think I'm definitely more involved than I was four years ago," Annie said. "And definitely more than eight years ago because I was only four."

Lancaster GOP executive director William Coder said he has been surviving on a diet of granola bars and Red Bull in the lead-up to the election as he puts in long shifts at Republican headquarters to get his candidates elected.

A steady stream of people came into the office for Palin tickets on Thursday and Friday, and Coder said there is an "outpouring of enthusiasm" to see her. Her appearance here will be followed by an appearance on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" tonight. Palin appeals to people, Coder said, because she is an American success story, a hard-working mother who rose in political prominence in her state. "(Supporters) realize they are seeing someone who very well could be the next vice president of the United States," he said.

Keith Cummings, general manager of the Lancaster Barnstormers, was decked out in Boston Red Sox attire Friday as he instructed crews on where to place signs in the stadium. He said he learned about the rally on Tuesday, and since then he has been scrambling to find the necessary elements to make the event a success. He said one of the biggest challenges was that many of the items in the park had already been put away for the offseason. Setting up for a rally is like setting up for a concert, Cummings said, but the staff has three to four months to plan for a concert, compared to three days' notice.

Today's rally will be one of the largest events in the short history of the stadium, Cummings said. The largest event was the Def Leppard and Bryan Adams concert in 2005, which drew more than 10,000 people. The largest baseball crowd was the 8,500 fans who came on opening day this year.

Cummings said he has been interested to see all the "moving parts" of organizing a political rally — from members of the Republican National Committee to the Secret Service.

"It's fun to be involved and see it first-hand," Cummings said. "We really like to think of the stadium as a true multipurpose destination."

Besides the Palin supporters inside the stadium, protesters and other activists will make their presence known outside.

State Rep. Mike Sturla will lead the Pennsylvania Democrats' response to the Palin visit at 1:30 p.m. in front of the stadium.

Michael Morrill, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Keystone Progress, is bringing a coalition of groups, including local members of the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union, to stand on Prince Street, doing what he called maintaining a "vocal presence" as people wait in line.

Keystone Progress has attended at least eight McCain and Palin rallies across the state, Morrill said, with groups ranging in size from 50 to more than 1,000 people in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Morrill said he was at the Palin rally in Scranton this week, calling the tone inside the rally "very scary." He said he has "never seen this level of vitriol on the campaign trail."

Morrill said his organizations are there to focus on issues, not just to protest McCain or Palin. He said they focus on the economy as well as some less-discussed issues in the campaign, such as Social Security. "What we're concerned about is what (McCain and Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama) are going to be doing for Main Street now — what they're going to be doing for Elm Street," Morrill said.

E-mail: myoder@lnpnews.com