Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke to a crowd of more than 5,000 supporters and onlookers at Omaha’s Civic Auditorium on Monday.

The public began enter the Civic around 4 p.m. and Palin took the stage at 7 p.m. She addressed controversial issues such as the economic crisis, Sen. John McCain’s health care policies and the war in Iraq.

“Where else should she be if she’s a hockey mom and a maverick than Omaha?” said Hal Daub, the Nebraska campaign chairman for Republican presidential candidate John McCain. “John McCain and Sarah Palin, those are two mavericks that will shake up Nebraska.”

Palin began her speech by asking the crowd to choose the Republican ticket. The crowd reacted with chants of “Sarah” and “USA.”

With only a month before the presidential election on Nov. 4, both the Republican and Democratic campaigns have begun to heat up. While the crowd was chanting inside the Civic, a small group of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama supporters protested outside, some holding signs that read “Patriot for Obama.”

Arts & Sciences freshman Laura Anderson is a registered Republican and a McCain, Palin supporter. She said she went to the Civic to hear Palin speak about the changes the vice presidential nominee could make in Washington. “I wanted to hear her relate to the middle-class,” Anderson said. “To show how she and John McCain can use their voices in government to demonstrate what Americans want.”

Palin was presented with a University of Nebraska at Omaha Maverick’s hockey jersey. She said she wanted to come to Nebraska and was proud of the strong tradition the state had in supporting the troops.

She also said John McCain would solve the nation’s recent economic woes and wasn’t afraid to stand up for change.

“There are leaders like John McCain that use their career to promote change,” she said. “John McCain is his own man and he doesn’t just run with the Washington herd.”