Naomi Brummond, left, and Kathy Wilmot, right, members of the Nebraska Delegation, pose with Phyllis Schlafly, founder of Eagle Forum and member of the Missouri delegation to the Republican National Convention. (Courtesy photo) [Click to enlarge]

St. PAUL, Minn. -- Nebraska alternate delegate Kathy Wilmot said she was "surprised and happy" to see the amount of support for the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president during the Republican National Convention.

It's the second national convention for Wilmot, of Beaver City, a former member of the state board of education and now a member of the Republican Central Committee for Nebraska.

The hall, during and after Palin's acceptance speech, was "alive with excitement," she said. There was "a little question in media's mind" about the nomination, but the nomination "just united people in a way we haven't seen before," Wilmot said.

"She is so confident ... when she walked out there, she had a confidence that goes to the bottom," she said.

Wilmot cited Palin's putting the Alaska governor's personal jet on e-Bay, and cutting the chef in the governor's mansion as examples of Palin's personal priority to "serve and work for the public rather than the other way around" in all of her executive decisions.

"Some people use change to further their career, others use their careers to further change," Wilmot said, citing Palin's speech.

While Sen. Barack Obama once derided small town people for "clinging to God and our guns," Wilmot said, small towns are where new jobs come from.

Wilmot, who works at the Norton, Kan., Correctional Facility, lauded former presidential candidate and New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and other former opponents for rallying to McCain's support.

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"It amazed me that all of these who aspired to that job -- every one of them has come back and are supporting McCain and Sarah," Wilmot said.

Despite some demonstrations and the threats of kidnapping delegates, "the city is taking good care of us," Wilmot said Thursday morning.

Wilmot said she was looking forward to McCain's speech that night.

"I just want to hear more on his plan, more on him personally, actually heard about experiences -- a deeper three-dimensional view of what (his imprisonment in North Vietnam) was like."