ELON, N.C. -- Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was in North Carolina today for the second time in as many weeks.

The Alaska governor spoke to a crowd of thousands at Elon University Thursday afternoon. Just last week, she spoke at a rally at East Carolina University.

Although North Carolina has voted Republican in the presidential elections since 1980, close polls show it is now a battleground state.

She told the crowd the campaign's choice of Elon – home of the Phoenix – was not by chance.

"There's something providential about that," Palin said. "I hope you all got a chance to last night's debate, because the man from Phoenix proved once again that he is the best choice to be our next president.

Palin wasted no time in pointing out the differences between her running mate, Sen. John McCain, and their Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama.

"It's the difference between a politician who wants to raise your taxes and redistribute your hard-earned money according to his priorities and a true reformer who wants to lower taxes and create jobs and get this economy back on track," Palin said.

Not everyone at the event agreed with what Palin had to say. One Elon student was escorted out of the event for yelling statements against McCain and Palin during her speech.

But despite the multitude of supporters ready to vote for the Republican ticket Nov. 4, undecided voters and even a celebrity also came to hear Palin sell the virtues of her running mate.

Elon student Ife Balogun was one of those undecided voters.

"I respect the fact that she is a working woman," Balogun said. "She has a family and she's a trailblazer."

Curiosity also brought comedian and actor D.L. Hughley to the rally, talking to supporters in preparation for his new show on CNN.

"I decided to come out and see what she's said that has got them so inspired," Hughley said.

But true to form, he couldn't pass up a chance to throw in some comedy.

"It's a simple choice between a dude that's half black and a dude that's half alive," Hughley said.

With the 80-degree temperatures at the event, the excitement and heat overwhelmed some supporters. At least two had to be taken to the hospital for heat-related illness. Another 20 were treated right there at the scene.