YORK, Pa. — I’m on the scene at the Toyota Arena at the York Expo Center, where Sen. John McCain will have a town hall meeting today at 11:45 a.m.

The crowd was waiting in line at 9:30 this morning, and a campaign volunteer told me they’ve issued 5,000 tickets for this event — a much larger attendance than in Wilkes-Barre three weeks ago.

UPDATE: Local radio talk show host Gary Sutton of WSBA is broadcasting live from the parking lot. According to the York Daily Record, local Republican Party officials in six surrounding counties helped distribute tickets for this event.

This is one of the most staunchly Republican areas of Pennsylvania. York County went 64% for President Bush in 2004, while Kerry won statewide with 51%. Hillary Clinton got 55% of the York County vote in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary in April.

10:45 a.m.: Just talked to Nancy Otstot, a Cumberland County delegate to the GOP convention, who’s dressed in red, white and blue and scoffs at talk of an “enthusiasm gap.”

“We’ll get the job done,” Ms. Otstot says.

Ms. Otstot is a woman of mature years, and the Washington Post has an interesting story today about Barack Obama’s problems with older voters.