Impressions from the McCain - Palin Rally

This morning Mr. Encyclopedia, LM, and I headed out a little before 7 to drive to the McCain - Palin Rally in Lebanon, Ohio, about 15 miles from our home. John McCain and Sarah Palin were speaking at The Golden Lamb, where 12 (count 'em!) presidents have previously appeared. A crowd of 5,000 was expected; I'm told that that was how many came out for Pres. Bush 4 years ago. Local news reports put today's turnout at closer to 10,000!

And it was raining!! Yes, imagine 8 city blocks lined with people under umbrellas. But spirits were high. I must admit, I wondered as we walked and walked to find the line's end whether we ought to just go home now, stopping on the way for coffee. :) Did I mention that we're not morning people? But we hung in there, and I have to say that the upbeat attitudes around me were a big assist. There seemed to be people of all ages from all walks of life.

It was with relief that we finally made it to the security check point and I realized that we were going to get in. "In" is perhaps misleading: the rally was outdoors, but they'd cordoned off a huge area in front of the hotel/restaurant and the only way in was through the metal detectors. Although the check point was covered, the table on which I laid my fanny pack and camera case to be inspected was sopping wet, probably because that was how we all were arriving. Though not a few had carried lawn chairs, they had to be left at the gate, along with all umbrellas. I hung Mr. E's compact umbrella on the larger one LM and I had shared and laid it against a barrier, hoping that I'd be able find it again.

Now I don't presume to know how God would vote in this election, but I do know that we were abundantly blessed this morning. For after we got past security, there wasn't another drop of rain! Amazing after being in drizzle to downpour for an hour and forty minutes. We no sooner found a spot in which to stand, then the MC for the event, Hall of Famer, Anthony Munoz, took the mike and the festivities began. It was exactly 9 o'clock and on schedule. We were fairly near the back of the crowd, but I found that I could still see (most of the time.) LM and Mr. E had no hope of gaining a clear view but the sound system was good, and they were enjoying themselves. We'd been given "Thunder Sticks" with John McCain's name on them; LM blew hers up before I'd even read the directions on how to inflate them! So I gave her mine to do as well.

We heard from local officials and politicians first. Both kids took note of the men on rooftops and listened intently as one speaker told of trying to take a short-cut at a previous rally and being stopped (and interrogated) by secret service. "My kids learned a new word that day: sniper." When Sarah Palin spoke, I really wanted them to be able to see her. A young woman who looked to be in her early 20's tried to find a spot for them to see, but they were just too short. So I bravely asked a man to my left if he would mind giving my daughter a quick boost up so she could say she saw the candidates. (McCain was on the platform when Gov. Palin spoke, as was Sarah's husband, Todd.) He was most obliging, and repeated the effort for my son. What a kindness! And how blessed I felt that this man proved to be so strong: neither of my kids are lightweights, but he made it look easy!

There were all kinds of signs, pre-printed and homemade. "Working Moms for McCain" and "The New Mac Attack." We all chuckled at one that said, "Read My Lipstick: Drill for Oil Now. Sarah!" LM and I took turns holding up her signs that read, "Vote McCain Palin" which she'd colored in pink, green, blue, and red. Thankfully she'd had me laminate them the night before, or they'd have been ruined in the rain. On the way in we'd seen a bumper sticker that exhorted, "Annoy a Liberal: Work Hard and Be Happy!"

Palin's speech pretty much echoed her acceptance speech at the convention, although she threw in a few more items, such as mentioning that as governor of Alaska she'd put the veto pen to nearly a half a billion dollars in reckless spending. I thought that McCain was more dynamic than he'd been at the convention. How could he not be energized by the crowds that had waited hours in the rain to hear him speak?! He was relaxed enough to joke: Saying we needed to reprocess and store spent nuclear fuel he added "The French do it," [slight pause] then, "My Friends, we always want to imitate the French." There was laughter and then he continued, "...we now have a pro-America president of France, by the way, which shows if you live long enough, anything can happen in the world!"

At the close of the rally, the kids and I hurried to where we'd left our umbrellas, only to discover that with the removal of the metal detectors, most of the umbrellas had been tossed in one huge pile. Immediately those closest to the pile started holding up umbrellas for people in the crowd to claim. Never-the-less, we were getting smooshed. When a lady realized there were children being squeezed, she was alarmed. I told her I was trying to get them out of the crowd, so that they could wait in the open while I retrieved our umbrellas. This woman proceeded to command others' attention and I watched a chain of action help the kids escape the crush. How cool was that? And it wasn't long before I spotted my pair of umbrellas where I'd left them, and got someone to hand them over to me. God is good!

Sarah Palin had said in her speech that small town America was what it was all about, and lauded how great that is. This rang so true as we strode away from the crowd only to have a woman call out to us. Although I hadn't ever met her, she was from our parish and had recognized us. "Where are your other kids?" she asked. (Pretzel was just getting over a sinus infection and had elected to stay home, and Stand Up had wanted to come but had stayed up until 1 AM the night before working on chemistry homework, and couldn't get up so early.) Then, a few paces later, a car exiting an alley stopped abruptly as did we at its appearance. And who was it but a family from our local homeschool group. Small world, even in a crowd of 10,000.

We visited a few minutes and then continued on our trek to our car. I will post later about what turned out to be the biggest blessing of the day.

ETA: According to Wednesday's Cincinnati Enquirer, Lebanon police put the crowd at 7,000. That was still more than turned out for Bush in '04, according to Mayor Amy Brewer.