Romney Rally

Mitt Romney spoke today at Northwestern College in Orange City, so a few co-workers and I went to go check it out. After having people start in line around 10:20, we got in the gym a little after 11:00.  Security was pretty tight and I got wanded (metal necklace) and the can of Easy Cheese in my purse was confiscated...it was kind of a funny story, actually. The girl who got in line first was getting hungry and when she texted us to get over there ASAP she told us to bring her cheese & crackers and a coffee. So, we grabbed the crackers and Easy Cheese that was leftover from an earlier event in the week and they thought it was pretty funny we actually brought them to the line. The security people didn't think it was that funny. When the other girl went through they said, "Really? Easy Cheese?" Then when I went through a few minutes later, the lady said, "What is with the Easy Cheese today?" After looking in my purse she said, "I see you packed your whole lunch, here!" I wanted to say "Listen, lady, I'm pregnant and if it looks like I'm going to go somewhere with no food for 4 hours, I'd rather be prepared than puking!" But I kindly smiled while she explained that my cheese was the one with the YELLOW cap and that I could pick it up after the rally but not to take the one with the RED cap. I said, "Don't worry, we're together."

Anyway, we got into the Bultman Center and scored some of the last seats before they started sending people to the overflow. Since we were on the side with the cameras (and therefore not ON camera) we didn't get any cool signs to hold and I didn't have a chance of catching a foam mitt with a 6'7" guy (who used to play bball at my High School) in front of me!

Note that I am not only 1 row up from "Clyde", but also standing on my seat in this picture!

We listened to the POD band whose numbers included "Heeey Hey-ey-ey Romney! I Wanna Kno-o-o-ow, if you'll be my Prez," a Green Day song, and of course, Championship.  It was also interesting watching the aides hand out mitts, "homemade posters", Romney/Ryan signs, American flags, and the letters "MITT 2012" that were about 7' tall. A few people spoke in the introductions including the NWC student body president (complete with tee-shirt guns), Randy Feenstra (Local state senator from my hometown who was pretty "juiced" up about the whole affair, as one of my co-workers put it), some guy from Sioux City who apparently is a Republican activist and radio DJ but not important enough for me to remember his name, Steve King (congressman), and Terry Branstad (Iowa governor).  Steve King got some pretty loud cheers from the crowd, but it's probably a good thing Branstad isn't running this year--he wasn't very commanding, didn't have his speech memorized, and didn't seem that enthusiastic about Romney.  Then, Romney came out.

I was pretty impressed with Romney's speech. I was actually a fan of his 4 years ago but not overly enthusiastic this year.  But I appreciate his private sector experience, his understanding of how to make jobs, grow business and not regulate and tax the lifeblood out of entrepreneurs.

I do have a hard time with the whole "Are you better off?" campaign slogan because they want us all to say "NO! [and it's Obama's fault.]" But I actually AM better off now than I was 4 years ago. Is that to Obama's credit? No, it's because of hard work, education, determination, sacrifice, the hard work of others to grow business and local economy, etc. But, if we want to defend individual achievement ("We Built it!"), then we also have to take personal responsibility for individual achievement. If we're not better off, I don't want to just blame the government and not take any personal responsibility.  I don't want to say 4 years into a Romney presidency that "YES! I'm better off [and it's because of Romney], I want to say, "Yes! I'm better off [and it's because of God's grace and the same list of attributes hat helped my family and I prosper during the Obama administration]" I don't want the government to cause my prosperity, I just don't want it to hinder it.  Maybe it's the marketer in me, but I just don't think this slogan works well--especially if you are Branstad. When he asked the crowd, "Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?" I think some people shouted "No" in protest to Obama and some people said "Yes" in support of Branstad. I'll stop now, but I thought maybe this post should go a little deeper than Easy Cheese.

Overall, this was a great experience and I'm glad I had the opportunity to go. There was heavy press coverage since this was the first speech after the DNC and we saw Bret Baier of Fox News right below us in the crowd (he has really nice hair and makeup). In fact, most of the Romney aids and press people had extraordinarily nice hair. I'm not sure how they escape the "travel warp" that occurs to most people's hair as they travel. It's a miracle of modern science, an accomplishment of cosmetic proportions.

I haven't heard the whole story yet, but I guess my dad got interviewed by some TV station too, even though he was in the overflow crowd. But, my proudest moment was being retweeted by @nwciowa after tweeting about my Easy Cheese confiscation :). That's how we roll here in "God's Country."