I happened to attend the Mitt Romney Victory Rally in Cedar Rapids on October 24th, 2012 at the Landmark Aviation Airport. When I arrived at the airport I was immediately greeted by police that told me to turn around and drive to the “Post Mills” building down the road 3 miles so I could ride the bus all the way back. I was quite disappointed by this, but I had driven entirely too far to simply turn around.
When I got to the “Post Mills” building I was surprised by all the vehicles and this extremely large bulldozer that was completely painted in the typical patriotic colors, red and blue, with the two names “Romney” and “Ryan” on the blade. In hindsight, I wish I would have taken a photo of the massive bulldozer because it was quite impressive to see the paint job on it but also that someone is just hauling it around on the bed of semi to promote a political view. But anyway, I got on a completely full bus with quite the mix of a crowd that was seemingly the stereotypical conservative voters, and there is nothing wrong with that and drove back on over to the airport.
We arrived at the airport for the second time and drove on up to this airplane hanger that was covered in not only political campaign signs on this inside but also security on the outside. I suppose I should have expected as much since Mitt Romney is someone who supposedly half the country is going to vote for President of the United States. When got off the bus we were scanned in by these awesome androids, if my mind was right, QR code scanners.
The second I stepped in the hanger I was quick to realize that it was hot in there. The place was packed wall to wall with people and reminded me of something like beehive generating heat from all the bodies or something. With that mildly disturbing and claustrophobic thought in mind, I headed out to this section outside after watching this campaign video on this giant screen. Luckily I did that because I was able to get some great photos of Romney exiting the airplane and the staff that was aboard too.
I was shocked at how quickly Mitt Romney took the stage and prompt, nothing like a rock concert. I wonder if secret service might have had something to do with that, either way, it was a breath of fresh air if you don’t mind me using a platitude to explain the feeling. Once Romney began speaking I was quick to swing around back to the front of the stage so I could get these great photo’s. While I was taking those photo’s I was shocked by how well-spoken he was and concise as he delivered his speech. I was so much so, that I began to look about the room for teleprompters but realize there were none in the room at all.
Just as fast as he got on stage to deliver his speech, he left just as quick too. I didn’t feel like sticking around too much so I was quick to leave too because of the long drive home. I think the campaign planners could use some improvement on how they handled the exiting of the Victory Rally.
Although things could have gone wrong easily with everyone being acutely aware that it was going to take quite a while to get everyone back to their vehicles. I was able to luck out pretty good and got some exercise in too while making a hasty dash to my Hummer.
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