On the Scene in West Chester, Ohio
Reader Jason Bieber was at Friday’s Romney rally, and sent the following report and pictures. Everything that follows is his.
Basically, it was the big “Go Home, and Go Big” rally for the Romney campaign in the Dayton/Cincinnati area. They had most of the GOP heavy hitters there, who all spoke (mostly short stump speeches): Josh Mandel, Kelly Ayotte, John Kasich, Rob Portman, Reince Priebus, Bobby Jindal, Rudy Giuliani, John Boehner, John McCain, Marco Rubio, and, of course, Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney.
First, a note about the crowd, which was well-behaved and of all ages. Good lord, it was HUGE. I spent the better part of an hour in the line to get into the event, and there were so many people coming that they virtually gave up on crowd control. Low-end estimate: 5,000. High-end: 20,000. If anything, it was A) really cold out, B) a Friday night, and C) in between Dayton and Cincy (so it’s a 20-30 minute drive either way), which means that there were likely ALOT of “Broken Glass Voters” coming to make their voices heard. I think it’s safe to say that Romney’s winning the Dayton/Cincy area. Don’t know by how much, but the enthusiasm was definitely there for the GOP and the Romney ticket. Everyone sounded upbeat about Romney, and alot of people were highlighting specific elements of the party platform — jobs, coal, legal immigration, Benghazi/Libya, and Cbamacare. I didn’t see a single binder full of women.
The speeches were good, although nothing really stood out (except maybe Rudy’s angry speech about Benghazi). I think that the speeches were definitely “victory” speeches, and it sounds like a campaign that knows it has the momentum and a clear view of the issues (rather than campaign bullshit and boilerplate).
Anyways, check out the photos of the line, the crowd, and the candidates. Hope you like them! You can use them at PJMedia if you wish to.
Photos after the jump.
“No, no, milquetoast Midwestern Ohio people, this is a rally with JASON Bieber, he’s not the singing sensation you all want to see. Wow, you folks are really lame-o, are you going to be disappointed!”
First, I am NOT related to Justin, and he is a horrible singer.
Secondly, the crowds were MUCH larger than I thought. The various reports have it between 18k to 30k. Voter enthusiasm, indeed.
I should also point out that there were people from every age group, a lot of libertarian leaning GOP’ers, and no Obama counter-protesters. The Religious Right was present, but not overtly so. There wasn’t much of a social conservative vibe to the rally.
But there was a big theme of “coal=jobs” in the crowd. Wanna bet that’s playing in Pennsylvania, too?
Just came from the Romney Rally rally in eastern PA this evening…..
Romney was at Shadybrook Farm, ten minutes from our front door…a semi rural area outside Newtown PA, right off right rt 95 about 45 min north of Philly.
Great cross section of people in this area….new “McMansions in the cornfield” professionals who commute to Manhattan (90 mins by train) or nearby Princeton NJ (20 min by car), local mom and pop shop owners, tradesmen and contractors, deer hunters and lawyers all side by side, 4 miles from where Washington crossed the Delaware to turn the tide of the Revolution.
The crowd was HUGE and enthusiastic. Online registrations were roughly 30 thousand according to the people scanning/collecting your printed “tickets” on the way in, but there were A LOT of people who didnt register online and just showed up. People manning the gates told us everyone, pre-registered or not would be allowed in. Took about 90 minutes to clear security as the crowd I showed up with slowly moved forward.the TSA people were (shocking!) pretty fast and efficient considering the size of the crowd…maybe they get differnt folks at Republican events (volunteers?) who knows.
Lots of families with small children braving the chilly weather (low 40′s after dusk) my wife and I shared our coffee with a family that drove all the way up from Delaware. The awesome Marshal Tucker Band played all the good stuff and sounded great, everyone was happy, excited, and up beat.
The bleachers were filled long before we arrived, so we milled about on the edge of the overflow crowd for about 2-3 hours, kids on Dads shoulders everywhere we looked. My little guy is over 50 pounds now and he was “topside” for most of the time, so I’m pretty tired typing this right now!
Huge explosion of positive energy when Romney showed up. Large screen showed his wife introduce him with the words “he will not fail you” and we caught bits an pieces of his speech but the sound system was bad or maybe they werent talking close enough to the Mic.
He seemed mostly to stay on the economy, and implored us to “vote for love of country, not “revenge”". Like I said, the sound system for us in the nose-bleed section was intermittent, but I dont think he made a big emphasis on coal in particular, he stayed mostly on “16 trillion in debt for our children” and the general failure of Obama. Fuel prices, more jobs, the usual highlights of his business skills vs Obamas pettiness.
All in all it was a big event with lots of energy. The turnout was enormous, far larger than I expected, and honestly I would have walked there from my house if I’d known the traffic would be that thick. Bush had a rally at this exact spot in either 2000 or 2004 (maybe both?), but I think this crowd was a lot bigger, and a lot more intense. We have hope PA might go red this time I think.
Due to the recent storm and power outages (some folks nearby STILL without electricity) our town postponed Halloween 1 week, so the kids will go out door to door Wednesday night after the election in search of candy.
So, I have TWO costumes prepared for me wear as I escort my “Darth Vader” son Trick or Treating…a Hawaiian Shirt with an Obama Mask sporting a big bloody nose, or a kitchen knife sticking out of the back of George Washington….
Hopefully, it will be warm enough for me to wear that Hawaiian shirt…and my kid wont mind playing second fiddle next to the SCOAMPH EX-POTUS, in his totally awesome Dick Cheney outfit.
VOTE, people, VOTE
– drunkblog Election Night? Then your liver can rest in peace for the next four years.
These pics are the first thing to make me smile in days. Keepin’ my fingers crossed for sanity to prevail.
Thanks, we needed that.
I think this is really interesting. I have been following the reports on averaging of polls, etc. and most have Obama winning. But I do think polls can be very misleading and this report on an event is also a good gauge of the level of enthusiasm out there. I hope it is also an indicator of Romney’s actual strength.
Just about every poll has been tilted toward the Dems. Even RCP doesn’t bother to weed out this crap. (Because of this fact, I think RCP will fall precipitously in reputation after Tuesday.) DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED — it is not your vote, but your discouragement from voting that they seek. Get to your local polling place, even if it means taking a day off work, and VOTE.