Presidential Rally

I went to my first presidential pep rally today. It was about as I expected. We stood (about in the very middle) and waited a half hour before Mitt Romney made his appearance. This was my best photo of the day. That's one of his Secret Service agents next to him. He came down to shake hands with the crowd after speaking to us for a little less than half an hour.

At the beginning we were welcomed by a state Republican leader. Next came John Thune, a State Senator from Nebraska, to introduce him.

Some people carried signs. I carried my camera.

The crowd was a pretty peaceful group. We recognized a few people there from our church. There were a number of military people there also. Colorado Springs is a big military town.

When he finally got started speaking, he sounded natural. I don't listen to the debates and I've only heard him answer questions a couple of times from reporters on TV, but I keep hearing from commentators that he sounds too unnatural and fake. I didn't get that sense at all. He spoke like a man who understands the problems this country is facing and has a plan to get us back to where we need to be. He highlighted what needs to be changed and what his experience brings to the job to bring about those changes. He sounded like a leader and a true patriotic American. In spite of his bank account, he sounded like he cared about the same things I do and seemed to have a realistic feel for what is needed to help our nation prosper.

His slogan is Believe in America. He summed it up saying, we need to change direction and come back to the America that is out of debt, morally responsible and believes in following the Constitution. It was especially gratifying to hear so many fellow Americans who cheered about the same things that are important to me.  As MyMike said, "If he gets elected and can keep the promises he's made we'll be in a good place." Today it was good to be in a place where patriotism was alive and flourishing. It felt good to be involved in the process of an election. Our caucus is Tuesday night. Let us hope for good results.