Our Journey - John McCain Rally

~ Oct. 23, 2008
John McCain Rally

Posted in School

Today was one of those days homeschoolers live for. A day when we could go and be a part of an event that could have historical significance. The fact that we are studying American History this year was just icing on the cake. Early this morning online, I got 4 tickets to the McCain rally in Sarasota, FL. Before leaving for work at 7:45 am I informed the family about getting the tickets and that we would be leaving at 2:15pm so be ready.

We actually left at about 2:25pm. We arrived at Robarts Arena at about 2:45. We had no real problem parking. Then as we approached the arena, we saw the line.

We had to walk about 2/10 mile down the road to get to the end of the line (later it would be almost a 1/2 mile). The doors were scheduled to open at 3:00pm and no one new what time Senator McCain would be speaking. We stood in line basically without moving until 3:30. That is when we moved about 30 yards. At about 4:00 we moved up significantly, about 1/10 of a mile. We stood there for a while. At about 4:15 we noticed that people were gathering on both sides of the entry driveway so we sent Jordan up to investigate. He came back to tell us they were expecting the motorcade soon. Aaron took the camera, and both boys headed up towards the driveway. At 4:26pm Aaron took this photo.

The boys said Senator McCain was riding in the front of this bus waving at the crowd. The motorcade parked behind the fence at the fairgrounds, right by where we were standing. As the doors to the bus opened I quietly walked up to the fence with my camera in hand. About 6 feet from the fence, I caught the eye of a secret Service Agent who wagged his finger at me and said "No, no, no". I said "Please, but he shook his head. I stepped back about 15 feet from the fence and now 2 dozen others had joined me. Senator & Mrs McCain waved at us as the got off the bus as did Governor Charlie Christ. After they walked away the lined started moving more quickly. One of the police officers we talked to while waiting on line said that a lot of people won't get in because they gave out 1,200 tickets for a venue that has a capacity of 3,200. Some people were disappointed and left but we stayed the course. At 5:30pm we entered Robarts arena. We had to let the Secret Service go through our purses and bagthen walk through a metal detector and some of us, me included, had to be wanded by yet another Secret Serviceman.

Three hours after leaving home we entered the arena, finally. Even though our feet were very sore we chose to stand on the main floor-the majority of the seats left were located behind the press corps risers and had little to no view of the stage. As we walked in someone was singing "America". Eric Robinson, the Chairman of the Sarasota Republican Party spoke briefly thanking everyone for coming and expressing the need for workers during the next 2 weeks to help spread the word. Then there was about 20 minutes of recorded country music that played. Between each song the capacity crowd chanted John McCain, John McCain!

At 6:00pm Senator and Mrs. McCain, Governor Charlie Christ and Bob Long entered the arena to the "Theme from Rocky" and raucous cheers by the crowd. Gov. Christ spoke first. He reminded us that we have 12 days to get our families, friends and neighbors out to vote for McCain and Palin. Gov. Christ introduced Bob Long.

Bob said he was Bob the Boat Builder, owner of Marine Concepts in Pt. Charlotte and Sarasota, Florida. He let us know that he, like Joe the Plumber, is a businessman concerned about what the Obama tax plan has in store for small business. He also said that unlike Joe the Plumber, he has already experienced what similar tax plans have done to the small businesses. He is the former president of Wellcraft (a boat building company that used to call Sarasota home). Due to the Luxury Tax that was imposed by the democrats in the early 1990's, Wellcraft went out of business. Mr Long stated, "Obama's 'spreading the wealth' smacks of socialism," which received a huge response.

Then Senator McCain was introduced to more chants of "John McCain, John McCain!" He then introduced his wife Cindy, who also received a lot of cheers.

Then he asked, "How about Sarah Palin?" to which the crowds cheeres were almost deafening. Sen. McCain stated "She is a lot more qualified than Joe the Biden!." To which he received a huge laugh. Sen. McCain paid honor to the veterans and military families in the crowd and also to the small business owners. He talked about how important the small business men and women were to the American economy, and how Obama wants to punish the hardworking small business men/women with his tax plan. Obama wants to increase taxes on the rich, which he has said is everyone who makes $42,000 a year or more, (hey, I'm still not rich by those standards).

Next Sen. McCain spoke about how 13 days ago Obama changed his tax plan to include a work requirement because many of his own supporters didn't agree with giving lazy, non-working people government money. Another proof of how Obama will say anything to get elected. McCain stated that he plans to help families by doubling the child tax credit, cutting the capital gains tax and woking to keep American businesses in America, which got thunderous applause.

Senator McCain talked about how, especially in a post 9-11 world, there is no time for on-the-job leadership training for the next president. We don't when the next crisis will come but John McCain stated, "I don't need to be tested, I have been tested." While talking about Obama's opposition of the troop surge and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan he said, "I will bring our troops home; but I will bring them home with victory and honor." This was greeted with chants of U-S-A!

On the topic of change Sen. McCain stated, "We have to act, we need a new direction and we need to fight for it my friend. I've been fighting for this country since I was 17 and I will continue. I'm not afraid of the fight. I'm ready for the fight."

While speaking about federal spending he plans on freezing spending, except in necessary areas which include defense, social security and veterans affairs to name a few. McCain mentioned that he would veto any pork filled bills that come across his desk and that "I'm going to make government live on a budget just like you do." Continually throughout his speech the Senator said, "If I'm elected." This time though, he caught himself and changed to "When I'm elected," for the rest of his speech. Senator McCain also spoke about keeping jobs in the US and re-training workers whose jobs have gone oversees so they can find a new job.

He also spoke about drilling for oil and how states, like Florida, should receive more of the profits from that drilling which is off its shores. He also pledged to stop sending $700 billion a year to buy oil from countries that don't like us too much.

Senator McCain closed his 30 minute speech with a rousing wrap-up which I videotaped and is here McCain Rally Video. At the end of his speech the Senator and his wife made their way into the crowd to shake hands.

We got to our car at 7:00pm and made it out of the parking lot and to dinner at 7:45, 5 hours and 20 minutes after leaving. At dinner we discussed what we learned about Senator McCain and the campaign process. One of my sons also mentioned that this was a very long history class. We are tired and our feet and legs are sore but we had a good day. Praise God the weather was cool, mid 80's, and overcast with a nice breeze. Praise God we have a man running for president who really is passionate about our country and our Constitution. Please pray and then do YOUR part and vote on November 4th.