Anatomy of a Campaign Rally

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Thousands of Ohioans turned out to see Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin at a rally on the campus of Capital University in Bexley. The candidates chose to campaign in this crucial swing state before Palin heads to Arizona for four intense days of debate preparation in advance of her meeting with Sen. Joe Biden this Thursday. CBS News anchor Katie Couric also attended the rally, appearing on the sidelines and snapping photographs with the crowd before the candidates appeared. Couric hosted the evening news program from Columbus , where she conducted the first joint interview with McCain and Palin.



Here's the campaign rally report. It was much as I thought it would be, very scripted, with the speeches being the same old campaign rhetoric about being mavericks, etc. That part wasn't the interesting aspect. In a way, I felt like I could have been watching McCain and Palin on TV because they didn't say anything I hadn't heard before. It was the small details, watching the campaign aides flit back and forth so everything was just right for the cameras and the big entrance. More on that later...

The ticket to get into the rally. I had two extras and ended up giving them away on the bus ride to the rally site to some women who didn't have tickets but went hoping to get in anyway.
Attendees parked at the Franklin Park Conservatory and Wolfe Park in Bexley and were bused to the Capital University campus.
The line to get into the rally stretched for three-four blocks, but moved quickly. Most of the people I saw were your typical Midwesterners in jeans and sensible shoes. Many were middle aged or older and overwhelmingly caucasian. There were also a number of college students from Capital who looked like they just wanted to be a part of the goings-on.
Hawkers moved among the people waiting to get in, selling buttons, t-shirts, bumper stickers, lanyards, and other items. Many buttons featured Gov. Palin in various poses, including aiming a gun, festooned with the slogan, "Read My Lipstick." Another had John McCain as Mr. Clean, vowing to clean up Washington. I'm surprised at how many people actually bought stuff.
The protesters and Obama supporters across the street from the entrance. The group consisted mostly of younger individuals.

Upon entering, everyone had to pass through the security checkpoints before being allowed into the staging area.
The rally was held in the Capital Center, the student union building. A podium with raised seating was set up in the front, for the cameras. Everyone else had to stand. I found a bench on the side where I could stand and see over everyone's heads. The program started at 11 a.m., and a few minor league speakers were there to rev up the crowd, along with lots of music and cheers of "OH-IO!" Of course everyone in Ohio knows what to do when they hear someone say "O-H," but I was disappointed that no one knew what to do when "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond came on. I got excited, expecting everyone to break out singing the chorus and the "Oh, oh, ohs" like they do at the 7th inning of every Red Sox game at Fenway Park. But apparently that is only a Boston thing. The media phalanx gearing up. The candidates were supposed to be there at 11:30, but they kept stalling the crowds by telling us that they were on their way. This whole time legions of dark suited campaign operatives with white earpieces moved around, securing entrances and choosing people out of the crowd to take behind the barriers and seat in view of the camera to have the ideal mix of people on air. I saw them ask a mom with three kids, a Jewish man and his son wearing yarmulkes, and some students in college attire get led to the coveted bleachers. One campaign operative stood out because he wore a huge eyepatch and looked just like Stephen Colbert. Maybe he was Colbert undercover for the rally. :)
In addition handing out hundreds of white "Country First" campain placards, campaing aides also handed out "homemade" campaign signs. The kind painted on posterboard. The woman next to me had one of them. I didn't take any signs or cheer. I just wanted to observe.
I knew that the candidates were getting close when the main campaign staffers came in. They were East Coast types immediately distinguishable by their snappy suits, designer handbags and expensive shoes. Katie Couric walked in right after them and I couldn't believe it. For those of you who don't know, my secret dream has always been to be the next Katie Couric. She was on the sidelines about 15 feet away from me, (see picture above) wearing a fabulous deep purple ensemble. I knew we were soul mates. She snapped pictures with the crowd and talked with her assistants for about 10 minutes and went behind the curtains right before McCain and Co. appeared.

Then the theme song from "Rocky" came on and the crowd went wild. Sen. and Cindy McCain, Gov. Palin, and her daughter Willow all walked out. After the cheering died down, each candidate spoke for 15 minutes. Gov. Palin was engaging, but her voice is grating after a while and it was all so rehearsed. Sen. McCain was much the same. Cindy did well off the cuff, the connsumate trophy wife. I really don't mean that to be demeaning. She is an accomplished woman in her own right and I hope to look as good as she does when I'm her age.

All in all, I'm glad I went. If nothing else, to see the spectacle and how utterly staged and managed political events are in our media age. I can't imagine being a campaign staffer who has to be part of an advance team that goes to each city ahead of time, preparing venues for the same type of event day after day. I also can't imagine how exhausted the candidates must be of doing the same thing over and over. You really have to want to be president to put up with the media and campaign gauntlet.

For me, the most enlightening part of the day came on the bus ride back to the parking areas. I sat down next to a gentleman in his late 70s and asked him what he thought of the event. We proceeded to talk for the next 15 minutes. He is a lifelong Ohioan who worked as an engineer at the Columbus area GM plant for 38 years until it went under. He said he's always leaned conservative but has reservations about Palin as the possible commander in chief. I asked him who he would have preferred and he said Romney. I then asked him if he had any qualms about Romney's religious affiliation and he responded, "no." He said he is a Lutheran and was glad Romney had a religious affiliation, which he didn't think would have interfered with his governing. He alluded to the fact that he is old enough to remember the controversey surrounding Kennedy's candidacy and his Catholicism, which turned out to be a non-issue.

After my seatmate got off the bus, the bus driver, a very blue-collar looking guy, commented on our conversation and said that his parents had both worked at the same GM plant, but that it was closed, thanks to the unions. He said that he thinks that it's Americans, not politicians, have gotten us into the jobs mess. It's Americans who want to get paid more to work less. At that point I had to get off the bus. Quite interesting to hear what your average citizens think. It made me wonder if the majority of Americans are quite moderate, but it's just the extremists on either side who get heard most and pandered to. Maybe we would get candidates who represented us better (not to disparage either one running) if the moderate voices spoke louder.