For reasons that kind of escaped me I signed up for tickets to go the Romney rally before anyone knew that the Ryan VP rollout was going to be done. It is not secret that I don't like Romney. Or, I should say I am not happy about him being the nominee, as I am sure he is a very nice man.
It is also no secret that I don't think Ryan was the best choice he could have made. I put no real thought into who I really wanted to be VP, but out of the possibilities Ryan was at the bottom of my list. I stick by the fact that he doesn't balance the ticket well. While it is true that this election is about the economy for the most part, people do care about foreign policy and readiness to deal with hot spots around the world. Romney's little foreign trip has been widely panned. I don't think he made any major or fatal mistakes, but he did give fodder for the left to use in October when the rest of the country really starts paying attention. Lets be honest, most are not right now. It is just the die hards like you and me.
But I do feel slightly better about Ryan as choice after yesterday. The rollout went relatively smoothly. A few little things such as Romney's little slip of the tongue and calling him the next president (Which Obama did the same by the way). That will give the left a little fun. So, let them have their fun. It is nothing fatal, especially since the video of Obama doing the same does exist.
So I went to Manassas, Virginia yesterday to the most local of the rallies for me. Manassas is one of many historic places in Virginia, as the battle of Bull Run in the civil war was fought there, so it draws a great deal of tourists. The lines were long and it was hot. The secret service had to wand you before you entered the pavilion where the speeches were to be held. As with most long days on the campaign, the later it gets the more likely they are to be late, and late they were. Luckily they played some good music and I have the opinion when all else fails, dance. So that is what I did.
We heard from the local politicians, our Lt. Gov (who is running to be our next gov), Governor McDonnell, Former Gov and currently running for senate, George Allen. Then there was another long wait for the bus to arrive. Eventually they got there and the main speeches began. As I said, Ryan gave a very good speech. Short on specifics, but the crowd ate it up. Then Romney spoke. He laid out the five things that he feels are the reasons you need to vote for him. Ugh. This is when he made really mad. I believe it was #2, education. EDUCATION!!!! That is a state issue. We spend $70B annually on The Department of Education which doesn't educate one child. A big part of that goes to salaries, benefits, and pensions for those employees. Wouldn't that money be more efficiently spent at the state level? It may actually get into the classroom to help the kids. Insert primal scream here.
So, we will have yet another administration that won't really do anything to reduce the size and scope of government. Yes, yes, yes, he will do better than Obama. But he is not going to do what really needs to be done. So I left with a sad face, a very sad face.
It was nice to see a bunch of friends, acquaintances, and other activists that I have gotten to know over the years. I ran into Smitty and Stacy of The Other McCain fame. Stacy is quite pleased. He was one of the people beating the Ryan drumbeat over the past month. My friend Debbie Munoz gave their prayer to start off the day. Many of friends were up on the stage, that was also nice to see. (Would have been nicer had they scored me a ticket!!!!!)
Here are some great photos of the day. Enjoy!!!
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