A Report on the McCain/Palin Rally in O’Fallon, Missouri – In 3 Parts

Well, after three hours of selecting and cropping photos from the McCain/Palin rally, I present to you my thoughts and observations on the rally; in three parts (all three parts have been merged together into this one post):

Written by on-the-scene reporter Doctor Bulldog.

Part I :

The “Gateway to Victory” mural featuring the St. Louis arch – it served as McCain and Palin’s backdrop.  Nope, no false god Parthenon stage for McCain…

Yup, it was held at a baseball stadium – The T.R. Hughes Stadium.  Mrs. Bulldog, the Little Princess, and I were hanging out around the second base.

(The Rough Riders performing for the crowd.  Check out the two bloggers furiously blogging away on their laptops in the upper left.  LOL)

A local group from O’Fallon, Mo., “The Rough Riders” entertained and wowed the crowd with some good ole country music such as, Hank Williams Jr.’s “Family Tradition” and Craig Morgan’s “International Harvester.”  They were awesome!

So much so, that I decided to talk about them, rather than the other politicians who showed up, like Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and the guy who wants Gov. Blunt’s job, Kenny Hulshof.  Don’t get me wrong,  Blunt and Hulshof did a fine job preparing the crowd for McCain and Palin, but the Rough Riders kicked some serious butt and were a hard act to follow!  Even country music star and headliner John Rich had a tough time following that act.

Huge, huge, huge American Flag Supported by a crane!

Local school kids led the crowd in saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

Thank goodness they were there, because it’s been so long since I’ve had to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, that I needed a little help.  And, I noticed that they said, “one nation under God” – unlike those liberal brats in the Californian schools…

Whew!  Just when we thought we couldn’t sit through anymore local politicians, the “Straight Talk Express” showed up, albeit a little behind schedule.  Note the giant hands in the above photo preparing to squish the Secret Service agents in anger if Sarah Palin did not arrive with John McCain…

Aha!  Sarah Palin DID show up.  The Secret Service Agents are safe for now.  From Left to right, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, John McCain, then on the right side under the flag is Cindy McCain and Todd Palin.  Both Mrs. McCain and Mr. Palin (a professional snowmobiler) are strikingly good looking and poised.

Mitt Romney took the stage first and just briefly (I know! Imagine that) said, basically, that McCain was the guy for the job and Sarah Palin was the right person for VP.  Then, he handed the mike over to John McCain.

Now, I would be lying if I told you the “standing room only” crowd of 23,000 went wild when McCain took the stage.  Truth is, the crowd was, as best I can put it, polite…

(A crowd of 23,000 listens to McCain and Palin.  Note:  The forehead in the lower right corner belongs to none other than Mrs. Bulldog)

You see, Missouri is by and large a conservative state (with the exception of my one liberal neighbor, Laura) and John McCain is NOT viewed as a conservative.  If my memory serves me, the last time McCain came to Missouri, the crowd was only about 5,000 strong.  That is his biggest obstacle to becoming President – his Liberal leanings.

Well, McCain is a smart man.  He knew the crowd was there for Sarah Palin, so he kept his message short and spoke mostly about Gov. Palin’s outstanding Conservative record and how she had vetoed “one big pork-barrel bill after another” and how Gov. Palin had given back Federal money for a bridge to nowhere, telling them that if Alaskans wanted a bridge, they’d build it themselves.  Also, he made a point to mention that Sarah Palin was “experienced.”

Now, this is a sore spot with me.  All throughout the political speeches there was a lot of talk about Sarah Palin being more experienced than Obama – evidently, Obama has been saying that McCain can no longer call his (Obama’s) lack of experience into question because Sarah Palin is not a seasoned veteran of Washington D.C., etc., etc.

I find both sides of that argument to be specious at best.  The REAL issue has nothing to do with experience or lack thereof and everything to do with judgment.

Obama has demonstrated extremely poor judgment in his political decisions and in those whom he picks as his friends and mentors.  Sarah Palin, on the other hand, has consistently shown good judgment in all that she does.

McCain and company would garner millions of more votes if they would stop playing Obama’s game and just drop that “experience” line and concentrate solely on Sarah’s good judgment and Obama’s lack thereof.

But, I digress.  Like I said, McCain kept his speech short and sweet, and then he handed the mike over to Sarah Palin.

The crowd went wild!!!  A chant of “Welcome to Missouri!!” came from one side of the crowd, while the other side responded with “Sarah Palin!!!” This went on, back and forth, for a few seconds, and then both sides began chanting, “Sarah!!! , Sarah!!!” – Definitely a stark contrast to McCain’s mild reception…

Anyway, after a while, the crowd died down to hear what Gov. Palin had to say.  She re-iterated her strong Conservative values, her pro-life position, how she had fought lobbyists, oil companies, special interest groups, corruption, and of course, “the good-old boy network” (which earned her a large round of cheers and applause).   She also struck a chord with the audience when she said, “We don’t want bigger government, we want a government that does a few big things and does them right!”

Her speech was pretty much a “this is who I am” speech.  If you have read the article we posted earlier, Meet Sarah Palin, then you are already familiar with most of the content of her speech.

All in all, I didn’t learn anything I didn’t already know.  However, it was important for her to get her story out to the public.  The more the public learns about Sarah Palin, the more they will embrace her.  She has definitely energized the Republican base.

Now it is time for her to energize America.

————-

Part II – Meet and Greet:

After Sarah Palin’s speech, the candidates went on a meet and greet with the crowd.  I wish that I had some pictures of Gov. Palin doing her meet and greet, but the crowd just swarmed her like bees on a queen and all I was able to get in the way of pictures was the back of a sea of heads.

However, unsurprisingly enough, I was able to get extremely close to Sen. McCain and his stunning wife.  Here are a couple of photos:

(Mrs. McCain clowning around for the cameras while her husband waves at supporters)

(Autograph hounds clamoring for that John Hancock from John McCain and his wife – I think I saw the girl in the yellow shirt faint from all the excitement of actually meeting McCain in person!  – Okay…  I might have made that last one up. 😉 )

(McCain checkin’ out that awesome beard – wishing you could grow one as cool as that, eh?)

———————

Part III – After the party is over.

Just a few pictures of the trash left over from the McCain/Palin Rally in Missouri:

Now, why did I show you pictures of the Trash after the McCain/Palin Rally in Missouri?

Peruse the following two pictures of the trash collected after Obama gave his brilliantly diaphanous speech at the DNC (H/T – the “Audacity of Deception & Hypocrisy” website):

Notice anything different?

That’s right.  The Republicans didn’t throw their flags on the ground or in the trash.  They took them home with them.

Mrs. Bulldog and I saw only one small flag accidentally hit the ground – it was picked up in short order and secured.  But, absolutely NO flags were left behind as garbage – I checked EVERY trash pile and trash receptacle after most everyone had left the rally.  None.   Zilch.  Nada.

And, that is an apt metaphor for what is wrong with the Obama campaign and what is right with McCain’s.

Explore posts in the same categories: Exclusive, patriotism, politics

13 Comments on “A Report on the McCain/Palin Rally in O’Fallon, Missouri – In 3 Parts”

  1. yonason Says:

    “And, that is an apt metaphor for what is wrong with the Obama campaign and what is right with McCain’s.” — DrB

    Brilliant!

  2. Ann Says:

    You should have come and sat by me. I got to shake hands with everyone and you would have gotten tons of great photos. I didn’t bring my camera…


  3. Ann,

    Drat! I wish I had known that beforehand. I was busy taking photographs and Mrs. Bulldog wasn’t able to man the cam-recorder because she was busy keeping an eye on our little princess.

    Maybe we can hook up for the next event, as I’m pretty sure McCain and Palin are going to hit Missouri at least once or twice more before the November elections and it would be very helpful to have another camera operator.

    Cheers

    P.S. – I wrote the following in a previous comment, but I thought I’d include it here, because hey, I’m a damn proud father:

    Our little 14 month old princess enjoyed the rally immensely. She even applauded in all the right places and went into a horrific screaming fit when they mentioned Obama’s name… All those around us were very much taken with her and her perspicaciousness.

    Such a good little girl she is…

  4. Ron Says:

    Yes, Palin is smart, conservative and an experienced executive. But she is also HOT!


  5. Ron,

    Hey, I’m a married man and Mrs. Bulldog is an expert marksman, so for my safety’s sake, I pretend not to notice stuff like that. 🙂

    Cheers

  6. 7heaven Says:

    It was a pleasure for my two daughters and me to volunteer at this event. The sweltering heat did take its toll, but the crowd quickly went crazy when the straight talk express pulled into the stadium and also when Senator McCain introduced Governor Palin. My family had quite a turn-around between Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, we weren’t even sure we wanted to attend. After the announcement on Friday, we sent in our email agreeing to volunteer as ushers.


  7. 7heaven,

    Yup, pretty much the same thing happened here. Mrs. Bulldog and I were in no way looking forward to pulling that lever for McCain in November, but when Sarah Palin was announced as the VP pick, we were ecstatic as we already knew about her from an interview she had done on Glenn Beck.

    Of course, the Liberals are having a field day with her daughter’s pregnancy. As if Obama’s mom and dad were saints…

    In the long run, it really doesn’t matter.

    I’m looking forward to the debates. Obama sucks when he doesn’t have a script!

    Hope to see you at the next event.

    Cheers

  8. KC Crab Says:

    Mark my words — John McCain will win Missouri because of Matt Blunt. Contrary to what you might read in the PD, a majority of Missourians are still very happy about the direction of the state and agree with McCain/Blunt on the issues. I think he’s been a strong surrogate for Big Mac and will continue to be.

  9. eideard Says:

    Still wasting time with nutball myths. Newspaper buddy of mine covered the Dem convention in Denver and went straight down to the field – actually to get a flag for his son – and found none.

    None in the trash. None on the ground. None in boxes.

    So, you ain’t lying – just dumb enough to believe the lies.

    Search the NEW MEXICAN newspaper: flags, democrat, convention – you’ll probably find the story.


  10. eideard,

    Gee, that’s odd… I have talked to seven other bloggers (two were Obama supporters) at the same convention and they all said that they saw flags in the trash and on the ground. In fact, I have even seen pictures of Joe Biden’s flag on the ground…

    Maybe your “Newspaper buddy” was looking in the wrong place. They were taped to the back of ALL the chairs at the convention. I just don’t see how he missed them, unless he was blinded by Obama’s brilliant diaphanousness.

  11. eideard Says:

    And – you begged the question. I don’t need to teach you how to Google nor do I need to provide a link.

    You know – I don’t think you will rely on anything closer to eyewitness accounts in the press vs. you “heard from”; so, here’s a link to Steve Terrell’s blog and the post which appeared first in the newspaper”

    http://steveterrell.blogspot.com/2008/09/roundhouse-round-up-flags-in-bags.html

  12. eideard Says:

    Oh – and visits by politicians to Missouri?

    http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=28651


  13. eideard,

    So? What’s your point? Steve Terrell admits he didn’t look all over the place, he admits that he DID find a flag on a chair, and he admits that he didn’t look IN the trash.

    The photos of the flags in the trash at the end of my article were taken IMMEDIATELY after the Democratic National Convention on the night of August 28th. Three days later, I took photos of the trash at conclusion of the McCain/Palin rally in Missouri.

    The photos tell the story – Flags in the trash at the DNC convention, NO flags in the trash at the McCain rally.

    And, believe me, I was SPECIFICALLY looking for ANY flag violations! That was pretty much one of my agendas for the ENTIRE rally!

    None of us were aware that this was about to make any headlines anywhere.

    Then, the “bags of flags” in Colorado made the news. That incident was well over a week AFTER the DNC Convention.

    Steve Terrell’s account was written AFTER the bags of flags made the news – almost two weeks AFTER the fact!

    So, who you gonna’ believe? The photos taken immediately afterward, or someone’s memory of the event almost two weeks after-the-fact…

    Here’s some more photos for you to ponder:

    Biden disrespecting the flag AT the DNC Convention:

    Lest you think that was taken immediately after the flag “accidentally” hit the deck, here’s on taken about half-an-hour later:

    Notice that all sorts of stuff has moved around under the chairs, yet the flag remains…

    As to your photo of the Obama rally.

    What’s your point?

    St. Louis has a population of over 1 million.

    Admission was free, it was downtown out in the open, it was on the weekend, and they had a live band, lots of food, etc.

    Heck, even my wife and I were going to go down there and check it out. And we can’t stand that whiny, lying, little Commie. The only thing that stopped us was that we had an emergency in the family.

    About 100,000 showed up at the rally. That’s a tenth of St. Louis’ population. Not to mention that a good chunk of the attendee’s were from Illinois and surrounding counties. I’ve seen bigger crowds at some of the free concerts they’ve had down by the arch.

    As for McCain’s rally on Monday at 8 a.m. in the freakin’ morning… Are you kidding me? I’m lucky if I have one eye open while I’m laying in bed at that hour of the morning. Plus, you had to previously have gotten tickets and then taken off of work, yada yada… For what? All to see McCain and NOT Sarah Palin?

    McCain’s a liberal. Missourians really aren’t fond of liberals…

    I’m telling you, people in Missouri like Sarah Palin MORE than Obama…

    Mark my words, that’s going to show in the election.

    Cheers


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