Campaign Season

It's my favorite time of every four years: election season!  As of Saturday, all the speculation about who will run with and against whom ended, and we know the players: Obama-Biden against Romney-Ryan.  (Random question and a prize for the winner: has any president ever switched his VP when he ran for re-election?)  I get fed up with the intra-party politicking that leads up to this moment, but now we have the real players in the game.

In honor of having the real players in the game, I attended a rally for Mitt Romney on Saturday.  I would not let my parents get photographic evidence of this event, but now I am admitting in writing.  He announced Paul Ryan as his running mate earlier that day in Norfolk, so I had the unexpected luck of seeing and hearing both of them.

After waiting in a winding line and hearing my mother's worries that we would not get in, we made it to the rally and found standing room where, if I stood on my tiptoes and twisted my neck and the lady in front of me was not standing on the edge of the pillar, I could see illuminated faces of politicians floating over the podium.

This prime viewing real estate became extremely valuable when the speeches ended and the crowds rushed forth to watch the buses pull away.  We were at the front then, pushed up against the barriers at the side of the street.  George Allen was working the crowd from the pavement, so we shook hands with him, and he stopped to chat with each cluster of people along the way.

To my blue friends: do not worry -- I am not turning red!  To my red friends: do not worry -- I still don't like Obama.  I simply loved the chance to be in the middle of our beautiful, messy political process and feed off the emotional energy of the excited crowds.  Also, I got to snap a few photos for a little old lady standing next to me and enjoy her delighted gratitude, possibly the best part of the day.