Report from columbia SC rally

[Larofeticus]

Just got back.

Arrived around 6:15 or so, we had already filled up a parking lot by that time. Lots of signs and bumperstickers everywhere. Took my 2x4 printed sign and went with a group of guys up to the bridge to hold banners for heavy evening traffic, including seeing ron arrive riding shotgun in the white van.

Stopped just as the introduction started and went to sit in the ampetheater, which was filled to capacity with a ring of standing room behind; I would approximate 400-500 spectators there. Quality introduction given by "the southern avenger" a talk radio personality from charleston. Ron arrived and gave a 20 minute speech which lasted 40 minutes because that pesky applause kept inturrupting him. He touched all the bases from iraq to the economy to civil liberties. Got the best applause from his get-rid-of-the-fed talk. Dr. Paul sounded really good, lots of energy and so forth; he's definately getting better at speaking to these crowds. It's very easy to percieve the honesty and straightforwardness of his speaking style, even though the extemporanious nature of it causes him to fumble with words occasionally.

After he finished he stepped down and started taking pictures and signing autographs, and approximately half the audience went and got in a massive line. I'll save it for the office opening tomorrow, myself. The granny warriors were in attendence and I dropped off $20 in gas money for them before I left.

[American]

Awesome, thanks for the update. Justin.tv was working for a tiny part of it, it looked like a big group.

Did you happen to take any pictures of video......:)

[goldstandard]

FOX Carolina covered this:

http://www.foxcarolina.com/video/14494333/index.html

[Jongleur]

I was there as well, in attendance with my 10-year-old daughter and two friends, one of whom is a left-leaning political junkie. She says she will attend events with each candidate at least twice before deciding, but she's an Edwards supporter.

The attendance was higher than I thought it might be. I'd estimate more like 300 people, but I don't know the capacity of the ampitheater. A lot of college kids and some high school kids, mostly looking normal to alternative (i.e., not many of those suited Young Republican drone kids). A small contingent of pro-gun rednecks. A few aging hippies. A lot of unclassifiable "normal" people.

Took the good doctor a little while to get warmed up. He started with stuff about monetary policy that didn't hit the crowd all that much (he's going to have to learn that the gold standard just isn't a resonating issue for most), then he got warmed up with the war, and really hit his stride when he spoke about freedom. Repealing the Patriot Act, getting out from under the UN/WTO/World Bank, eliminating the Federal Reserve, those all went over really well.

There was a long receiving line after the talk, and people seemed in good spirits. Lots of free stickers/signs/slim jims for all, and car magnets/shirts/etc for sale. I got a bumper sticker and a decal for my back window (been wanting one of those real bad).

I was happy with it, especially the size and mix of the turnout. My Edwards-supporting friend, who has been to a LOT of rallies in these parts, said that except for the "scary" cheer in response to gun rights, a lot of it "sounded like stuff the Democrats would say". She said that the crowd was smallish compared to what she's seen for Clinton and Obama, but that the kids looked much more "like Democrat kids" than "Republican kids". I think she was a little more intrigued than she'd like to admit. ;)

I'll be going to the office opening tomorrow.

- Topher

[krott5333]

I was there as well, in attendance with my 10-year-old daughter and two friends, one of whom is a left-leaning political junkie. She says she will attend events with each candidate at least twice before deciding, but she's an Edwards supporter.

The attendance was higher than I thought it might be. I'd estimate more like 300 people, but I don't know the capacity of the ampitheater. A lot of college kids and some high school kids, mostly looking normal to alternative (i.e., not many of those suited Young Republican drone kids). A small contingent of pro-gun rednecks. A few aging hippies. A lot of unclassifiable "normal" people.

Took the good doctor a little while to get warmed up. He started with stuff about monetary policy that didn't hit the crowd all that much (he's going to have to learn that the gold standard just isn't a resonating issue for most), then he got warmed up with the war, and really hit his stride when he spoke about freedom. Repealing the Patriot Act, getting out from under the UN/WTO/World Bank, eliminating the Federal Reserve, those all went over really well.

There was a long receiving line after the talk, and people seemed in good spirits. Lots of free stickers/signs/slim jims for all, and car magnets/shirts/etc for sale. I got a bumper sticker and a decal for my back window (been wanting one of those real bad).

I was happy with it, especially the size and mix of the turnout. My Edwards-supporting friend, who has been to a LOT of rallies in these parts, said that except for the "scary" cheer in response to gun rights, a lot of it "sounded like stuff the Democrats would say". She said that the crowd was smallish compared to what she's seen for Clinton and Obama, but that the kids looked much more "like Democrat kids" than "Republican kids". I think she was a little more intrigued than she'd like to admit. ;)

I'll be going to the office opening tomorrow.

- Topher


your daughters friend sounds like she would annoy the heck out of me.. I hate when people act like there are such huge differences between democrats and republicans.

[ButchHowdy]

Humphhh! . . . Those pesky applauses!

Thanks for the update!

[constituent]

Just got back.

Arrived around 6:15 or so, we had already filled up a parking lot by that time. Lots of signs and bumperstickers everywhere. Took my 2x4 printed sign and went with a group of guys up to the bridge to hold banners for heavy evening traffic, including seeing ron arrive riding shotgun in the white van.



Reading that makes me hope Dr. Paul has read those commercial scripts i've been plastering about and got a sense of hyper-surrealism the moment he passed beneath your signs.

That'd be something (and would certainly put a smile on my face).


Thanks for the report guys! Anyone w/ video?

[constituent]

Took the good doctor a little while to get warmed up. He started with stuff about monetary policy that didn't hit the crowd all that much (he's going to have to learn that the gold standard just isn't a resonating issue for most), then he got warmed up with the war, and really hit his stride when he spoke about freedom. Repealing the Patriot Act, getting out from under the UN/WTO/World Bank, eliminating the Federal Reserve, those all went over really well.



I think the good dr. still worries about those being his "fringe" policies. When you watch his speeches he always seems like he's trying to finesse the crowd at first, almost butter them up or apologize for bringing up 'politics' (I'm sure he's had plenty of uncomfortable silences in his time) and looks genuinely surprised when people start really getting in to it.

What he needs to work on is...

well... the best way to put it is that he needs to start at ten and work up to eleven, rather than starting at seven and working his way up to ten... you know what i mean?

Too often before a crowd he seems like he still feels the need to explain or disclaimer or buffer his REAL stance on issues... he doesn't realize (or is just beginning to realize) that the dynamic has changed...


anyway, enough of the rant.

[devil21]

I was there too! I thought there would have been a bigger crowd actually but still a good turnout I guess. It was my first time going to anything like that so maybe my expectations were too high?
Anyway, Ron did well but you can tell he is tired. And after seeing him (and shaking his hand and getting his autograph!) I can say that he does need to get better tailored suits. His suit just looked too big on him. My Kucinich supporting friend commented that he looked like a kid wearing his father's suit. He is a small man (Im 6'4 so most people are small to me) but could take a step up to tailored suits for a better presentation. This will most certainly need to be addressed in the near future.

Unfortunately my camcorder battery died on me before I could get anything other than this crappy picture:
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h60/devil21_photos/ronpaulrally.jpg

All in all it was truly an honor to shake Dr. Paul's hand and hear his message in person. I saw plenty of cameras so videos will be coming soon Im sure.

[LibertyEagle]

Well, he's spent hardly any time in S. Carolina. That is something that needs to be addressed.

[Ron Paul Fan]

Well, he's spent hardly any time in S. Carolina. That is something that needs to be addressed.

Seems as though it's being addressed right now don't ya think?

[Pete Kay]

It only looked like maybe a hundred people there by what I saw. I didn't count though but I don't think it was close 400. There was good energy there though. Considering that Dr. Paul is not the most crowd stirring speaker, people realy got hyped up at hearing his message.

[LibertyEagle]

Seems as though it's being addressed right now don't ya think?

3 days isn't enough.

[lx43]

I went to rally in Columbia today. I have some photos. How do you post them?

[Syren123]

Didn't they open a state office in SC today? That's pretty huge.

[lx43]

They opened one in Greenville. Should be opening another one in Columbia tomorrow morning. :D

[Mark]

I went to rally in Columbia today. I have some photos. How do you post them?
.


You need some kind of hosting account that can store pics..

like imageshack ect... or your own hosting account.. or.. maybe your ISP gives you some space to store pics..

then.. after they're posted in your account (whichever)

just post the URL to the pic..


.

[Larofeticus]

No man, there was alot more than 100. The ampetheater was a semicircle with around 5 tiers and standing room behind it, bottom teir had about 20, add 15-20 more since each tier is larger as you move towards the back.

There were maybe 100 cars in the parking lots though :P

[Razmear]

.


You need some kind of hosting account that can store pics..

like imageshack ect... or your own hosting account.. or.. maybe your ISP gives you some space to store pics..

then.. after they're posted in your account (whichever)

just post the URL to the pic..


.

http://flickr.com/
works great if you have a whole batch of photos you want to share, for a single one or two, imageshack.us is better. both are free.

eb

[vegetarianrpfan]

I guess I seem to disagree with previous posters on the quality of Dr. Paul's speech and how excited he and the crowd were at the start. I am what TIME would call a "nerd" who looks forward to every speech of Dr. Paul's and have now seen almost every one, and I thought it was the best speech I'd ever seen him give. He came out making jokes and smiling after a great introduction by the Southern Avenger, and without notes and straight from the heart, he gave a fantastic speech hitting all his key issues in a new and very powerful way. I got my money's worth, that's for sure!:D

He came out mentioning his Leno appearance, the Granny Warriors, and "Remember, remember, the 5th of November," saying that the media pays attention when he gets lots of money and he thinks he will on Nov. 5 as well. He said that many people thought it was just a few spammers driving his Internet campaign, "but how did they manage to spam 5 million dollars?"

He was the funniest I've ever seen him when he said that for 20 years in Congress, he was just seen as (paraphrasing) "that guy who votes against everything, we'll just let you go over there by yourself and vote no and we won't pay much attention to you." Now, though, his colleagues are coming up to him and asking him how he can get so much money and really paying attention.

The BEST part came near the end of the speech when he said "Members of Congress take an oath of allegiance to 'defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and--'" The whole crowd screamed "DOMESTIC" in unison and leapt to its feet wildly. That was fun, and I loved the reaction to that by the SC cops standing by the stage :) I was sitting next to "Steve the Sign Guy" and when RP mentioned "We do NOT need a national ID card!", Steve the Sign Guy yells, "Can I see your papers, please?"

Anyway, a good time was had by all, and the crowd was definitely closer to 400 than 100. There was also a significant military contingent. Some were holding up a large "Veterans for Ron Paul" sign, there were some current military members in full uniform, and a veteran of the 82nd Airborne was doing the lighting.

[ButchHowdy]

I guess I seem to disagree with previous posters on the quality of Dr. Paul's speech and how excited he and the crowd were at the start. I am what TIME would call a "nerd" who looks forward to every speech of Dr. Paul's and have now seen almost every one, and I thought it was the best speech I'd ever seen him give. He came out making jokes and smiling after a great introduction by the Southern Avenger, and without notes and straight from the heart, he gave a fantastic speech hitting all his key issues in a new and very powerful way. I got my money's worth, that's for sure!:D

He came out mentioning his Leno appearance, the Granny Warriors, and "Remember, remember, the 5th of November," saying that the media pays attention when he gets lots of money and he thinks he will on Nov. 5 as well. He said that many people thought it was just a few spammers driving his Internet campaign, "but how did they manage to spam 5 million dollars?"

He was the funniest I've ever seen him when he said that for 20 years in Congress, he was just seen as (paraphrasing) "that guy who votes against everything, we'll just let you go over there by yourself and vote no and we won't pay much attention to you." Now, though, his colleagues are coming up to him and asking him how he can get so much money and really paying attention.

The BEST part came near the end of the speech when he said "Members of Congress take an oath of allegiance to 'defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and--'" The whole crowd screamed "DOMESTIC" in unison and leapt to its feet wildly. That was fun, and I loved the reaction to that by the SC cops standing by the stage :) I was sitting next to "Steve the Sign Guy" and when RP mentioned "We do NOT need a national ID card!", Steve the Sign Guy yells, "Can I see your papers, please?"

Anyway, a good time was had by all, and the crowd was definitely closer to 400 than 100. There was also a significant military contingent. Some were holding up a large "Veterans for Ron Paul" sign, there were some current military members in full uniform, and a veteran of the 82nd Airborne was doing the lighting.

Great Report! I now feel like I was THERE!

[rancher89]

I guess I seem to disagree with previous posters on the quality of Dr. Paul's speech and how excited he and the crowd were at the start. I am what TIME would call a "nerd" who looks forward to every speech of Dr. Paul's and have now seen almost every one, and I thought it was the best speech I'd ever seen him give. He came out making jokes and smiling after a great introduction by the Southern Avenger, and without notes and straight from the heart, he gave a fantastic speech hitting all his key issues in a new and very powerful way. I got my money's worth, that's for sure!:D

He came out mentioning his Leno appearance, the Granny Warriors, and "Remember, remember, the 5th of November," saying that the media pays attention when he gets lots of money and he thinks he will on Nov. 5 as well. He said that many people thought it was just a few spammers driving his Internet campaign, "but how did they manage to spam 5 million dollars?"

He was the funniest I've ever seen him when he said that for 20 years in Congress, he was just seen as (paraphrasing) "that guy who votes against everything, we'll just let you go over there by yourself and vote no and we won't pay much attention to you." Now, though, his colleagues are coming up to him and asking him how he can get so much money and really paying attention.

The BEST part came near the end of the speech when he said "Members of Congress take an oath of allegiance to 'defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and--'" The whole crowd screamed "DOMESTIC" in unison and leapt to its feet wildly. That was fun, and I loved the reaction to that by the SC cops standing by the stage :) I was sitting next to "Steve the Sign Guy" and when RP mentioned "We do NOT need a national ID card!", Steve the Sign Guy yells, "Can I see your papers, please?"

Anyway, a good time was had by all, and the crowd was definitely closer to 400 than 100. There was also a significant military contingent. Some were holding up a large "Veterans for Ron Paul" sign, there were some current military members in full uniform, and a veteran of the 82nd Airborne was doing the lighting.

That was us with the big Veterans for Ron Paul sign! I hope to get those posted today--I agree with your post, very uplifting.

[rancher89]

FOX Carolina covered this:

http://www.foxcarolina.com/video/14494333/index.html

This is the coverage of the Greenville office, I hope someone covered the rally last night and is covering the granc opening right now!

[edmnn]

live at http://www.justin.tv/ronpaul

[rancher89]

Thank for the justin link, I'd forgotten.....

[rancher89]

Just turned justin off, audio was lousey and he only spoke for a few minutes. He looked rested, as expected. I saw some of the Charlotte meetup group there. Yeah Charlotte!!