Guest Friday - Nathaniel Wise

Yesterday I went to my second political rally; my first since registering to vote. It was a Sarah Palin rally, at Bowman field in Williamsport, PA. G, N (<-- Myself) and SP (<-- a friend from Camp Susque) got there at about 4:20, and found an enormously long line. It moved very fast, however, so it only took about 20 or 30 minutes to get into the stadium. While in line, we met up with other friends from Camp/homeschool groups. In as much as it was somewhat boring in line, despite three mounted police officers, I and my homeschool buddy decided to amuse ourselves in the following way: first, we tried to trade my campaign pin (a boring blue McCain pin) for one of the vastly more awesome pins being foisted off at exorbitantly high prices by wandering vendors. We approached three such vendors with the following proposition - Me: "Can I trade my pin for one on your display board?" Vendor: "No, I don't have that pin, so you can't." J and I tried three different vendors, but they all turned us down. So, for the next one we decided to up the ante: in addition to the McCain campaign pin, we would also offer the sum of $1.00 (US) for one of their snazzier pins. And, lo and behold, the fourth vendor was all like, "Sure, why not?" So I picked out a giant yellow pin, with a smiley face (wearing an Uncle Sam top hat and carrying a cane), and gave him his promised reward. We walked away; I happened to look back, and noticed that he was busying himself in attaching his newly begotten, slightly-used-but-still-in-good-condition-campaign-pin to his vendor board. YES! Score one for outgoing, non-introverted homeschoolers. Later, the same homeschoolers tried to start up a game of "Bigger and Better", but it didn't catch. We were ignored by four people, and only managed one round: a Tootsie-Roll to a one dollar bill. Oh well...

Anyway, here're some pictures of the rally.

^ This is the crowd that was standing in the infield of Bowman field. According to the mayor of Williamsport in his address before Governor Palin, there were 13,000 people in attendance, making us the largest group that the GOP vice-presidential candidate had ever spoken to! Woohoo!

This is Sarah and Todd Palin, during her address. If this picture were about two inches wider on the right, you would be able to see myself and most of the people mentioned above.

An interesting anecdote to fill up the white space: one of my homeschool friends had brought in a custom made sign she had produced at her graphics design company (Moonlight Graphics). It said, "Gun slingin' Bible clingin' redneck". As Gov. Palin was walking to the podium and doing her obligatory "wave to the entire crowd" routine, she noticed SW's sign, and apparently liked it, as she went so far as to call it to Mr. Palin's attention! Needless to say, SW and Co. were thrilled to be so noticed! But our story gets better. At the end of the rally, Gov. Palin was signing placards and tickets, and shaking hands. SW managed to get her placard up to the exit ramp, whereupon her entire (almost) reason for existence was promptly fulfilled: Gov. Palin took the sign, autographed it with a flourish, and held it up for the whole crowd to see! SW and friends could barely see straight, they were so ecstatic!

This incredibly large and high-resolution snapshot is of me and all the people who were in attendance with me. I have taken the liberty of pointing myself out with a bold red circle. (The photo was taken from the upper bleachers behind home plate, hence the mesh. I am sitting almost in the outfield, so that's why it is so small.)

(Unabashed plug: you can find my blog here.)