Attending a Ryan Rally

Today started out dark, gloomy and cold. One bus headed for the victory center in the Centerville community, and the bus we were on headed for Beavercreek, where we have worked since Thursday morning. We all had on several layers of clothes to shield us from the cold. Once we were at the center, we picked up our clipboards, got in the waiting cars, and headed for the areas we were assigned to for today.


Jacob and I had several interesting encounters this morning. One lady we called on asked if we had seen the film, “2016”. I told her that I had seen it the day it opened. She told us that she had seen it, and begged here sister (a Democrat) to go and watch “2016” before she voted. The sister took the suggestion, watched the movie, and decided to vote for Romney as a result. Now she is recommending to her friends that they also watch the film before they vote.

We met a couple who were involved in moving into a new house. They man had on a NASA cap, and I asked him about it. He said that he and his wife were supporting Romney, and one reason was because her father worked for NASA and they were hoping Romney would get NASA back on the right track.

We went to another house, but when we got to the door they had a sign requesting “no solicitors”. When we saw the sign we respected their wishes, turned, and headed away from the house. The door opened, and a man leaned out and asked, “Can I help you?” We told him that we were from the Romney-Ryan team and we did not wish to disturb him. He told us that he and his wife were definitely voting for Romney and they appreciated our efforts. The reason the sign was on the door was because his wife had just given birth to twins. One of the twins had died, and they were extremely anxious about the other one. They were struggling with medical bills related to the baby and were supporting Romney in hopes he can get the “medical mess Obama has us in” straightened out. So many stories…

We were late getting back to the center for lunch. The group had walked down the strip mall to a restaurant, and most of them had finished eating by the time we got there. Since we were to have a short afternoon of door-to-door work anyway, the four of us decided to stay and work at the center instead of getting out again for such a short time. We spent the afternoon stuffing bags of literature, while several others made phone calls.

During the afternoon, a gentleman came into the center looking for a “nice couple from Alabama” who had stopped at his house that morning. We finally figured out who went to his house, and he wanted us to give them a message. “The couple from Alabama asked us to go on and vote early to make sure nothing happened to hinder us from getting our votes cast on election day. After they left, my wife and I got in the car and went to vote. We wanted to thank the couple, and tell them that we did just what they told us to do!”

Later in the afternoon another man just wandered into the center and said, “I want to donate to the Romney campaign.” People in Ohio who support Romney do it with their heart and their pocketbooks! You have to admire them!

Our dinner arrived about 4:00. We had to knock off early because we were going to a Paul Ryan rally in the neighboring county. Dinner was Chick-fil-A boxed lunches again, and we were to eat them on the bus while riding to the rally.

Before we left the victory center, the workers thanked us for our work and told us that through the efforts of the Alabama volunteers, 20,000 homes had been contacted for the Romney-Ryan ticket since Thursday morning. Including our efforts, this week the party had contacted 300,000 people in Ohio!

The bus captain asked Bailey and Jacob to help distribute the lunches. Since both of the boys have reputations of eating most of the things that come near them, someone said it was sort of like putting the inmates in charge of the prison.

The route to the rally took us through scenic Ohio farmland and small rural communities. The rally was in Sabina, Ohio at the East Clinton High School. It was held in the gymnasium, and we were serenaded small-town-style by the high school band before the events began. I was seated next to a lady I did not know who lived in Ohio. When she saw my name tag, she thanked me over and over for coming to help with the campaign. The people in Ohio seem to really appreciate our efforts.

We had our Romney signs to hold, and flags to wave. Having never been to a rally like this, most of us thoroughly enjoyed the event. It was interesting to watch the many Secret Service men with eyes constantly scanning the crowd.

Several local dignitaries spoke briefly, and then the Ryan children came out and greeted the group, throwing Romney-Ryan T-shirts out into the crowd.

The group watched a video about Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan on a large screen.

The entire Ryan family appeared to greet the audience.

Paul Ryan spoke to the crowd and received several rounds of applause and standing ovations. His comments were extremely well-received, especially the comment where he reminded us that we don’t want to wait four more years for a change. We just want to wait ten days!

Ten more days! Tomorrow we will be down to “single digits” until the big day. Tomorrow is also the day we travel back to Alabama. We could do much more work here, but our time is up. We will have one more post on this “journey” tomorrow evening, once we are “back home in Alabama”.