McCain / Palin in Strongsville Ohio Road to Victory Rally AAR

self | 9 October 2008 | DollyCali

[DollyCali]

McCain/Palin Road to Victory Rally – Strongsville Ohio 7 Oct 08

After Action Report

Heavy rains predicted moved the venue from open outdoor common/square venue to the indoor community recreation center. Less people would get into the indoor facility and not easy notification. Doors “opened” at 2:15 and I got to the facility about noon & was about 50th in line. The first picture shows my vantage place to the door. Note also the umbrellas & rain garb. It was heavy misting when I got there but fortunately did NOT rain & cleared up a little by the time the doors opened.

Strongsville SW of Cleveland is a wonderful community of 44,000 population & an average household income of 85,000. In addition to residences, there is small manufacturing, many business and a republican mayor!!!

I took about 300 pix and some video clips. Sharing a few of the pix and the commentary



Below are the first folks in line who arrived at the rec center at 8 AM



Since 911 this is a common site at any presidential visit (or candidates in this case). Secret Service Sharp shooters abound



LOTS of children were at the rally & I was glad to see that parents pulled them from school for a civic lesson much more valuable than possibly other things on their regular agenda. Below is a little girl that caught not only my eye but many jouranlist's eyes..Her pix is in many of the papers & was on the news. She is shown with her three brothers one of whom is home on leave from the "Sandbox"






While I was in line several men inflated this elephant next to where we waited. It became a common background for pix. Here I am with him.



The small "Pep group" from The Strongsville HS Marching band was a great addition to the afternoon. I had heard them many times prior as a band show groupie & they played really fun, peppy music (Pep band? guess they better).. Johnny Be good was very well received! The played until about 4 PM when the speakers began



Before McCuda arrived there were many politicians in office & running for office who spoke. Some more energetic than others. This is my congressman Steve LaTourette.



The media getting situated. By the time the rally began about 4 the stands were loaded with reporters



Various crowd shots








When The McCains and Sarah Palin arrived it became bedlam. Screaming & greetings.. and for a long time. I was disappointed that Todd & the children were not along but I guess it is hard for them to all be everywhere. They were at the earlier stop during the day in Bethlehem PA. Meghan McCain was with her parents. Here is Cindy introducing Sarah. I had a fairly good position about 5/6 people BACK & maybe 20 feet from the podium but the teleprompter (blocking Cindy here in first pix) and a very tall man directly in front of me made GOOD pictures much more difficult to obtain













Sarah was wildly received.. and interrupted often with chants.. Sarah, Sarah, Sarah.. She made a surprise introduction of two Cleveland Browns. Back up Quarterback Brady Quinn and Left Tackle Joe Thomas(Wisconsin). Quinn spoke (Joe did not) and introduced his dad a Marine Viet veteran & spoke of his pride of supporting McCain. He introduced John McCain.

A little funny aside. Many of us are very anxious for Brady Quinn to get to play. He was first round, first selection draft by the Browns several years ago (Notre Dame) but has been back up to starter Derek Anderson, who is having a rough start this year. When John McCain was speaking on the rough economy he stated something to the effect..

"many of you are wondering about your jobs... if you will have one next week".. Quinn at this point broke out in a big smile, Thomas gently nudged him & Quinn shook his head & looked down. Even pros athletes have these concerns we know! He is a handsome young bachelor as you can see & the women in audience were shouting out various hottie comments

Quinn said, pointing to John McCain. "We need heroes to inspire us to remind us that we are the greatest nation. Senator McCain embodies the American spirit."







Both Governor Palin and Senator McCain gave energetic speeches with a few new things to me since I heard them last in Vienna OH in September, mostly reflecting the recent downward spiral of economic issues..

The fire Marshall, police reps & city representative I spoke with all mentioned the numbers to be 15,000 outside, 4 thousand inside. It is a shame no one likes this ticket, isn’t it?

[DollyCali]

There was only ONE song by one performer. I had planned on taking pix of her after the first song "Proud to be an American".. but that was it & I was disappointed to not get a shot of her. BUT, was pleasantly surprised when I ate at Macaroni Grill (about across from Rec center) when I noted her at the next table to me. Her name is Logan Wells and she has a wonderful voice, stage presence & spirit. Her site is Here . Locals can catch her this Friday evening 8-11 at Triv’s in Strongsville (see site) .

[Ladysmith]

Great post, pictures, and action report, Doli! The little girl is adorable (and our future!)

[DollyCali]

P--I--N--G

Graphic Intense

The predicted heavy rains never happened while I was in line (for several hours) to get into the venue.. and the rally & the people/attendees were all great

Most people were clueless as to the (well publicized ) rules on what to take in & NOT bring. The secret service (meanies) took umbrellas, drinks, knives, nail clippers etc.

Here I am with an inflatable elephant which was quite popular for pix taking.

[itsthejourney]

Wow, looks like a good time was had by all. Thanks for the pics!

YEA! GO BAND GEEKS!!!!

[mylife]

Great job Dolly!

I’m getting homesick ;)

[EBH]

Great report and we were so close to each other! Wow. It was a very worthwhile experience!

[Molly Pitcher]

Just excellent, Dolly! WTG, and thanks so much for being there, and reporting to us.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Wonderful report Dolly. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us!

I noticed that Ohio and California (my home, although I used to live in Massillon) have something in common today -- the Tax Foundation rated OH as #47 in its State Business Tax Climate Index. California came in even lower in the #48 slot! We'll race you to the bottom! Ohio Rated As Top 5 Anti Business States

[The Mayor]

Great post Dolly!

[jwalsh07]

Great report, FR at it’s finest!

[DollyCali]

oh you were there? where were you standing?(or sitting, a few were)

[Homer_J_Simpson]

I didn’t know there were so many bitter clingers in Ohio. We are an endangered species here in No. Calif.

[Hoodlum91]

Great pics Dolly!

In that last one, Meghan McCain seems to be checking out Brady Quinn. Can’t say I blame her!

[DollyCali]

I kept a close eye on them on stage.. not much interaction(drat).. who knows though. Brady might have a GF

[Kitty Mittens]

Wonderful Report and Pics, Dolly! I Love the Pic of the Little Girl who Wants to Grow Up to be Sarah, and Sarah is So Awesome in the Pics you Snapped. I just Adore her; she has Extrodinary Beauty and Grace, and Most of All, a Beautiful and Kind Heart; we are So Blessed to have her on the Ticket!

[Las Vegas Dave]

Ohio Ping!

To be added to the Ohio Ping List, please freepmail (works best)
both TonyRo76 and LasVegasDave.

[griswold3]

Way to represent, DollyCali!
I’m stuck here in Champaign County!
O-H-

[Scarpetta]

Sarah is so photogenic.

Meghan Mac looks like she has the hots for Brady. Can’t say I blame her.

[cleveland gop]

Wish I could have there but thanks to your pics, it feels like I was.

Sarah will be in the area again tomorrow at a fundraiser hosted by area businessman Tony George.

[cleveland gop]

Meghan eyed Brady not once, but twice!!

[bert]

Great report Dolly.....

One can only wonder about the efforts to overcome the the good people of Ohio with fraud and theft of the election.

What’s the word on the street?

[DollyCali]

boy would I LOVE To be there with Tony George... like his restaurant in Akron

.. the fund raisers are unfortunately not possible for me. I struggle to put together gas money to get to these rallys & other political things!

[tommix2]

Thank you Dolly

[EBH]

Yep! I was there too.

In your 12th picture posted there is a lady in a black and white tank top. Her son is in front of her. To the left you’ll see a tiny head just eyes and hair...LOL...that’s me!

Now you all see why my pictures are not postable. The guy in picture 10/11 in the blue jacket was in front of me most of the time.

Here’s my report!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2101186/posts

[EBH]

Argh!!!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2101191/posts

[DollyCali]

okay, I think I picked you out. I will see if I have any more pix. I did take ONE short group video but it was early about 2 ish

We were very close to each other in that huge crowd!

[Shyla]

Great Job Dolly!!!!

You rock.

Sorry I had to miss this.

[DollyCali]

I have found 4 other photos that I shot in your directions. I would be glad to email them to you. (dont really want to put them on my server)

I have NOT done any editing but have reduced them to internet friendly size. (I take very big file pix & reduce for use)

FReepmail me your email & I will send them off to you. My email has DollyBicycle as part of addy so you will recognize “me”

[PhillipM]

There is an interesting video from the rally
at
http://bloggerinterrupted.com/2008/10/video-the-mccain-palin-mob-in-strongsville-ohio

Does anyone know the blond young lady who got in the face/lens of this blogger?

[weston]

That's all this guy got on video? His video is laughable and there's McCain with 22 years in the mil. 5 years as a noted POW and 26 years as senator.All he can ask is "how long have you known Sarah Palin?"

EVERYONE has heard of John McCain and know his record!

Barak can only be compared to Sarah, because to compare him to John McCain makes Hussein look like the little baby he is

[OneLoyalAmerican]

Greetings PhillipM:

This is a hoot. Too bad I wasn’t there. Because in 2003, I laughed when my congresscritter, Danny K. Davis (D-IL), floated Marxist-Socialist “Barry-O” as a US Senate candidate.

Barry still isn’t qualified to be Cook County IL dog catcher. But somehow democRats “Believe” he’s ready for Commander in Chief.

Cheers,
OLA

[OneLoyalAmerican]

Greetings DollyCali:

Thanks for the great report. Barry was in Portsmouth yesterday. And Barry’s campaign was trying to get Sue to attend the rally, offering to pick her up, and drive her there and back (one hour each way) if she wanted to attend. Because Sue pulled an Operation Chaos ballot for Hillary.

Sue told the caller, she was too busy, but they can “believe” she was voting for “change.”

Cheers,
OLA

[DollyCali]

Thanks for posting this. I saw the group doing the interviewing from my vantage point in line... they were two men at the turnaround if main entrance chatting with people as they arrived, of course the IDs for all media are on very small IDs worn around neck . On rare occasions there may be something on the video camera.

Dont know any of the interviewers/interviewees