Recap of Romney and Santorum events.

Like some of you already know, I had the privilege of attending campaign rallies held by both Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney here in Illinois last night. It was a fun experience and a new one for me. In the rare instances that presidential candidates have stopped here in Peoria in the past I was either A) not interested enough to go or B) working. This year is different. Let's just say, if a potato was running for president against Barack Obama and made a campaign stop here, I would go. At any rate, it was a fun night. So let's begin.

Romney was set to start at 5pm at the Bradley University campus in Peoria. When we arrived at around 4, there were still chairs available and we snagged 3, just a few rows back from the front. Just in time too. The place filled up in a hurry right after that, and by 4:30, all the seats were taken and people had begun to congregate behind, and around the sides.

Approaching the area at 4pm.

Many of the early birds were Bradley students.

More and more began to show up.

By the time 5pm rolled around, it was packed. I had already begun to notice a few liberal protesters. Two of them stood in the back, proudly holding up Planned Parenthood signs.

PJstar.com

After brief remarks by the Bradley University president and our Congressman here, Aaron Schock, Romney took the stage.

The crowd was far larger and far more enthusiastic than I had expected and I was pleasantly surprised by Mitt's remarks. He gave his usual "private sector" pitch, hammering Obama the entire way. I am still undecided whether to vote for him, Santorum, or Gingrich, but it was nice to be there for the experience either way. The real fireworks, though, didn't start until the end, when Romney fielded questions from the audience. The first question was from an arrogant, ignorant, college female. I would guess she was no more than 20 years of age, and her question went something like this...
*in bitchy tone*
"So, you're all for like-yay freedom and like-yay pursuit of happiness. You know what would make me happy? Free birth control."


There were a few feminazis in the crowd who responded with bitchly squeals of glee. And there were a lot of boos too. Mitt looked and sounded unusually ticked when he replied to her..."If you're looking to get free stuff that you don't want to pay for, you better vote for the other guy." If there was one moment I did clap during this rally, it was then. Here is a short version of that exchange:

After Mitt's reply, there were screams of approval from a ton of conservative women in the crowd, particularly college women. And it made me think..."WHAT Republican war on women?" Romney sent her packing. Literally. After getting the backhand pimpslap from Romney, she left the rally through the back.

You can watch all the highlights in this clip...

Birth control question comes at 4:00

A few other questions were answered before it was time to close shop, and the rally wrapped up around 6pm. Overall, I liked what Mitt had to say. I think the guy is a winner, a leader, and highly intelligent. A lot of people scattered to their vehicles to head across the river to East Peoria, where Rick Santorum would be arriving in a little over an hour. I would later recognize a lot of people at the Santorum event whom I had just seen at the Romney event. I thought that was interesting. We talked to a few and it all seemed to be the same sentiment. Anyone but Obama.

As we walked back to the car, I noticed a contingent of Ron Paul supporters. They would make the trek across the river to protest Santorum too. Too bad their guy didn't come to town.

We headed across the river to East Peoria, arriving at the location for Santorum's rally, Davis Brothers Pizza. He was set to arrive at 7:30. When we got there a little after 6, there was a small crowd of a few hundred mingling around, some enjoying slices of pizza.

Then Santorum's bus arrived....

Much like the Romney rally, people arrived quickly, and the place filled up like lightning. There were no chairs at this one, and by the time Santorum actually did come on stage, we were packed shoulder to shoulder like sardines. It was not comfortable at all. But I will say this. The atmosphere at the Santorum event was completely different. It was energetic, enthusiastic, and boisterous. There is a sense of camaraderie among his supporters, as they are all tightly knit through common religious and social beliefs. Country music was the genre of choice. Excitement was in the air.

Just as Santorum was set to speak...my camera battery died. Yes, yes I know. I am sure you realize photography is not my forte by now. So I have stolen a few pictures from around the internet.

 Adding even more uniqueness to the experience, the Pledge of Allegiance was said before the speech, as well as a prayer from a Catholic priest. Now I can truly understand why liberals despise him so much! Oh, and Ron Paul supporters too. The same ones that trolled the Romney event were here too, occasionally yelling, "Ron Paul!" in the middle of Santorum's remarks. I distinctly remember this guy...

And there was also another multicolored hippie sign from the Paul squad that read, "Make Peace Not War." Still have yet to find a picture of that one.

The Santorum crowd was very, hmm...Pleasantville-ish. Homely. Definitely rural. But they were all extremely friendly and sociable. Like I mentioned earlier, many, like us, had just come from the Romney event. We actually spotted the couple that sat in front of us an hour before at Bradley within minutes of arriving at the pizza place.

Santorum gave a pretty good speech, but you could tell he was a bit tired, as this was his last campaign stop of the day, which included stops in Dixon, Moline, and Galesburg as well. The crowd loved him, and after attending this event, I would put Santorum supporters up there with Ron Paul supporters for the loyalty crown any day.

To sum it up, I enjoyed both rallies and I only hope, whoever is the nominee stops here again in the fall! I like Romney and I like Santorum. Still not sure who is going to get my vote tomorrow, but I will decide that in the voting booth, much in the same way I procrastinated my way through school. I hope all have enjoyed this report.

Hack out.