A Democratic Rally in Winston Salem? A Hillary one??
Last Thursday, Hillary Clinton came to Winston-Salem for a political rally. The doors were to open at 4pm and Hillary was supposed to speak at 5:30pm. Sure, i probably should have stayed at home and done some homework. At the same time, there’s always more work to do and Hillary Clinton isn’t in town every day. So off to the rally a friend and I went.
We arrived at Forsyth Technical College’s West Campus and waited in line to get in. Outside, someone was driving by in a car and a trailer. The trailer had a missile on it with “No More War” written on the side I believe. A school bus drove by a bit later and someone inside yelled “Obama!” As we waited, people came up and hawked their Hillary ‘08 trinkets. Finally, the line started to move and people entered the building.
I expected there would be some security, but I didn’t imagine they would confiscate my keychain Leatherman. Even the TSA allows my Leatherman on flights now! The security guy saw the tool almost immediately and said I either had to give up the tool or go put it back in my car. Faced with the option of losing my tool or walking all the way back to the car and risk not being able to get back in, I gave up my tool. At this point I’m invested in seeing Hillary. She just cost me a Leatherman!
Once inside, walked past the stage and found a spot on the bleachers. A smattering of media were fenced off in the back. Local news anchors filed their reports while we waited for Hillary. 5:30 came and went. Some people went through the crowd and handed out campaign stickers and Hillary signs. Anyone who wanted a sign was able to get one. Especially if you were sitting beneath the flag like here:
It wasn’t until almost 7pm before Hillary appeared. When she finally showed, the crowd exploded.
After the applause died down, she gave a speech that lasted the better part of an hour. She did a survey the issues: the economy, the war, healthcare, educational issues, foreign policy. She pointed out one of the babies in the crowd. All the bullet points were hit.
The speech couldn’t sway my pro-Obama friend but it played well to the receptive crowd.
After the speech, Hillary did the routine of shaking hands, signing autographs, and taking pictures. Her assistant Huma Abedin made an appearance at this point. Yes, she is amazing in person.
Now if I can only make it to an Obama rally to have a point of comparison….
The only downside of all this? Now that I’ve tried using my Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens at more events, I’ve realized a wider aperture would be nice. Something like this Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8. That is going to be a problem…..
tags: 2008, clinton, democrats, forsyth technical college, hillary, hillary 08, hillary-clinton, hllary, politics, winstonsalem
