Below is the summary from a Thornbury resident who was at the Ryan Rally, interesting perspective passed on to us by Fran Coppock:
Subject: The Ryan Rally -West Chester 8/21/12
I had the opportunity to attend the Ryan Rally on Aug. 21 at the American Helicopter Museum. I went early to beat the crowd and the traffic. It was a climatically great day and well attended. Spoke with one of the organizers (Val-Chester Country Rep. Party) the day before who hoped for 1000-1500, well by speech time the crowd was in excess of 4000, all on a small grassy plot, in front of 4 helicopters on display.
The crowd was very varied, from old folks like me to a lot of young people (under 40 is young to me), babies, Veterans, some of my students and their parents. Spoke to a lot of people -there was an air of anticipation, and even subliminal Hope in the air. There was a group of protestors near the drive-in entrance, led by Sen Lautenberg, NJ. I had my clearances and some time, so I went over to them to ask why they were protesting, and did they need any water. I listened to their concerns for about 15 minutes, and in the end offered to escort them in, IF they would stay together and be quiet during the speech. The offer was declined. I sent them some waters later–they were thankful from what I heard.
So it was onto the main show.
The crowd starting getting heavy around 1:30 and the lines of people on foot and the cars waiting to come in and park, were getting longer. Everyone was friendly, cooperative, and really -there was a lot of laughter and just general happiness amongst the crowd. It was like a big community picnic and not a political agenda. The Secret Service and all the enforcement agents were courteous; and when processing started, they were swift and organized. I really appreciated how they, and others, helped the really old with oxygen tanks, or in wheelchairs – to get processed, in and placed near the podium. Those guys are very tough, but they carry a lot of Heart under that badge – today it showed and we were all proud of them.
Rep. Ryan was due to arrive at 3:30 and was on time!!! BUT – before he spoke a lot of neat things happened. The Sheriff lead the Pledge of Alliegiance, the National Anthem was sung (w/o musical accompaniment) by a Henderson High student – she was simple and beautiful – definitely a huge improvement over what we get for Super Bowls, especially. She sent the crowd wild!!!! Val made a few remarks, primarily thanking all for attending and their patience. Rep. Gerlach, and State Sen. Pileggi – spoke a very few minutes – all positive about the ticket, the issues, the Election and the differences. The best comment was “We cannot wait for the Biden-Ryan debate” – crowd went wild again!!!!
Then Rep. Ryan was introduced. A thunderous ovation ensued for a few minutes. He began his speech – the crowd was very, very quiet – we were all paying attention!!!
He thanked all for coming, noted the historical connections of helicopters to the region and the jobs that were created by them. He went into detail on unemployment numbers for PA; current pending Defense cuts mandated – and it’s effect on our area. He offered that the Rep. ticket’s first priority is to protect our citizens and they would enact legislation to reduce mandated cuts. He spoke to Medicare/Social Security issues and the differences of the Parties and the effect of the election. He specifically said, that the Ticket wants to retain Medicare, but doesn’t want to rob other programs to do so (Cheers). He spoke at some length on the ethical differences of this election. He highlighted his remarks by responding to comments made by our current President. The most egregious (to me and almost all of the crowd) was the comment about business – “You didn’t make that ****”, it was government help that made all the business successful”. Ryan’s response was,as anticipated – how would a person who never had a job know what a businessman has to go through? how could he forget our country was and still is, built upon a free economy, our own “smarts” and good old American hard work? (CHEERS!!!!). I’ve run my own business and been there – our current Pres. – just based on his complete abandonment of American business, does not deserve re-election, or even re-consideration!!!! But, back to the speech. He asked us all to vote for the Rep. ticket; to weigh the issues; to do the right thing for the Country. He thanked us all — and you know what – he meant it from the Heart. We all felt it.
After the speech, he jumped into the crowd up front – you felt like he really wanted to be here. He may not have Obama’s oratorical skills – but I”ll alway take the man who speaks from the Heart, and not the teleprompter (there weren’t any). He’s funny, friendly, and has a leadership aura about him. He’s most effective comment (for me) was – “When Gov. Romney and I get elected – when we make a mistake, WE will be responsible and not ever lay the blame elsewhere”. Kinda sums it up.
Today, for the first time in a long time, I was once again proud to be
An American
Thank you Fran for passing on a great post.