My first rally!

I've been to protests before, but never a rally. I protested against Bush Sr. when I was in college when he visited SF. Marched in SF twice against the war in Iraq.

But today I participated in my very first political rally in support of my main man Dr. Ron Paul. Sadly, you can't see me and my son in this video clip - we are smack in the middle of the crowd. But it gives you an idea of what is was like:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4585772929994309547&q=ron+paul+mountain+view&total=27&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1


I think there were about 5-600 people there....but I'm terrible with numbers. It was cool sitting in the sun checking out all the people showing up.

The most supreme moment for me was during a certain part of Dr. Paul's speech when he spelled out - almost word for word - what I wrote in my last blog! (you know, the part about individual rights). It was surreal, because one of my goals is to get better at articulating what I believe in and stand for. Hopefully I'm off to a good start.

After the rally, we went to a fundraising luncheon with 200 other intimate friends of Dr. Paul. I was bummed that right before he got to me and Richard in the handshaking/picture taking crowd, he was directed to his table by his campaign manager. Wah.

It was a decent lunch, chatting up people from Modesto and Google employees. Dr. Paul spoke again and these are the two ideas I came away with:

1.) The ideas of liberty and freedom are not radical - they are actually conservative and traditional (even though they seem crazy in today's world). It is actually our country's foreign policy which has engaged us in (undeclared) foreign wars for the last fifty years that is radical. It is the government's economic policy of printing up money when it runs out that is crazy.

2.) Freedom works. Morally, practically, economically, environmentally, securitarily :) Any way you cut it freedom works better as a political system than centrally planned, socialist, military industrial, special group biased, welfare states (in case you are wondering, this is what we have now)

At the end of the event, I was saying thanks to the organizer when I was broadsided by a man with a camera. "When did you first hear about Dr. Paul?"

"Uh...(deer in headlights)...I... ah...well....I had heard of him before, but I was so glad to hear he was running for president."

I can safely say ALL my responses were lame. Mostly because I was nervous and embarrassed. I didn't know where to look! The camera? The guy? Someone else? Duh....

My sweetie son made me feel better later. He said, "Mom, you said just what I said when I was interviewed." "What was that?" I asked. "The truth."

OK - I can live with that.

Go Ron Paul!