Let’s Rally

On October 27th, 2016 I attended my first political rally. Though I am not a particularly political person, I felt that it wasn’t an option for me to see go see Michelle Obama and Hilary Clinton speak. I was overwhelmed before I even entered the venue. As I waited in the horrendously long line people approached me about buying all sorts of paraphernalia, volunteering to help the Democratic party and interviewing me for CNN. I quietly but quickly rejected each offer made to me and kept my eyes focused straight ahead in line.

Before it was time to see the two women everyone came for, we listened to countless people speak on behalf of the Democratic party, mayors, governors, senators, everyone associated with the Democratic party and North Carolina. At one point they asked for everyone who had already voted to raise their hands. The vast majority of the crowd flung their hand in the air. This told me that this rally was not to get people to vote for Hillary, but to get people to volunteer to get others who had yet to vote to support the Democratic party. As one man spoke he said, “Pull out your phones! Right now! Everyone!” in his attempt to get everyone to volunteer to go door to door to rally support for Hillary. For fear of being criticized for not following the man’s instructions, I whipped out my phone and scrolled through Instagram in order too look like I was participating. As ridiculous of me as this was, it shows how powerful and aggressive the speakers and crowd felt to me.

Once Hillary and Michelle took the stage the real performance began. Basically, Hillary talked crap about Trump and Michelle praised Hillary. It was all an act, each word skillfully scripted. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting but overall the rally was highly intriguing and overwhelming for someone as politically inept as me.