Warning: long post.

Normally it sucks to live in PA, because our primary is so late that it usually doesn't matter at all. However, with Hillary still sticking it out, State College has seen a fair share of important people show up. During the past month I have seen:

• Bill Clinton
• Chelsea Clinton
• Barack Obama
• Ann Coulter
• Jerome Bettis

Which one of those doesn't belong??? In case you were wondering, Bettis showed up for a "distingushed speaker" series.

Anyway, today Ron Paul came to give a speech. My friends and I were able to work our way up to the front row, and so I got to meet him after the speech. It was very cool! BTW, the demographic at a Ron Paul event is nothing short of amazing. You'd just have to be there to understand.

Picture during the speech:

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Me meeting Ron Paul afterwards. It's blurry and that's the back of my head (my roommate sucks at taking pictures and there were tons of people pushing).



He took a few seconds to get a real picture with me:



Oh btw, I guess I should give my impressions of everyone. These are just the things that stood out most to me. Bill Clinton seemed like the "sharpest" of all the speakers. He really knew what he wanted to say, how he wanted to say it, and seemed very practiced. Obama said the least in terms of substance out of all the speakers, which disappointed me. But, he is one hell of a motivator, and he really does a great job of spreading his "hopeful" message (as cliche' as that sounds).

Chelsea was a complete rambler. I was surprised that she wasn't a little more polished. When asked a question, she would go on and on for about 20 mins bouncing all over the place and not saying much at all. This was a pretty big letdown for me. Ann Coulter SHOCKED the hell out of me, by being reasonable, incredibly intelligent, and making sound arguments. I guess when she isn't on TV she actually stops being the world's biggest bitch. The worst people at that event were the ones who went to protest her and yelled while she was talking... but she handled it with class and I was amazed.

Jerome Bettis was awesome. Not much to say here, he gave the kind of speech that you would expect a good football player to give. Work hard, succeed, etc. And finally Ron Paul today was "typical," in that I got pretty much what I expected. I kinda had a feeling what he would say, and he was just like he is on TV. If you agree with him or not, you left knowing that he is an honest guy, believes what he is saying, man of the people, etc. I was pleasantly surprised that he stayed around until every single person (literally) that wanted to meet him got the opportunity (his speech was like 40 mins, and he stayed an extra 1 1/2 hours). He really knows how to work a grass roots campaign.

Sorry for the long post. I thought it might interest *someone* out there. I'm glad I got to see people from all sides make their case... I feel very privileged for that.

first: to read whole post

I love Ron Paul for his honesty even though his politics are kind of ancient history it still makes a ton of sense and his honesty is a breath of fresh air. Also very cool that a 70+ year old man stuck around to take pictures and talk with everyone. Good post imo.

Very cool Sir!

RON PAUL FTW!!!

Well that's kind of an interesting point that you bring up Lenny, and one that he addressed during the speech. Many people are wondering "WHY?" would he ever stick around when realistically he has no chance of ever becomming president.

He said that, as long as there is money in the bank (through personal donations only), and people are eager to hear his message, then he will continue on. He claimed that last year when people started asking him to run, he told them no because he assumed that no one was ready to hear what he had to say. He said that he thought it would take 1 more generation of "education" for people to finally realize how much trouble we are in and how to fix it. But now that he's started he realizes that his message really resonates with people and that it's important for him to continue spreading it, even if it only means letting the rest of the country know that there is a large group of people with a differing opinion. It almost seemed like a personal conviction to me... sort of like Al Gore and global warming.

One interested story he told was of a few congressmen asking him, "how do you raise so much money on the internet?" They were so curious about the ways in which he utilizes the internet to collection donations. He told them that they were thinking about it the wrong way.... he doesn't even know how to use the internet. He simply tells the truth, fights for what he thinks is right, and is 100% consistent with his record/beliefs, and that those things are what brings in the money. The message itself spreading at a grassroots level is what it's all about... not being hip or tech savvy.

That's what I gathered from his speech anyway. It was refreshing to hear an honest politician who stands up for what he believes in (the constitution), and has the integrity to actually vote that way (he's usually the 1, in 434-1).

Pretty sure that Paul already won his primary and expects to be running unopposed. He is very popular in his home district.

DAMN IT! Ive always wanted to hear Jerome's opinion on the Presidential election. Some great insight I'm sure.

he already won the primary 70-30