I Heart Halliburton- "Meeting Dick Cheney"
Surprisingly, all across the country is reporting about the Cheney Debate Rally that I attended last night. At first, it was just going to be a normal rally, where the vice president was to give a speech and then watch the debate with about 500 invited attendees. But, we didn't expect Senator John Kerry to shamelessly use Cheney's lesbian daughter as leverage in the debate! This of course meant that Lynn and Dick Cheney got a chance to give a response speech live from the Embassy Suites in Moon Twp. Thankfully I was there to see it all...
Classic Cheney
The event with Dick Cheney was the last of three stops he was making yesterday. This rally however, was a debate party that only involved people who were personally invited, through a state politician or volunteer manager. Luckily I happen to know both of those people and was able to get my hands on some tickets. Me, my brother, my parents, my friend Christoph, and my dad's boss and his wife all got to attend this prestigious event.
When we got there we jumped on the free pizza, wings, and pop they provided. (Okay, we didn't "jump" on them, per say, but we did stand next to them and eat em.) Might I add that it was delicious pizza from Uno. Who knew cheddar, mozzarella and pepperoni would all go together so well? It was also nice to be there and get recognized by numerous unknown Republicans who happened to see me the week before performing at the Zell Miller rally.
As the time for Dick grew nearer, the hall quickly filled. Chris, Danny, and I all wanted to get as close as possible to the front, in hopes of shaking his hand. Unfortunately, there was a velvet rope keeping us from getting close enough, we would need special tickets! Just when we were about to give up all hope of getting to touch the man who voted against Meals on Wheels (so badass!) I was pulled aside by Elizabeth Yorio. Elizabeth is the leader of the Victory Center out of Greensburg, and a personal friend of mine. When she took me aside, she handed me three blue tickets (tickets that would normally get me ON STAGE with him, but alas those spots were all filled) which would get me into the hand-shakin' section! Score!
The three of us squeezed through the line and managed to make it right up front, approximately 10 feet from where he would be speaking. But before Dick would come out and talk, we got to see such PA political celebrities like Tim Murphy, John Pippy, and Melissa Hart! After they were finished, Dick and Lynn Cheney came out and welcomed us all.
After his speech, he went around shaking hands... including mine! Oh what a strong grip, only that kind of grip could come from Wyoming. VP Cheney went into a hotel room to watch the Presidential Debate, while the rest of the 500 of us sat in the hall and watched it being projected on two huge screens.
In the bottom left of the picture, you can see my mom! She's looking insanely content, for some reason. (This picture is from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, taken by Lake Fong)
I will have commentary on the debate in a later post. Let me just say that it was an entirely different experience watching that debate with 500 people that think they way you do. So much cheering and booing and an overall excitement that I didn't get from sitting in my living room watching a tape of the last one.
Dick and Lynn came back out after the debate was finished and gave speeches that would be played on national news for the entire next day. They were responding to Kerry's insidious comments about Cheney's daughter Mary. Good job, Lynn!
And so ends another amazing political experience... All it takes is a little volunteer work, and you can get quite far. Quite far indeed.
Posted by MikeRubino at October 14, 2004 10:38 PM