It's no secret who I like in this presidential election - moreso who I DON'T like - so if you don't want to hear the man's name mentioned and good things said, then politely move on.  This is my blog and I'll say it how I want to say it.  pppttthhhhh!!!! 

Yesterday, Reese, Erik and I made the 90 min. trip to Apopka, FL (maybe it was quicker than that) to join in at a Mitt Romney event.  After seeing what has happened to our beloved country over the past 4 years, Reese (who gets to graduate the DAY AFTER he turns 18!!) and I are quite involved politically this year, trying to get our Marxist president out of office.  So we happily traveled to central FL to see his opponent.

Apparently, not a fan of Mitt Romney rallies!  LOL

From the beginning, we could see that the venue was poooooorly organized.  There was no provision made for disabled guests and no one seemed to have any idea what to do with a disabled guest.  Reese's leg is not fitting right so walking was really painful for him and he couldn't stand long or walk far - he needed assistance.  We finally made it to the amphitheater (which was quite nice but not nearly big enough for all of the people who showed up - it was packed!) to find that there was no "handicapped section" at all.  There were so many people standing that we couldn't see a thing, and Reese needed to sit on the grass.  Yeah, right.  Erik's nerves by now were shot (it was quite a story how we even GOT to the venue, but I'll save that story for another day), and he needed a seat, too.  No one was allowed to bring folding chairs, either, so everyone who wanted to sit, had to sit on the ground, cause ALL the seats were taken.  Sorry, but that was not good enough for this mama.  I asked this person, and that person, and that person over there, if there were ANY seats available for the disabled, as my son simply couldn't stand on the grass all the time to watch the event.  No one had any idea.  So, I kept asking.  Finally, I asked a couple of policemen.  They got a look at Reese's legs and you could see in their eyes that they wanted to help.  They asked us to wait while they checked on something (good thing we arrived 2 hours early!!).  When they came back, they led us down to the VIP area, and after they talked with this person with plugs in their ears, and that person with fancy looking badges and credentials, they led us to the FRONT ROW.  The "orange wristband" section!  We could NOT believe it.  We were warned, however, that they may have to move us, if more "real" VIP's showed up, so we didn't get too comfortable until the Mayor of Apopka (I figured out from eavesdropping) sat down next to me (and Erik, who was on my lap) and I figured we were safe.  We saw Sandy Adams, our area's House of Representatives person (we met her this summer in D.C. you may remember), on the same row as us, about 10 seats down, and I have no idea who else was surrounding us.  Reese and I kept sneaking looks at each other like, "I can't believe this!!". 

The stage, from our vantage point.

A coooool picture of the sky.  You can see the press box at the bottom.  There is square light that you can see.  You can see a man looking down at the bottom right of the light - that's Carl Cameron (or "Campaign Carl") from Fox News.

Erik was on my lap, which was fine, except that being soooooo close to the stage, we were also sooooooo close to these ENORMOUS speakers and if you know Erik, you know how much he hates loud noises!  Uh, oh!!  I had a moment of panic before I realized that he was perfectly content as long as I covered his ears with my hands, which I gratefully did.  WHEW!!  Eventually, he got used to the cheering and screaming, and the sign waving and the clapping, and I was SHOCKED that he never cried, or screamed, or bit himself, although after a while he did kick the mayor...  (he was pretzeled on my lap, trying to rest (it was getting really late) and his leg shot out and kicked the 80-something mayor.  I apologized and he was very good-natured about it and said that his granddaughter has Down Syndrome!  After that, he and I were bosom buddies.  ;o) 
Anyway, finally the speeches began.  Artur Davis was one of the first - I love that guy! - and that was fun. 

Artur Davis

  
He was followed by Andy Somebody (sorry, Mr. Somebody - I can't think of your last name at this time!) who was a Congressman or something (obviously, I'm not too familiar with him).  And he was followed by Connie Mack, running against Bill Nelson for FL senate, and then what everyone was waiting for - the Romneys!  Man, the crowd went nuts and I am still in shock that Erik handled it.  I instantly liked these people.  Ann gave a speech and she was so cute - the podium was too high for her - she couldn't see - so instead of asking for help, she simply stood on her toes the whole time.  No complaints!  Shocking to see such realism from someone who could be so important!!  Oh - did I mention she was in high heels already?? 

Ann, on her tiptoes

After she was done, Mitt came out.  He gave his speech which was terrific, of course, though not a whole lot of new stuff (you really can't give a new speech every time when you are giving a couple of speeches a day!) but it was fun, cause he said stuff that they often don't show in highlight reels - little stuff, ad-libbed stuff, which of course I should mention that he did not use a TELEPROMPTER the entire time - there was not one there!!!  He simply talked to us.  It was GREAT.  He was telling a story about a serviceman and while I didn't see it, Reese said he saw a tear roll down his cheek.  Wow.  Can't fake that too easily.

Mitt (sorry, I didn't crop these photos closer - I just wanted to get them up)

So the thing ended with Erik almost comatose from fatigue and stress, lack of fluids and food, me having had to go to the bathroom for the past 3 hours (the stupid place had no bathrooms nearby), and Reese with his leg killing him, but we were all charged up.  Because we were in the VIP section, we were amongst the few who got the opportunity to shake hands as the candidates came by the semi-circle below the stage.  Mitt came first.  Reese wanted to get Mitt to sign his President shirt that he got in D.C. this summer, but the Secret Service told him to put the pen away.  That was a distraction, and Reese unfortunately missed his opportunity to shake Mitt's hand.  :o(  I was able to get Mitt's attention...

Let me tell you something first: I have a VERY strong woman's intuition.  I have been right on MANY occasions about people upon first meeting them, including the person who sabotaged our homestudy a few years back.  I didn't feel quite right about her then, or after, and it turns out I was right.  This has happened to me for years - often I feel nothing special about people, but sometimes I DO feel it and when I DO feel it, I'm RIGHT.  Never have I misjudged someone when I had a "feeling" about them.

From the first time I saw our current president on TV, long before this last election, he made me uncomfortable.  I saw something in his eyes that made me squirm.  The smile was too dazzling, the eyes, ...wrong, somehow.  I know that there will be people reading this that like him and I'm sorry if you are offended, but this is my place to tell my stories, and this is how I honestly feel.  I feel evil coming from behind that smile and that charm.  Sorry, it's the truth as I see it, and I'm never wrong when I feel things like this and the feeling I feel about him is strong.  

As Mitt made his way around the stage floor and he reached me, I stuck my hand out to shake his, among the dozens of others.  He paused to shake my hand and when he did so, he looked me *right in the eye*.  I had the opportunity to look, seemingly, into his soul.  As he told me "thank you" with such a humble and grateful expression, time seemed to stand still.  It was like I could peer deep down into his eyes and see this man for who he truly is.  It was like God showed me something.  I hope this doesn't sound corny, but I could see light.  I could see goodness.  I could see openness, or something.  I could see purity.  It's really hard to articulate, but I was struck by it.  I pulled my hand away after saying who-knows-what back to him, probably "uhhhhhhh" and he was gone, but I stood there for a second, drinking in my impression.  I felt it so strongly...

After Mitt came by, Ann came by and I got to shake her hand too, but she didn't lock eyes with me like Mitt did, and her handshake wasn't as natural as his was - she was being bombarded by the people who pushed in front of me so I can't blame her at all for this.  Reese did get her attention though, and got a good handshake. 

Here's Ann with one of the pushy people in front of us (they came down from one of the higher seats).  I couldn't get a shot of her with Reese, so I settled on her with this girl!  LOL

Connie Mack followed, and got a picture with Reese (I told him that Reese would be a future Congressman, and he lit up and said "HEY!!" and slapped Reese on the shoulder good-naturedly, then we got the pictre.).

Connie Mack with Reese

And it was over.  We walked the mile or so back to the car, renewed with so much energy we didn't notice the distance and had a fun car ride home as Erik slopped forward in his booster seat, asleep before we left the parking lot, and we talked about all of the amazing events that took place.

Reese carried Erik almost the whole way back to the car.

 If you are at all undecided about who to vote for, or if you think you might not vote at all, may I please urge you to go to the polls and vote for the man who's eyes I actually looked into, and saw...  Light.