The kids and I attended the Sarah Palin rally held in Des Moines on Saturday at Hy-Vee Hall. Before going into Hy-Vee Hall I had to explain why people were out front protesting. I said I don’t know kids, because I certainly don’t have the time or interest to protest at Obama rallies. But they can be thankful that in this country they have the right to protest. First the girls got a picture with Governor Palin (above), sort of. She looks kind of stiff.
Then we ran into Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and the kids were impressed with how nice he was. I reminded him that we had met before when I gave him a tour of Polk County Youth Services. He nodded like he remembered, but I doubt he did. He took a picture with us so we can say we have at least one that wasn’t a cut-out.
(Third paragraph and picture removed – Katie in comment #16 & 17 made a good point. It wasn’t my intent to “use” my son as a political tool, but looking at the picture I can see how it may be interpreted that way. I’d rather have debate be about what Palin said or Obama policies, not about a picture of my son.)
The Hall ended up being packed. Over 10,000 attended, and there was still a line over three blocks long when the doors were closed. Aaron Tippin performed five songs, and then we heard from Senator Sam Brownback (R- KS), Kim Schmett who is challenging Congressman Leonard Boswell in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, we heard from a couple of men running for the Iowa Statehouse, and then Senator Chuck Grassley came out to speak. One person who was noticeably absent was Christopher Reed who is challenging Senator Tom Harkin. Then Governor Sarah Palin came out to speak to speak on behalf of John McCain and her ticket which mainly covered the economy, taxes and energy.
Below is a “playlist” of different video I took during the rally. It includes four of Aaron Tippin’s songs, Senator Sam Brownback, Kim Schmett, Senator Chuck Grassley and Governor Sarah Palin.