The presidential debate at USF in Tampa was a very unique experience and one I will not soon forget. Being unfamiliar with the area and following a somewhat shoddy GPS system, I ended up coming through the back way. I was greeted by a small group of Rick Santorum supporters as well as a plethora of signs without people attached to them for all the candidates. I pulled into a parking lot, and still did not see a whole lot of action. This was somewhat disheartening, knowing Florida was losing half its delegates this year I thought maybe the apathy for such a small number of delegates had boiled over into poor attendance. As I walked up Holly drive, I began to wonder what other things I could do in Tampa that night, then I rounded the corner. There was a multitude of people holding signs and yelling and screaming. At first I was outside of clear eye shot and it all looked like a red white and blue blur. But as I got closer I began to see that 99% of the people were there holding signs in support of Ron Paul. It was absolutely mind-blowing how vastly all the other candidates supporters were outnumbered.
The crowd was chanting for Ron Paul, back and forth across the street. There were people of all ages and what appeared to be all sorts of backgrounds. There were several vehicles including a Jeep, a Hummer, a Corvette and what appeared to be some sort of six wheeled, decommissioned military vehicle driving in circles past the crowds covered in Ron Paul Paraphernalia. If you had been living under a rock and not listening to the news, you would think Ron Paul was the only viable candidate and all the others were a joke based on the number of people who showed up. There were quite literally more people who showed up to support Terry Jones (The Quran burning priest from central Florida who is now running for president apparently) had more supporters.
As time went on, everyone was eagerly anticipating the arrival of the candidates, most were sorely booed, most vehemently Rick Santorum. Jeers such as "sell out" and "phony" were chanted throughout the crowd. Shortly after Santorum showed up Dr. Paul and his wife pulled up. They both rolled down their windows and greeted the crowd enthusiastically. The crowd was energized and excited by his arrival.
Everyone made their way to the watch tent, which was built to hold 1000 people, specifically Ron Paul Supporters. This tent was filled in about 15 minutes and people were turned away, including myself. Me and my colleagues decided to head to where the planned after party was to be held, The Copper Pot Pub. It was a small, friendly pub that had a great variety of beer and very excellent wings. The debate was fun to watch, I will go into a deeper analysis with my next blog.
After the debate was over there were rumblings that Paul himself would show up at the pub, but most didn't believe it would happen (I love the guy, but I couldn't help thinking it might've been past his bedtime). When suddenly, who shows up in the back door but Ron Paul himself. The place erupted and I swear I had never seen so many camera phones whipped out in such a short amount of time. He grabbed a megaphone and addressed the crowd who hung on his every word. He thanked us all for our support, mentioning that if the election was only decided by people under 30 he would win handily to which everyone cheered. He then was whisked away by his security team to go onto who knows what, but assuredly out somewhere fighting for liberty...or possibly just taking a nap.
This whole experience has re-energized me and has me very excited for the primaries. I took a lot of footage of the festivities last night and I will be uploading that in short order, probably tonight. I am new to this whole blogging thing so I will either attach it to this blog as an addendum of some sort or create a new thread. Hope to see more of you on the campaign trail!
Regards,
Jaryd Vartanian
Follow me on twitter @jvrp2012
for updates on events, campaign stops, and a possible road trip to an out of state primary in March!
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