Political Rallies


My mother and I attended the rally for Governor Perry and President Bush at Reunion Arena in Dallas.  I
hadn’t been to one since I was sixteen, when Reagan ran for office, and thought it was something I
should experience again, so I did.  I not only don’t regret that choice, I am very thankful that I went and
have decided to attend more rallies taking along any of our children that wish to go.  
What I experienced while there was interesting, informative, and enjoyable.  I was lucky enough to meet
State Rep. Bryan Hughes and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst who were also in attendance, along
with many other people.  They, as well as the rest of us, were there to support our President and our
Governor, but there was so much more to it than that.
As I listened to Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst speak of Jessica’s Law and the need to protect our
children.  I couldn’t agree more—“our children are our future”, he said—and we must protect our
children from predators, and I wondered how anyone could disagree on this issue.  How could anyone
believe that Jessica’s Law is wrong?  It should serve as a deterrent for pedophiles to molest our
children, and if they aren’t deterred it will stop them from doing it again.  That’s the whole point—keeping
pedophiles from being able to hurt our children over and over again.  Our Governor and Lieutenant
Governor are acting to protect our most treasured citizens and deserve our support in this endeavor at
least, regardless of our political affiliation.
As for the rest of the evening it was wonderful as well, full of good cheer and good talk.  The feeling of
the whole event was reminiscent of a pep rally for a high school football game, with all the screaming,
cheering, sign waving, and general good cheer culminating in a round of applause for both President
Bush and Governor Perry comparative to that you might encounter at a concert (unless of course if it
was a Streisand concert lately).
After the experience of being at that rally I fully believe that everyone should experience it themselves.  It
wouldn’t hurt to go to events of both parties, and take a friend.  See what you find on the front lines of
the us-against-them voting war; listen to what they say and how they say it.  Watch for the reaction of
the others present and remember that the best kind of voter is an informed one, who knows the issues
and the players.  And how better to discover who the players are than in person, the way they used to
do it.  From TV you may hear the words of the speeches better, but the rest of the experience is missing
and that’s the part that means the most.  
In 2008, I hope you all attend some event or another and experience it the way it started, live and in
person.  There’s nothing like it.

© Melissa Hill 2006