THE RALLY FOR PRESIDENT BUSH IN PHOENIX

My husband and I were about to be part of our first official political rally last night. We did not know what to expect. We knew there would be a lot of people and police presence. We also knew there would be a lot of secret service agents in the area. On our tickets it said the doors would not open until 3:00 p.m. and would not let anybody through the doors after 5:00 p.m. The President was due to speak at 6:00 p.m. We got there just before 3:00 p.m. to avoid the traffic problems which were bound to occur. As we drove closer to the area we saw the growing traffic jam. As we drove closer we noticed the streets were already very congested with traffic trying to get into the Veteran’s Auditorium parking lot in downtown Phoenix. We saw hundreds of people already inside the metal gates walking towards the main doors. It was 110 degrees with a dew point over 60 degrees. Needless to say it was very hot, sticky, and humid. We decided to park in the shuttle parking lot about two blocks east of the auditorium. The bus was waiting off to the side of the lot. We boarded the bus and found the temperature inside to be warm. It was not as hot as being outside, but it was not comfortable either. The air conditioning was either turned down low or not working as well as it should. The sweat started to pour down our faces. My clothes were starting to stick to my body. The bus driver was standing outside talking to the hotdog guy. How special…

After a whopping six people boarded the bus, the driver made the decision to drive towards the auditorium. We were watching Judge Brown on the televisions mounted on the ceiling of the bus. Where did they find these people? Anyway, the driver drove west towards the parking lot located across the street from the auditorium. We got off into the heat of Arizona and walked towards the intersection where the police were directing traffic. The traffic lights were useless because of the amount of cars and people already flooding the area. A bunch of us stood at the intersection watching the police direct traffic. We watched more. Then we watched more. The sweat was pouring down our faces, necks, and bodies. I thought my capris turned into a second skin. Our faces were bright red. I think that was when my deodorant quit. Finally we were allowed to cross the street.

The protesters were there. Not quite in full force but I was sure they were close. Maybe they were caught in the traffic jam. Some of the signs were rather amusing. Why do they always use Hitler?? We walked towards the auditorium. They were selling buttons and t-shirts to re-elect President George W. Bush. We continued walking. Everybody in Arizona normally carries cold water with them everywhere they go. This day and event was no exception. As we began to climb up the ramp we were told water bottles were not allowed in the building. Many people had a few select words for the poor volunteers. We finally ended up in a line about 75 people deep. There were five of these lines going into the auditorium through separate doors. This was where the police searched purses, fanny packs, bodies, and anything else that looked suspicious. We stood there. The line did not move. The sun was beating down on us. It was getting uncomfortable. The line still did not move. The older woman next to us said she would probably die before getting to the doors. I hoped that would not happen. It was too hot to do CPR. As hot as it was, it would not have surprised me if people were affected by the heat. The lines would only get worse. We stood there for 30 minutes before getting to the doors. There they looked in our bags, opened the lens on the camera, flipped open the cell phone, ran the wand over our bodies, then sent us on our way. We did not beep and were considered safe. At least we were in air conditioning. The place was packed with people. We wanted to get a good seat so we rushed inside. I saw a guy with a big box of pom poms so I grabbed about six of them. We then walked up the stairs to our seats. A band was playing old rock tunes. They actually weren’t bad. The played some good Pink Floyd tunes that sounded fairly close to the group.