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 Pehle-Hill  11/01/2006