Ron Paul In Chicago

This weekend was the Ron Paul rally here in Chicago. It was one of the biggest turnouts at a Ron Paul rally since the campaign started. While I don’t have the exact numbers, estimates are falling between the 1200-1400 mark. The most refreshing part of the whole experience was the diverse group of people who were there. One of the greatest things about this campaign is that it brings together all different types of people from all walks of life who support Ron Paul’s message of freedom and hope.

Prior to the rally, the Greater Chicago Ron Paul 2008 Meetup Group met and organized a march around Chicago. Myself and my fiancee were late in arriving but as soon as we walked out of the parking garage we started hearing the loud chant of “Ron Paul! Ron Paul!” Then from around the corner, on both sides of the streets, we saw two large groups of Ron Paul supporters chanting and holding up signs. I have to say each side of the road must have had 30 to 40 people. It was refreshing to see all the cars that drove by honking in support.

We quickly mixed ourselves within one of the groups and started marching our way to the Hyatt Regency Hotel where Ron Paul was going to be speaking. Probably the biggest highlight of the day was out of no where, a tan minivan pulled around the corner and in the passengers seat was Ron Paul himself. I must have been 10 feet away from him. I regret to say because we were caught off guard my fiancee wasn’t able to get the picture in time. I felt the energy in the crowd explode when people saw him. “Who do we want? Ron Paul!”

We hurried into the hotel so that we could get a good seat. It was a large room with rows and rows of chairs and a big platform in the middle for the cameras. Each seat had Ron Paul literature, a bumper sticker, a donation envelope, and every few seats had a big Ron Paul For President sign.

The rally started off with thanking various people such as the organizers of the Greater Chicago Ron Paul 2008 Meetup Group. Ron Paul’s national campaign manager talked for a few minutes and then we were treated to a really nice video about the Ron Paul campaign. Shortly after, Ron Paul came out to a huge standing ovation that must have gone on for 3-4 minutes. This isn’t the best picture because you can barely make out Ron Paul behind the signs, but you get the idea.

Note the awesome picture of George W. Bush biting the neck of the Statue of Liberty. When that supporter pulled it out earlier everyone cheered to the point that some people thought Ron Paul came out and started looking around.

Throughout Dr. Paul’s speech there were large uproars of cheers and chants. He spoke of the current economic issues and of his recent encounter with Ben Bernanke along with a variety of other issues (foreign policy, domestic policy, Iraq, IRS and the Fed, etc).