You Only Turn 35 Once…

It was really nice of the Leader of the Free World to adjust his campaign schedule to come to Manchester, NH, and spend time with me on my birthday. He even brought a couple thousand of his friends.

I expected my thirty-fifth birthday this past Friday to be a pretty standard affair: friends, family, cake. Little did I know, I’d spend my birthday listening to the President of the United States.
October 1 was the day after the first Presidential Debate. The President had a performance where many characterized him as “frustrated” and “unprepared.” I found out that he had a campaign stop in Manchester, New Hampshire, at McIntyre Ski Area and I was offered a ticket through a good friend of mine.
The security gates opened at 12:00 noon and closed at 2:00pm with the President scheduled to appear at 3:30pm. Because the ski area is located in a residential neighborhood, free shuttle buses were being made available from the Verizon Wireless Arena in downtown Manchester.
When we arrived at the entrance to the facility, there were approximately 25 Kerry supporters holding signs and protesting. They were shouting things at those of us on the buses and spewing their typical liberal hate speech. One of the homeowners across from the entrance to the ski area with a huge Kerry/Edwards sign on their property had their stereo blasting Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” over and over and over.
I really hated that song before. After hearing it about twenty consecutive times waiting in line, I don’t think I ever want to hear it again.
By the time the line started moving, there were still only about 25 Kerry supporters protesters and about 1000 Bush supporters. They were pretty obnoxious and we all laughed them off. The line moved pretty quickly and I was able to get through security with no problems.
Then I waited. And I waited. And I waited some more. It sure didn’t feel too much like October in the bright autumn sunshine. It felt like August…and it was standing room only. We were packed right in there like sardines and there wasn’t a lot of room to sit down at all. The best part was I was about twenty five feet away from the podium.
Standing in the same position for three hours in the bright sunshine is a pain whether you’re twenty five feet away or not.
Three hours later, the program began. New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson spoke, as did Massachusetts State Rep. Brian Golden–a life-long Democrat and part of the “Democrats for Bush” movement. Congressman Jeb Bradley sporting his Red Sox cap. Senator Judd Gregg. Even Senator John McCain of Arizona who introduced the President.
The most moving speech of the program, in my opinion, came from Cheryl McGuinness. She is the widow of American Airlines Flight 11 co-pilot Tom McGuinness who was murdered on September 11. She spoke of the War on Terror and of the President’s compassion. Her remarks were from the heart but, more importantly, they were upbeat and positive. She really was the best speaker of the afternoon.
Even the Oak Ridge Boys were there to sing. No, really. I’m not kidding. I had no idea they were still around either, but they still sound great, and that guy who sings bass can still do the “um-puppa-mau-mau” in the song “Elvira.” That part was pretty fun.
Then he arrived.

I was actually much closer than this picture shows. It was taken by a friend of mine who was also at the event. When he ran up on that podium, I completely forgot I was sunburned and standing in the same spot for three and one half hours.
I was twenty five feet away from the President of the United States on my birthday.
I have to tell you, it was a different Dubya than appeared on national television the night before in the first Presidential Debate. He was warm. He was engaging. He was electric. He had that twinkle in his eye that he gets. He spoke to the crowd for about half an hour. I won’t go into the particulars of the speech, but I recall thinking at the time that I wished he’d used some of the material the night before.
It was right about ten minutes into the event that the lone protester in the crowd started yelling. That was when the chant started.
“FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS!”
She wasn’t there long, let me tell you. I’ll give her points for bravery and for exercising her First Amendment rights, but man, what a dummy. Can you imagine that thought process? “Hey, I’m going to masquerade as a Bush supporter and get in there and shout him down.” She even had a sign that she smuggled in reading “Bush Lies and People Die.” Now they weren’t letting ANY outside signs in to the event even if they were PRO-Bush. I couldn’t see what happened to her, but I’m sure she was escorted from the event.
Aside from that one “spy,” the President could not have asked for a better crowd at an event. If he had any doubt that his supporters were behind him, all he had to do was come to the Granite State to have that faith reaffirmed.
That faith, by the way, is now confirmed by the latest WMUR poll of New Hampshire voters shows that the President holds a 50%-45% edge over the Senator from Massachusetts–a five point lead. Since February, Kerry has dropped a staggering twenty points in the New Hampshire polls, erasing his fifteen point lead over George W. Bush.
After the President’s appearance, I wound up a mere two feet away from him as he exited the event. I didn’t get to shake his hand, but…well…there were a lot of hands to shake. His stop in the Granite State was a wonderful way to send him back to the campaign trail and for him to get ready for his second debate with John Kerry.
Victory in the Granite State, indeed. The election is four weeks from today, and I can’t wait to see all four of my state’s electoral votes go to the Commander in Chief.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad way to spend birthday #35. All I can do now is hope to go to the White House for my 40th.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com