This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend Governor John Kasich's rally at the Town of Greece Community and Senior Center, here in Rochester, NY.
Not only was this particularly unusual that the candidates for the presidential election were holding rallies in Rochester but it was my first time ever going to one.
However, before I left for Kasich’s rally on Saturday, April 9, I had the idea to write about my experience and compare and contrast the rallies. So I brought a notepad and documented it.
So since, a presidential candidate has never stopped in Rochester before, I figured that it was crucial to witness a piece of history and try to attend as many rallies as possible. My plan was to go to both Kasich and Trump, and later on in the week attend Ted Cruz’s rally. The purpose was so that I could write an article for the Odyssey comparing and contrasting both. But not everything goes according to plan… So I ended up only being able to attend one rally in person.
But I felt as if it was extremely important to watch Trump’s rally being held at the Jetsmart Aviation center on television.
- Both crowds were huge; I expected Trumps to attract thousands, but I did not expect that for Kasich.
- There was protesting being held at both:
- Kasich: People who were disabled had started to protest when Governor Kasich opened up his speech to Q&A’s. What happened was that they were getting really upset and would not let him answer the question they had yet to ask. So the crowd began to boo and disrespect them, yelling “Shut up” or “Get them out.” Point is, I felt that the way in which it was handled was not done very well. I felt extremely torn between wanting to be able to listen to Governor Kasich speak about what his intentions were for the issue without them screaming in my ear. And between the fact that they have every right to be upset and speak. I almost felt like crying the way in which the crowd was treating the small group of disabled people, I felt ashamed to be apart of such a thing. However, Governor Kasich gracefully had corrected the mishap by speaking to them personally after the rally was over and gave them his undivided attention.
- Trump: I am not exactly sure who started to protest against his speech, because the television network did not include any information or pan the camera over. Yet, he handled it by actually yelling at them to shut up and let him talk. However, the crowd went INSANE they were chanting “Trump, Trump, Trump.” Even though I wasn’t there in person, for whatever reason whenever he began to speak about what he was going accomplish if elected president, I felt a powerful energy. A feeling of being proud to call myself an American.
- Mentioning other candidates
- Kasich: He did not address any of his fellow candidates or their plans for being president. He focused solely on what he was going to do and what he has done so far as the Governor of Ohio.
- Trump: He discussed both Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz in a negative light. However, there was a sense of respect held for Bernie Sanders which I thought was very interesting. He said that he was not a “fan” of Sanders, however, he mentioned that he felt bad for his, in my opinion, “lost cause” of a campaign.
- Speech Overall
- Kasich: I thought it was executed perfectly. The way in which he brought to light the issues that he was going to resolve in America if elected president was through storytelling. It was absolutely brilliant because he was able to almost have personal connections with each individual in the crowd.
- Trump: From past experience of watching Trump during debates and at other rallies across the nation, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Except it felt more personal, he discussed how he could impact ROCHESTER and the entire country. Which was an excellent way of making it seem more personal. He was familiar with the history of Rochester and the devastation that many families have faced. There are serious issues that our city faces that need to be resolved, and it directly connected to his campaign. At this point, he was discussing his plans to prevent illegal immigrants from infiltrating the country by building a wall. And, of course, the crowd was chanting that.
There were huge differences between the rallies, but each one I noticed that the crowd would go silent if either candidate began to talk about something serious, something that affected those in the crowd, and most off all there was a sense of respect amongst everyone for each candidate. Even IF they did not support Trump or Kasich.
One thing that I took away from both rallies was that I felt extremely proud and honored to be a citizen of the United States of America after each. I was inspired by their ability to listen and take into consideration what the people want to see. As well as their ability to make it feel like they were talking to each person individually.
You may not support either one of them, but it is important to educate ourselves on who is running for President. These people can affect our lives in more ways than one. So educate, learn, and please vote. It is a right that we are all privileged to have.
