Ah, memories… I missed the '92 elections by a year due to my age. But the next general election in '96 got a friend and I all fired up to participate.
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It was the in the wee hours of the morning (about 2 am) when Bob Dole rolled into Independence, MO (home of Harry Truman and my home town) for a stop to rally with the Republicans on his way home to Russell, KS. He called this campaign his “96 Hours to Victory” tour.
After discussing the possibilities of showing our support at this rally with my best friend the previous evening, we decided that it was our duty to go. I set out to make a home made sign with posterboard and red and blue acrylic paint.
Jump ahead to the wee hours… We park a few blocks away from the designated meeting place (in front of the bronze statue of good ole Harry Truman, himself) and join the crowd of people walking up to the square. I had my sign rolled up in my hand. Upon entering the square, everyone was given little American flags to wave. My friend and I settled in toward the back of the crowd, and waited for Dole to come out on the stage they had set up in front of Harry. Tina Turner was blasting out of the huge sound system. To the rear of the mass of people, a long line of national and local cameras were set up and waiting for the show to begin.
The music died down, Dole walked out. The people cheered. When Dole started talking about his campaign, I quietly unrolled my sign and raised it above my head with both hands.
One one side it read:
96 Hours
to Retirement
THANK GOD!
The other side read:
**The Road to Hell
is Paved with
REPUBLICANS **
It took a full minute before I got any flack from the people around me. But when they did, boy howdy! I was screamed at, called bad names and even smacked with the little American flags. The republicans tried to take my sign away, but I did well & kept it up, shouting that I was merely excersizing my right to free speech.
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Tonight, I will be attending a rally at KC’s Union Station to show my full support for John Kerry. No home made signs will be required this time. But if Bush shows up…