We Met Mitt Romney!

My brother told us about Mitt Romney's rally on Sunday, January 1st, so we decided to take a drive to Council Bluffs to see him.  We expected to be at the back of a huge crowd, but had quite the opposite experience.  The rally was at an old colonial home used for receptions and such.  We arrived about 5 minutes late only to see a huge line of people winding its way down the sidewalk in front of the building waiting to get in.  Fortunately, since there were several stairs up to the front porch, we were able to go around back to use a wheelchair-accessible entry.

We entered the main floor "lobby" that was packed full of people waiting to get upstairs where Romney was to speak.  We realized we couldn't get Annie upstairs, but they said the audio would be carried into the room we were in.  Then Justin suggested that I could still take Molly and Lexie and go upstairs while he waited downstairs with Annie.  So I got in line.  There were several people with walkie-talkies and they were closely counting everyone who they were allowing upstairs.  I could tell they were running out of room up there from the things they were saying into their walkie-talkies, but when I told them I had 3 of us, they ushered us through and we headed upstairs.

Once we got into the small reception hall, I wondered why they let us upstairs since there appeared to be standing room only.  I quickly started looking for a corner or wall to squeeze up against, but there really was nowhere to go.  I then saw some ushers leading people to seats, so I decided to just wait for one of them to direct me.  An usher asked me how many were in my group and when I said 3, he asked if Lexie and Molly could share a seat.  I said Lexie could sit on my lap, so he then led us to the very front row in the very center!  I was stunned!!  The small 6" tall platform for Mitt Romney to stand on was literally 2 feet away from me!

The back of the room was full of news cameras, and photographers roamed the room snapping candid shots.  Several photographers took pictures of Molly and Lexie sitting and waiting, and one even asked me Molly's name, how to spell it, and how old she is, as he wrote it all down in his notebook!  I'm upset that I didn't think at the time to ask him who he was with.

Once I realized how many pictures we'd be in and that Romney would be standing right in front of us speaking, I sternly lectured Molly and Lexie about how it was absolutely vital that they be on their best behavior.  We waited there for 20-30 minutes, just watching the swarming photographers before we got word that Romney had arrived at the building.  (I began wishing that I had brought my own professional camera instead of my little point-and-shoot, but it never crossed my mind that I would be meeting Mitt Romney!)

Romney first spoke briefly to the downstairs crowd before making his way upstairs.

Mitt Romney and his wife greeting the crowd on the main level.  Justin is a blurry head at the back of the room--the upper left side of the picture. (Photo from the press.)

Security ushered Romney upstairs and to the front of the room as he stopped to shake hands with people and sign posters.  He made  his way up to the platform in front of us, was introduced and started his speech.  He started by introducing his wife and son who were with him, his wife spoke for a few minutes, and then Romney continued to talk for about 20 minutes.

Here are some pictures I took on my own camera from our seats on the front row:

Here are some pictures we're in from the press during Romney's speech: 

The girls really did behave wonderfully!  Molly's yawn here was about as bad as it got....

...Except at one point Lexie wanted to hold the poster, and Molly didn't want her to.  I whisper-shouted to Molly, "You give her the poster right now! And be quiet and sit still!"  I'm glad no one captured THAT moment for the newspapers!

The people working there told us there was a turnout of about 300 people.

 Immediately after Romney was done speaking, he stepped off the platform to greet the man sitting next to Molly.  We stood and waited, then Romney turned to us and shook our hands.  As he went to shake Molly's hand, I stood back trying to get a picture of it, when Romney offered to have a picture with the girls.  He squatted down to their level and scooped them in his arms so I could get a picture.  The photographers saw him greeting these girls and they had probably dozens of pictures taken of them right then.

Romney pulling the girls in close for a picture. That's me on the right holding my camera. (Photo from the press.)

My resulting photograph.  If I had known we'd be meeting Mitt Romney and appearing in the newspapers, I would have taken more time to fix up the girls hair!

Mitt Romney talking to Lexie after I took their picture. (Photo from the press.)

Shortly after that we decided to make our way downstairs to share our exciting news with Justin and Annie.  I was giddy as I told him about where we sat and the photographers and meeting Romney.  We started heading toward the back of the building where we entered, but heard that Romney would be coming downstairs soon to greet people before entering a private room at the back of the building for a recorded interview.  We stood at the entrance to that room (which was also right by the back door we came in) and decided to wait for him to come by so Justin and Annie could meet him.

Romney greeted several people and signed lots of posters as he made his way towards us.  Just before entering the interview room, he turned to us and shook our hands again.  He recognized Molly and said, "I just met you upstairs."  So we told him she wanted her poster signed.  He signed it and then greeted Annie, patting her on the shoulder, and telling her, "Tell your parents thanks for bringing you out tonight."  Annie was focused right on him.  He talked to us briefly and shook Justin's hand and disappeared into the interview room.

Annie and Molly with Mitt Romney as he signed their poster.

Romney greeting Annie, telling her to thank her parents for bringing her out to the rally.

We left the building and drove home all giddy!  I couldn't wait to get home and call my brother who told us to go!  I'm so glad we decided to go.  I still can't believe how easily we were able to meet him.  It's been so fun checking news websites and seeing our pictures on front page news stories around the country and even in Canada!  It's funny still to google "Mitt Romney Council Bluffs" and have so many pictures of us and the girls come right up at the top of the search!  Lexie continues to get excited when she sees Mitt Romney on the news on TV.  This was quite the experience, especially for the girls.  Now let's just hope he wins the election!