A Voice in the Wilderness In Defense of "Mere Conservatism"

Paul Ryan in Michigan: A First-Hand Account

By: Brandon Helderop, Contributor

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Tonight I had the exciting opportunity to be a part of the packed house that attended the Paul Ryan Victory Rally at Oakland University in Rochester Hills, MI. I would estimate that there were around 6,500 people total in the basketball arena, not including overflow they sent to another room. In addition, about 1,000 were turned away because there just wasn't enough room. I tweeted at 7pm that we were still in line (the rally was scheduled to start at 7) with more than 1,000 people in temperatures below 40 degrees. It's unfortunate they had to turn people away but it gives you a taste of the overall excitement surrounding the Romney/Ryan ticket.

Local celeb, Kid Rock, who is supporting Romney, spoke a few minutes before introducing Paul Ryan. While prefacing that he would probably upset a fan or two, he discussed his support for the military and that that is the main reason why he is supporting Romney/Ryan. Also, stay tuned for information regarding a potential "kegger" hosted by Kid Rock for Thursday's Biden/Ryan debate, which I'm sure will be a good time.

During Ryan's speech, he briefly echoed Romney's remarks from earlier today regarding Obama's failed record on foreign policy in addition to hitting on the fact that Obama tends to only concede on cuts to spending if defense spending cuts are on the table. He also discussed a pro manufacturing plan and specifically mentioned stronger training programs so we can ship things overseas, instead of jobs.

Finally, I thought the quote of the night was this from Paul Ryan when mentioning Obama's promise to "fundamentally transform" America: "We will not transform this country into something it wasn't intended to be."