A successful rally for the GOP Presidential ticket was held Monday night on the campus of Tennessee Tech University. A good-sized crowd showed up to show their support for Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin, and to hear several guest speakers talk about their enthusiasm for the ticket, and for the candidates running in the Volunteer State.
The event was held in the Roaden University Center on TTU's campus, which is located in Cookeville, about midway between the cities of Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga, and on Interstate 40. The TTU College Republicans, the Tennessee Women For McCain, and the Putnam County Republican Party were the chief sponsors of the event.
Yours truly, who also is blest to be leading the College Republicans chapter at TTU, decided to take a head-count, which I estimated to be near 125. The crowd was definitely excited to be there, and listened to several guest speakers, which included Beth Campbell, Randy Stamps, and Jonathan Bryant. Mike Callahan, a Executive Committee member from the 15th State Senatorial District, was the Master of Ceremonies.
Yours truly, Jordan Iwanyszyn, opened the event in leading the Pledge of Allegiance, which was followed by an opening prayer. Then, I came back up and offered words of welcome, brought notice to the sponsoring groups, and included a statement on why I back the GOP ticket. I then introduced Callahan, who was responsible for introducing the guest speakers. Campbell was the first of the three to speak. She is the president of the Tennessee Women For McCain, and she spoke on why women should back the ticket. She was followed by Stamps, who is the Executive Director of the Tennessee Republican Party. He also spoke to women, and mentioned how the Democrats seem to dislike women in power, using the examples of the disrespect shown to Hillary Clinton from Senator Barack Obama's campaign, and closing the door on Tennessee State Senator Rosalind Kurita's re-election effort.
Kurita represents a district centered around Clarksville, near Fort Campbell, and angered many state Democrats when she decided to cast a vote in favor of now Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey for that position. Ramsey is the first Republican Lt. Governor since Reconstruction, and Kurita's was a deciding vote in that choice. Kurita faced a tough re-election in a primary against challenger Tim Barnes, and won the primary by 19 votes. However, Tennessee Democratic Party officials met just over a week ago, and decided to give the primary victory to Barnes. Kurita will challenge in a write-in campaign.
Stamps mentioned those two examples as proof that the Democrats are not as favorable to women as they preach, and he said that Governor Palin, and Tennessee State Representative Candidate Terri Lynn Weaver are two women that prove the Republicans are the party favorable to women. Stamps also talked about the state of the battle for the Tennessee State Legislature, in which the GOP currently has the same number of seats as the Dems in the Senate, with one independent. In the state house, the GOP needs four seats to retake the majority for only the second time since Reconstruction. Stamps tried to rally the attendees into supporting local candidates for the state legislature.
Following Stamps was Bryant, who is a former Chairman of the Tennessee College Republicans, and is now working for the Lamar Alexander for U.S. Senate campaign. He spoke on his excitement of being a Republican, and of the ticket that represents the party this election cycle. He also mentioned younger Republican voters, and themed his address towards them.
The attendance was made up of people of all kinds. Young children to aged men, upper middle class to poorer class, and numerous men and women. Other notables in attendance other than the speakers were Noble Cody, a former mayor of Cookeville and a member of the Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Fame for his basketball days there; Steve Moore, a former trainer at TTU and another member of the TTU Sports Hall of Fame; Phil Wilbourn, a former TTU baseball player; and Howie Acuff, a local attorney and 2006 candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Following are photos from the exciting night:
People begin to gather before the event begins.
The growing crowd takes to their seats minutes before the event gets under way.
Attendees make their way into the room past the sign-in table.
The scene after the event has begun, and after I had said a few words.
The crowd of 125 listens as Beth Campbell of Tennessee Women For McCain speaks.
Randy Stamps of the Tennessee Republican Party gives his take.
Former Tennessee College Republican President Jonathan Bryant addresses the audience.
A gathering of the evening's speakers. From left to right: Jordan M. Iwanyszyn (yours truly), President, Tennessee Tech University College Republicans; Randy Stamps, Executive Director, Tennessee Republican Party; Beth Campbell, Chairman, Tennessee Women For McCain; Mike Callahan, Tennessee Republican Party Executive Committee Member, 15th Senatorial District; and Jonathan Bryant, Field Representative, Lamar Alexander For U.S. Senate campaign.
1 comment:
That was a great event!
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