The Donald Was Running Late.
Doors had opened at 10am for a 1 o’clock speech at this 2,500-seat suburban theatre, and shortly after 2 the crowd grew restless and cranky. When some people started to chant “Trump, Trump, Trump…!” there was an edge to their voices, not just like: we support Trump with gusto, but more like get Trump out here and fast, because we’re hungry and tired of sitting in this theatre staring at a bunch of flags and a podium. Maybe I’m projecting.
Then Don King came out. With crazy ornaments on his jean jacket, but shorter hair than we’re used to, he seemed relatively focused and articulate. Then we got Mike Pence -possibly the world’s tidiest human being -in suit and tie; Pence introduced a casually-dressed Bobby Knight who finally introduced the man of the hours.
I’ve seen Trump speak about half a dozen times now, varying from his booming law and order speech at the GOP convention to a rambling and indulgent monologue in San Jose, CA where he railed against obscure business partners.
Trump in Toledo read straight off the teleprompter the whole time. The speech was focused and contained some rhetorical flourishes that I doubt he came up with, but it sounded like him, and was not like the stiff efforts from weeks ago when he first tried to stay on a script.
The themes were the same as usual, but there were no protesters that I saw and he did not employ any of the off-the-cuff incendiary remarks that have received countless headlines. But it still reflected his message. The red meat might have been reheated but the crowd ate it up. As people streamed out, you got the sense they felt they’d gotten their money’s worth, which was a zero outlay except for time and gas money.
I will be traveling through Mid West swing states on-and-off for the rest of the campaign covering rallies and daily life. Follow my posts here and at David Butow Photography on Facebook.
