Comfort Zone at the Moment, We Are

Comfort Zone At the moment, we are inundated with political news related to the upcoming American presidential election. Even after Hurricane Sandy, it has been impossible to turn on the television or view a Website without hearing about either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. My Facebook feed is full of political rants and banter. However, most of my friends are liberal like I am. My parents have been members of the Democratic Party since they were my age. Their views influenced mine, and I have gravitated towards like-minded friends.

Therefore, I decided to attend a Republican rally in fulfillment of this assignment. A Republican political rally would take me well outside of my comfort zone. I do not understand right-wing views and especially not the religious fundamentalism in America. When Mitt Romney himself came to town, I jumped at the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and write about my experiences. The rally took place on November 2 in a large public park. I was more excited than I was apprehensive before the big day.

I had been planning this for quite some time, and was eager to see what the "other side" actually looked, felt, and sounded like up close and personal. What I hadn't decided was whether to go incognito, pretend I was a pro-Romney conservative, or go as I am or even as a protester. I opted to go as a disillusioned Democrat.

Donning this psychological disguise meant that I could speak to others at the rally truthfully about my political past, while also avoiding suspicion that I was there as a subversive. I bought a red shirt purposely for the occasion. It was my little joke to myself. I decided that I would have more fun by designing my own posters and signs.

Not having a whole lot to work with, I went with the simple slogan, "Disillusioned Democrats Down with Obama! Welcome Mittens!" I drew some mittens with smiley faces on the poster, just to be cute. As a student, I can get away with such things and I believe it seemed more realistic. Not surprisingly, it took an hour just to get into the rally. There was a security check, which made me wonder whether it was possible to bring guns to the rally.

Republicans have long been supporters of gun rights, but at the same time, a political rally does not seem like the best arena to allow guns. Keeping an eye on what was going on around me, I did finally notice a man who took out his gun for the security tray. The security officer then passed the gun back to the man after he went through the scanner, and thus I realized that carrying a weapon into the rally was acceptable.

A small tremor of fear was mingled with a healthy dose of humor as I passed through the scanner without a glitch. Once inside the gates, I joined a sea of humanity standing in wait for the speakers. I had plenty of opportunity and time to make observations before the main speakers, including Mitt Romney, took to the podium. Using my iPhone to take notes, I jotted down some initial impressions. The demographics were overwhelmingly white, which was as expected.

I saw a few Latino families throughout the day, and one African-American man in attendance. However, I did notice that African-Americans outnumbered whites among support staff, security staff, and cleanup staff. The ages were more varied than I expected. There were quite a few families in attendance, likely because school was out for the weekend. I saw some people that frankly frightened me, especially knowing they might be carrying weapons.

There were many biker-types: large men and women wearing biker clothes with posters bearing racist slogans like "Get the Money Out of the White House." I noticed several people with slogans that accused Obama of being a socialist. The signs were sometimes funny, but if I thought about them too hard, they made me angry and sad. To cheer myself up, I decided to walk around before getting comfortable. At this point, the first of three warm-up speakers came onto the podium.

It was a local Republican mayor who spoke about what Romney can do for our state. The overwhelming majority of all content he said, as well as others at the rally, was about the economy. Doomsday is here, because unemployment is high, and the economy is terrible because Obama made it that way. Obama supports sending jobs to China, and so forth. I took issue with many of the things being said, and it was hard keeping my mouth shut in protest because I entered as a Romney supporter.

Suddenly I felt like a fraud. I felt guilty for infiltrating the Republican realm and arriving as a liberal disguised as a conservative. That feeling passed when I saw a girl next to me wearing a poster board on her front and back. She drew a crude embryo on both sides. I don't know if she was fat or pregnant, but either way, the point was made. "Don't tread on me!" The slogan read on the front and the back.

In one of the few direct conversations I had with people at the rally, I told the woman that I liked her sign. The "isms" I noticed ranged from conservatism in general (which would be applied to nearly everyone at the rally) to fundamentalism (indicated in the several religious right-wingers I saw). The religious contingency was particularly strong. Some seemed to be angry at Romney for not speaking up for their values more, because I overheard one in what can be considered a heckle.

She said, "What about Jesus?" Although she shouted it loudly, her voice did not carry all the way to the podium. But I did see other Romney supporters with Christian crosses drawn on their signs, or wearing Jesus T-shirts. I also noticed the phrases communism and socialism were used a lot, and incorrectly. By the time I left, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I spent hours outside of my comfort zone, in the presence of people who I do not understand and still do not understand.

I do not understand the willful ignorance of science (whether that be science related to global warming, evolution, or procreation). I also do not.