 Courtesy of Josee Li By Kiara Alvarez & Esther Kardos Upon entering the premises of the NAC at exactly 4:15 PM, fifteen minutes before the doors even opened for the 7:30 rally, it became strikingly clear to me that hours of waiting would be inevitable. The line of lively, anxious people sloped in at least a dozen sinewy curves. Anticipation grew thick in the air as each second ticked closer and closer until Republican presidential candidate Mr. Donald Trump was finally to arrive. I interviewed a number of the people who were at the front of the crowd, and they told me that they had arrived between five in the morning and noon in order to secure leading spots. One man, who was about two dozen people behind the entrance, said he had made sure to “drive down right after [he] got out of bed dressed” in order to get the best possible view of who he said would be “the next President of the United States.” As I took my place at the end of the line, the mass of individuals was immense. Most of them adorned patriotic colors like simple red, white, and blues or dark green camouflage, and others chose to showcase Trump’s signature “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” apparel. In between the loops of lines, vendors sold both food and merchandise while children ran amok. The festivity of the atmosphere was similar to that at a state fair. Had I not been standing in the middle of it all, I would never have been able to believe that a rally could be dramatized so emphatically. About an hour into waiting in line, the protesters who had previously stood separated behind a gate were starting to attract attention of their own. Trump supporters began engaging with the protesters, including North student Rebecca Sawaya. Nevertheless, the protesters were determined to remain firmly planted throughout the duration of the rally in their mission to express outrage over some of Mr. Trump’s prior statements about women, immigrants, people of color, and other topics. Three hours later, by the time that the hundreds of attendees had shuffled into the facility and the sun had set, the suspense was finally over and Mr. Trump’s arrival was announced with booming applause. He began his speech at around 7:08, not wanting to keep those who had been waiting for hours on end waiting, and spoke for no more than half an hour. He reiterated his campaign’s key points, like the wall between Mexico and the US, stronger industrial and structural basis here in Pennsylvania, and tax cuts that he promises to implement if elected. Each defining sentence of his speech was met with thunderous applause, and when Mr. Trump expressed the importance of going out and voting on his behalf, the affirmative response from the crowd gave the impression that they would all be casting their ballots for him come November 8. On the other side of the political spectrum, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton held her own successful rally in Philadelphia the day after, thus establishing the fact that competition for winning our state’s vote will definitely be intense.
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