Rally For The Republic
On June 10, 2008 the Ron Paul Campaign announced the first promotional event for the organization, a "Rally for the Republic". After not being offered a speaking slot at the Republican convention, Ron Paul, who did not support GOP nominee John McCain, decided to stage his own parallel convention in Minneapolis. This event occurred at the Target Center on September 2, 2008, which was the second day of the GOP Convention. On July 22, 2008, the event's official website launched, which provided details of the Rally, and of other events which were to occur in the same week including a leadership summit, book signing, and free concert. Notable attendees were announced, including the Rally's emcee, MSNBC's Tucker Carlson, former Governor Jesse Ventura, Governor Gary Johnson, Barry Goldwater Jr., Bruce Fein, Howard Phillips, Thomas Woods, Bill Kauffman, Erik Vendt, Grover Norquist, Lew Rockwell, Barb Davis White and Doug Wead. Country Music Star Sara Evans and singer/songwriter Aimee Allen headlined the musical portion of the event. Tickets for the main event went on sale for $17.76 on July 25. Over half of them sold within 12 hours. On September 1, the more than 10,000 tickets were sold out. Most of the rally was broadcast live on C-SPAN 2 and a live stream was set up on the Campaign for Liberty website.
According to the Rally's official website, its purpose was to "be a celebration of our movement and our supporters, a launch party for the Campaign for Liberty, and a clear call to the Republican Party to return to its roots of limited government, personal responsibility, and protection of our natural rights. The event ran in conjunction with the first two days of the Republican National Convention and featured top conservative speakers, musicians, and organizations. It also had an organizational and training function for the Campaign for Liberty and the Freedom Movement.” Much of the press of the event referred to the rally as a "counter-convention".
The Rally was the culmination of three days of activities run by C4L in Minneapolis. On Sunday, August 31, C4L ran the "Real Politics Training School", where its supporters had the "opportunity to learn the skills‚ strategies‚ and techniques necessary to be an effective activist‚ from top experts in the field." "The Ron Paul Nation Celebration", featuring Aimee Allen, Marc Scibilia, Rick Ellis, and headlined by country music artist Rockie Lynne, took place Monday night, September 1. Republican congressional candidate B.J. Lawson was the master of ceremonies at the Celebration. The Rally for the Republic concluded the three-day activities on Tuesday night.
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Famous quotes containing the words rally and/or republic:
“The bright old day now dawns again; the cry runs through the the land,
In England there shall be dear bread—in Ireland, sword and brand;
And poverty, and ignorance, shall swell the rich and grand,
So, rally round the rulers with the gentle iron hand,
Of the fine old English Tory days;
Hail to the coming time!”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
“Royalty is a government in which the attention of the nation is concentrated on one person doing interesting actions. A Republic is a government in which that attention is divided between many, who are all doing uninteresting actions. Accordingly, so long as the human heart is strong and the human reason weak, Royalty will be strong because it appeals to diffused feeling, and Republics weak because they appeal to the understanding.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)