The morning after: The state appears to be safe

Well, yesterday's Republican Party pep rally (aka "Take Back Our State Rally Brought to You by Pope, Inc.") has come and gone and, as far as we can tell, the state is still here. All in all, it was kind of strange and weirdly muted event.

Maybe it was the oppressive late afternoon heat or all the barbecue that people ingested, but the whole thing just seemed kind of flat. There's something kind of bizarre about an event that's promoted as an angry, fist-shaking, pitchfork waving rally but that really features a few hundred people sitting around eating unhealthy food under tents on an overheated, burned out lawn as they are addressed by a soon-to-be 85 year old one-time politician turned Viagra salesman and lobbyist for the rich and powerful.    

Yes, Bob Dole was there and – you have to hand it to the guy — he still gives a pretty funny speech. It didn't have much at all to do with the agenda of the supposedly non-partisan, 501(c)(3) sponsoring organizations — he made a few pleas for people to "take a look at Elizabeth" and told some self-deprecating jokes for about the 900th time — but it wasn't bad for someone whose been a Washington fixture since the beginning of the Kennedy administration. He seemed mostly coherent and even said that it was a top priority of government to care for "low-income people, people with disabilities and senior citizens." That had to cause some nervous laughter and shoe staring amongst the organizers. 

In short, it was a better performance than the one given by Pat "Freddie Mercury" McCrory who, in a really weird twist, tried to liven up the somnambulant gathering by pounding out the drumbeat from "We Will Rock You" on the drum set of the beach music band that had departed the stage. What's next? Robert Pittenger leading a rendition of "Y-M-C-A"?

Anyway, Chris and I will have some additional thoughts on yesterday's weirdness later today on the Pulse, so check back later.