Would you want to go to a political rally to see your favored politician speak?

Probably not. If it were a popular politician, such as Harris or Trump, you’d have to arrive hours early. I was watching on the news the other day, Trump was in Long Island (which is about an hour and a half from me), and people were arriving in the morning for his speech which was not until evening. No thanks with that, for me.

If I want to see a local politician, I won’t go out of my way. Sometimes they show up at picnics for the union I used to work with, and they’ll give a quick speech and walk around and shake hands, and if we know them, we may get a hug and a kiss. That’s good enough for me.

I can barely summon up the energy to vote never mind attend a political rally.

Only for hyperlocal elections, which are, I suppose, less “rallies” than “actually find out what they are planning for the community”.

No. All politicians lie, even the ones I like. Why go and listen to someone lie to my face?

Also, I’m not into crowds, so going there would be a turn-off. (When I was in college, I did go to political rallies, but that’s 50 years ago).

In my entire life, there’s only been about two politicians I’ve liked listening to and reading their words, and would potentially see them speak live if they were nearby and I had time free.

They’re also about the only two honest ones I’ve come across.

Only been to 2 political rallies. They were both boring and basically just a push for donations.

I have no interest myself. I see clips of rallies on TV and the politicians are saying the same canned thing over and over again. Boring and pointless in my mind. I don’t understand wanting to deal with the crowds or wait around and then sit through it. People I know who go seem to be enamored with the idea that they were in the presence of that person I guess. I asked jellies to see if my guess was wrong. Maybe I was missing something.

There are politicians or statesmen I would go to see in other circumstances maybe. To hear them sit down and answer Q’s or have a conversation with a really good journalist or other politicians, but most who I would want to see are out of office and not running for office. I’d be interested in their opinions now with their knowledge and experience. So far, I haven’t ever done it. I did see Gloria Steinem a few years ago. She was great. Not a politician, but certainly involved in political movements.

I dislike anything with large crowds now. I will go to a concert or play, but no outdoor music festivals or big fairs. Not because I’m afraid of viruses or anything, just that the larger the crowd, the less freedom i have to get around and it’s so much effort.

Good God no.

Yes. I would enjoy the excitement of the event.

You people are all fuddy duddies.

I could have seen Kamala last night here in Madison. My father was invited but it would have been too much for him physically. He uses a walker. There were over 11k in attendance. I wanted to go to feel the excitement. I have a couple of friends who went and they were so grateful to attend. They said the energy in the room was beyond anything they had witnessed before.

@Hawaii_Jake yup.

You guys are taller than I am. At barely 5’ tall I hate crowds!!!

yes! I went to an Obama rally in 2008 in Oakland CA! I went to a John Edwards Campaign kick off in 2007 when he opened an office in San Francisco.

The one I regret the most was a Richard Nixon 1972 campaign event where he rode on the brand new Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). There was a “rally” at the Oakland West BART station when he got off. I was in high school and high schoolers were bused in from all over to give the appearance of popularity.

Uh NO!! Totally dislike large crowds.

Crowds freak me out, have for about 30 years.

Depends on location and candidate. Trumps line was 3–4 hours outside, that doesn’t sound fun.
Local candidates, of course I do. They’re usually ‘purchase a table’ or free so why not. As per a recent Question, that’s when you can ask them any questions.

Not gonna happen. He’s dead. John Adams. Alive? Maybe Pete Buttigieg. With JD Vance on the stage sitting on a couch with dogs and cats from Springfield.

I’d probably go to a rally for candidates I like and don’t like. See what the facts are surrounding the rallies. But I’ll be honest: if it was too much of a pain in the ass to go, I’d change my mind at the last minute. I’ve done that twice with Trump rallies in Wilmington NC. The first one got rained out, but even before that we changed our minds about going. The closest parking was several miles away by the time we got there (an hour before the start). This time we figured we weren’t going to camp out like so many did so we went to the neighbor’s birthday party instead. We could have done both, but we wanted to help her set up for the party as well.

Never. Seems like a perfect situation for crazy people to perform.

I don’t even like going to any large event nowadays, unless it was a hippie festival in the woods in Colorado lol.

I would show up hours before and help set up chairs. Sometimes I would make coffee.

I also would only go if they had enough portapotties for everyone.

@Blackberry Your post reminded me of this film. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Dinner_with_Andre