Nation Celebration, All Across the… Country

There's the scene last night at the tail-end of the Ron Paul Nation Celebration, the kick-off to today's Rally for the Republic. I missed all but Rockie Lynne's closing blast of country-rock songs refitted with Ron Paul lyrics and B.J. Lawson's introduction of the man, the legend. "Does this look like the end of a revolution to you," Lawson said, "or does it look like the beginning?" The cheer rang forth: "THE BEGINNING!"

The crowd was a fraction (maybe one-quarter) of the number expected to rally in Minneapolis today. At the front of the arena, Paul's musical supporters like Aimee Allen and Lynne signed home-made posters and took photos with fans next to a table of Ron Paul merch. Inside, people who'd last seen each other in New Hampshire or Iowa or Pennsylvania hugged and swapped stories. I ran into Arden Osborne, a Nevada Republican web designer who was brandishing his GOP delegate credentials. A compromise has been made, and four Paul delegates will be voting for the silver state. But "we're not going to nominate Ron Paul," Osborne said. He only hopes they get fair time on the floor: "You have to jump through 15 hoops to get to a microphone."

On the way out I walked past another merch table selling stuff like the Freedom Calender ("Large print wall calender displays and explains the Bill of Rights… the Best Educational Tool in over 200 Years.") and past a fleet of cars with Paul stickers, Barr stickers, soaped-up sloganeering windows ("HONK FOR RON!") and more: