ROKU streams Whistle-Stop Trump Stump. Air Force One Jet Age Style. Where’s Waldo?

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Newport News Virginia Trump for President Peaceful Protest 25 September 2020 Make America Great Again and Air Force One

Seems every evening, ROKU streams President Trump from one state to the next state.  Behind his podium is Air Force One. In front are tens of thousands of supporters, many dressed in Red, wearing MAGA caps, holding signs, Fill the Seat, Four More Years, Cops for Trump,  Blacks for Trump,  Make America Great Again,  U.S.A., and anything that can be said usually with Three Syllables, although MAGA is 7 syllables.

The whistle stop campaign style was popular during the Nixon Kennedy 1960 race.  Renewed by President Reagan,  but rallies then went indoors for several administrations. Indoor rallies have the advantage of  being weather proof.    I watched a simulation of  a speech given in the 1960s by Prince Philip in the series  the Crown, in the which the audience was standing in the rain with umbrellas,  no doubt hoping the Prince’s speech would be short.

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President Donald Trump speaking in Virginia, 25 September 2020.

Speeches in the rain can’t be short enough. Reminds me of the time we attended a graduation at Boston University in the middle of Spring.  The weather predicted rain for the entire week running up to the graduation, and the predictions did not disappoint. Spring in Massachusetts can be wet, and this was wet.  Nevertheless the school soldiered on, even to setting out 10,000 folding chair seats in the open soccer field, and distributing clear rain parkas for the expected parents. And it rained, at least a steady rain, with little wind. Only about a 1,000 came to the ceremony, and the VIP’s were under a canopy. So the chaplain was asked to pray, and for the congregation to stand. Everyone rose, to listen to a ten minute prayer which was more of a speech. In the meantime, the rain filled all the seats with water.  Big mistake.  Certainly BU had the space in the ice rink and other indoor arenas to accommodate everyone,  thousands and more, if they had used jumbotrons or a similar vision.  The ground was muddy, with streams of water running through the yards between the school buildings.  I remember nothing of the speeches, but everything of the soggy grass, rain on the chairs, and long speeches, standing in the rain.

Keeping track of  the President is like a real life ‘where’s Waldo?’ a popular children’s book. Waldo is a colorful character whose drawing is placed in the midst of backgrounds showing all sorts of different cultures, many around the world. Picking out Waldo is the challenge.  Waldo usually wears a red and white striped shirt. Picking out the President is the challenge. He is tall, has blond hair, and wears a dark business suit with a tie, usually solid color blue or red.  It makes it easier when he is standing on the podium with a Seal of the President of the United States on the podium.

This is a picture of the 1964 Presidential candidate. Senator Barry Goldwater, Republican presidential candidate, leans from the platform of his campaign train to shake hands with visitors during a whistle-stop Tuesday at Athens, Ohio. (c) Newspapers.com. The Daily Oklahoma 30 September 1964.

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