Call Me Stormy

Ohio Rally Draws 30,000

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan attracted a crowd of 30,000 today in West Chester, Ohio — the largest rally for either party this election cycle. The boisterous audience heard warmup pitches from an impressive roster of GOP dignitaries, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sens. Marco Rubio, John McCain and Kelly Ayotte, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Kid Rock also entertained the faithful.

The buzz generated will carry over through Tuesday, pushing Ohio into the Romney-Ryan column. Romney sounded positively Reaganesque, delivering an uplifting and optimistic oratory, one of his best for this campaign. He’s on a roll, and you won’t have too long to wait to see the results.

West Chester is in the heart of Butler County, just north of Cincinnati. As of today, GOP requests for absentee ballots in Butler County are outpacing Democratic requests by a margin of 4 to 1. In neighboring Warren County, the margin is even larger, approaching 5 to 1.

PS: The Cincinnati Enquirer placed the crowd size at 30,000, citing police and fire department officials. Steve Peoples of the Associated Press low-balled the estimate, saying only 18,000 were on hand. Peoples is the same reporter caught in a similar lie this summer when Paul Ryan revisited his alma mater, Miami University in Ohio. Peoples claimed “hundreds of supporters” turned out to see Ryan, but the Enquirer, Fox 19 of Cincinnati and WHIO-TV out of Dayton all placed the turnout for the August event between 4,000 and 5,500. Peoples might have legitimate press credentials, but he obviously can’t count. Remedial training with Big Bird for him.

In advance, Mayor Giuliani fired up the throng with a stinging indictment outlining the Obama Administration’s many glaring failures, from Benghazi to enactment of burdensome regulations that have hamstrung businesses and stymied job growth.