Philip Klein:
“…I arrived at Drake University’s Knapp Center hours in advance with the intention of covering President Trump’s Thursday night rally, but, along with dozens of other credentialed media, was denied entry — which the Trump campaign said was an order from the fire marshall, because the venue built to accommodate around 7,200 people was at capacity.
Rather than leave, I decided to venture into the crowd of hundreds of Trump supporters (or perhaps over a thousand) who had gathered outside in the 30 degree weather to watch Trump’s speech on a jumbo television screen.
It is quite common for political campaigns to book venues that are much smaller than they can fill — after all, better to have news reports of standing room only auditoriums and long lines than book a massive arena that can comfortably fit all attendees, but at the risk of images of empty seats.
Nonetheless, the fact that Trump was able to draw such a devoted crowd — with some people even camping overnight to be guaranteed entry, and others willing to stand out in sub-freezing temperatures to watch a speech on a video screen just to get a taste of the experience, does say something. It speaks to a certain intensity level that makes Trump’s reelection more likely than most presidents entering an election year with approval rating hovering around 45 percent.
Many of the characteristics of a Trump rally have remained the same since 2016 — the sea of red MAGA hats, shouting down of protesters with chants of “USA! USA! USA!,” and lots of laughter at Trump’s mockery of his political enemies. The crowd often knows which lines Trump is about to rattle off, but revels in them anyway, almost as if attending a concert and waiting for a musician to play his greatest hits.
But one thing struck me. Whether they backed him in 2016 or were more recent converts, one factor that his supporters kept bringing up was their feeling that he had delivered on his promises in a way other elected officials have not.
“I wasn’t [a Trump supporter] in 2016,” said Adam Hanson, a Des Moines-based attorney who spoke for Rand Paul in the caucuses four years ago. “I was one of those Never Trump Republicans back then…During the caucuses and even into the general election I just, I was not a big fan. I didn’t think he’d deliver. But in the past few years I’ll admit I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Trump.”…”