Cynde Puckett
In Motion Staff Writer
It was a tale of two candidates Aug. 2 and 3, when the presidential campaigns rolled into Daytona Beach for a two-day blitz of promises, job plans and protests.
Building on a three-day, jobs-focused bus tour with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Kaine on Aug. 2 discussed his and Clinton’s “Stronger Together” plans to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. Doors opened at 1 p.m. at the Mori Hosseini Center for Hospitality and Management in Bldg. 1200, but the lines began forming at 11 a.m. in the blistering heat.
A lone Trump supporter circled the parking lot in a truck loaded with giant Trump flags, but hosts of the event reported no bad behavior or violent protests as has been the case at many of the Republican events surrounding its controversial candidate. Some 600 people filled the Hosseini Center, although that number was disputed by some in attendance. Prior to his 30-minute speech, Senator Kaine toured the College of Hospitality and Culinary Management program kitchen, where he met with students, staff and faculty, including Dean Costas Magoulas and head baker Andra Chisholm. He also met with DSC President Tom LoBasso.
Trey Orndorff, Daytona State College Assistant Professor of Political Science, tweeted his impressions during both events, saying he thought the Hosseini Center was purposely configured to give the impression it was a packed house.
There was no mistaking the turnout, however, at the Ocean Center, where people began cueing up in the dark to get a glimpse of Donald Trump and to hear his message. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrived on Aug. 3 for a campaign event held at the Ocean Center. Lines began forming at dawn for a speech that was delivered at 4 p.m. The political rally drew a crowd of approximately 10,000, with lines outside looping around the building.
As a few dozen protesters lined the sidewalk across from the entrance to the rally, Secret Service and the Daytona Beach Police Department showed a strong presence. Jacob Schmitt, a protester inside the Ocean Center, erupted during Trump’s speech, pushing through the tightly packed crowd toward the stage. But he was quickly surrounded by the unruly crowd, as well as security, and removed.
Holding a sign, protester Diana Sita-Vines said, “There’s a lot on the line this election. For instance, the Supreme Court.”
Trump echoed Sita-Vines’ words during his speech, indicating that Republicans and others who don’t like him will have to vote for him because of, “Supreme Court justices… probably more justices than any president has ever picked in one term.”
Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi, was one of several who spoke before Trump arrived. Bondi reminded the crowd of Trump’s respect for men and women in uniform. She also said, “Independence day is coming early next year, on a beautiful wintry day when Donald Trump is sworn in as President of the United States.”
There was no mention of the $25,000 campaign contribution Bondi received from Trump during the time period when she decided to not pursue complaints about Trump University, as first reported by the Orlando Sentinel and CNN. She denied that the 2013 donation was in any way connected to her office’s decision not to take action against Trump University, despite dozens of complaints in Florida from students who lost tuition money when the “college” closed.
General Michael Flynn introduced Trump and stressed the urgent need to elect Trump the next President of the United States. Flynn said, “This is an intervention! This is an intervention of the people of this country who care about the future.”
Much of Trump’s speech focused on President Obama, Hillary Clinton and the media, with criticism of the press for what he called unfair coverage. Webster Barnaby, a onetime Deltona city commissioner, giving the opening invocation, called the media “a den of vipers” from which emanates “the stench of evil.” Such remarks fired up the crowd, which chanted, “Lock her up! Build that wall! USA! USA!”
Trump promised to cut taxes, build a wall along the Mexican border and to bring jobs back to America. He assured the crowd that the Republican Party is more unified than ever and he addressed the rumor that has been spreading about him not really intending to win in November.
“If we don’t make it all the way, it’d be a waste of time, wouldn’t it?,” said Trump.
Marc Michaud, a Trump supporter and Daytona State College graduate, expressed his thoughts on attending the rally. “I hope he comes back. I had such a great time. I even brought my mother, who was born and raised in Italy! She had a wonderful time. Everyone was so nice!”
Orndorff posted his impressions of both events on Facebook, saying: “Here is my takeaway. The Kaine event purposefully masked a smaller turnout. It was tiny. Kaine himself gave a good informative speech. They want to revitalize the economy — the best since WWII — by focusing on five key economic areas. This is to be accomplished in the first one-hundred days.
“The problem? That is impossible. Manufacturing is not coming back in a big way into the United States and issues like immigration reform, and investments like Eisenhower are not going to happen in 100 days. So while there is substance to Kaine’s event, the basic message was a singular slogan: ‘We need a president who hires, not a president who fires.’
“That is a nice slogan, but the substance simply doesn’t back that as a possibility. However, I did love coming out of an event with an understanding of what the candidates were proposing.”
On the other hand, Orndorff posted on Facebook, “The Trump event was like slipping into an alternate reality. The Ocean Center was filled to absolute capacity and there were still hundreds of people waiting outside the doors, and hundreds more than that awaiting outside. The energy was outstanding.
“Kaine’s event was low key in comparison. While Kaine purposefully tried to keep the gallery nice, the Trump buildup was designed to get people chanting slogans. Kaine simply overlooked the people who called Trump a robber, and they played music louder when people chanted. At the Trump rally the goal was to get people to chant ‘lock her up.’ The only thing the Trump rally had going for it was the energy. The speech was the essence of nothingness.”
— Staff contributed to this report