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nikos1121 used to post all the Trump rallies during the 2016 election as well, complete with maps! Those were fun threads and I participated heavily in them. I even attended this rally on October 13, 2016 in Fairfield, CT.

Remember that mid-August 2016 period was probably the doldrums of the Trump campaign (if ever there truly were doldrums in this very energetic campaign). Nothing appeared to be going Trump's way at the time. Yet in Fairfield, CT, on what was probably the hottest and muggiest day of that summer, thousands of people lined up early and my wife and I were two of them.

It was then that I realized that Trump really was going to win, despite the near 100% negativity of the media and all those disheartening polls (which ended up being totally wrong).

All the people around us in line were the friendliest people you could ever meet, sharing their water and making sure everybody around them were okay (it was so hot!). Some were bikers, some were truck drivers, some were business executives and there were even some hippy types. We all came out because we wanted to see America made great again. Again, this was Connecticut, the bluest of bluest of states.

About an hour before we were let in, a huge convoy of motorcycle cops drove down our line and we all cheered them as they were smiling and giving us big thumbs up as they cruised by.

Once inside (and there were hundreds who couldn't get in and had to watch the big screen TV outside) we all had to remain standing as there were no seats. There was little or no air-conditioning. People around us started fainting. On top of that, Trump was over an hour late. I remember reading the FR rally thread on my cellphone and some were worried that this would be a major PR disaster for Trump. But it never turned out that way. Trump finally arrived and the huge standing-only crowd exploded in cheers - much louder than you hear on the TV.

The entire speech was a barn-burner. It turned out to be actually a historic stump speech for a couple of reasons. First, the very next day, Trump would announce that Paul Manafort was out of the campaign and that Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon were put in charge of running it. Secondly, it was the very last time that Trump would give a speech without a teleprompter (Kellyanne saw to that).

As the rally ended, a gigantic thunderstorm came over our area and you literally could not leave the building for a while unless you wanted to get soaked to the bone. Vivid lightning and loud thunderclaps shook the building. So my wife and I hung around the press area for a while, watching the media break down their equipment.

We are seeing the same phenomenon this time around. Trump is doing rally after rally, drawing overflow crowds that line up outside by the thousands hours before the rally is even scheduled to begin.

Back in 2016, when the same thing was happening, we were told by the naysayers that "big crowds don't translate into votes" but they were obviously proven wrong.

I sense another big "surprise" coming for the mid-terms next month. The enthusiasm for Trump hasn't waned one bit and in fact, it seems to have even increased. All these people are going to turn out to vote in November.