Palm Beach – Senator Rick Santorum was in town on Thursday to meet and greet with some of the locals in the area, and we had a chance to listen in as he discussed what he’s been up to since his recent bid for the presidency; and he has been quite busy.

During the campaign the Senator was always very honest and up front about his conservative ideology on domestic, fiscal, and foreign issues, even in the face of opposition.  His message resonated with a lot of people that agreed, and irritated those that didn’t, but as he discussed, even his detractors respected him for his unwavering stances and his courage when discussing them.  

Sounding at first a bit like a man still campaigning with his brief discussion of the issues, and what he feels cost him and the Republican Party the election, he explained that not only is he still the same man with the same beliefs, he has now begun a new chapter of his life and explained what it is.

The Senator has recently founded Patriot Voices, the name of which came about because his message is the same, and that message is the combined voices of the people…Patriots.  The message on the front of the group’s flyer says it all: 

“Patriot Voices is a grassroots and online community of Americans founded by Senator Rick Santorum.  We’re committed to promoting faith, family, freedom and opportunity in accordance with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.  We believe family is the foundation for a healthy society and strong economy.  We believe in American exceptionalism, entrepreneurship, and personal responsibility.  We are a voice for those who cannot fight for themselves – the unborn, the disabled, the elderly, and those with economic struggles.  By uniting one million voices, we will transform our nation."

He founded Patriot Voices because he believes that his message is the message of patriotic Americans and that message needs to be re-enforced and brought to light.  Not in a small way either.  Among other things, he has become involved with patriots in the movie industry and plans on making patriotic films that embody the message of Patriot Voices.  

Before the close, he opened the floor to questions and was asked about youth involvement and his message to them.  Without a doubt he recognizes the need to get bright, young, talented people involved in the arts to help in this momentous effort.

Another question involved the minority vote and the Republican response/message to them.  The answer he says “is NOT to become democrats in the process to win them over.”

Rick Santorum is continuing his mission and message, and he asks like-minded people to join him and help to restore America.  You can learn more by visiting www.patriotvoices.com, on Facebook at /patriotvoices, and follow them on Twitter at /patriot_voices.

There are a lot of things to do on any given Saturday night in West Palm Beach.  I heard about a special event taking place at the local Eagles Club, (#4219) on Military Road, so I thought I’d stop by to see what it was all about.  For those of you that aren’t familiar with the Eagles, they are a Nation-wide, non-profit fraternal organization that started in Seattle about 125 years ago, and their motto is “people helping people,” because that’s what they do.  After covering over-head and operational costs, all proceeds collected at every Eagle Club is spread around to various charities.

Tonight’s event was to kick off ‘The Annual Sweet Heart Queen’ charity fundraiser series, which is a challenge to see which of the three candidates vying for the title can raise the most for her chosen charity.  The three candidates are Jessica Rheny, who has chosen the ‘Kid’s Cancer Foundation,’ Nancy Green is doing her event for ‘Best Friends,’ which is a surrendered pet shelter, and Bridget Manken who is raising funds for the ‘Special Olympics.’   

It works like this; each candidate does her best to raise funds on her own and in her own way over the course of several weeks.  A bake sale here, a yard sale there; it all adds up.  Each of the candidates also gets to host their own fundraiser event at the Eagles Club, and tonight was Jessica Rheny’s turn; I might add that Jessica was already off to a good start before tonight with several hundred previously raised for her charity.  The Eagle’s Club generously provides the room and use of the kitchen at no charge, so that every dime raised can go directly to the candidates’ charity.

Dinner was prepared on site and served to the roughly 3 dozen guests.  There were raffles for lots of donated prizes including gift baskets, scratch tickets, and several other items; there was a ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and prizes included everything from Jell-O Shots and Free Drinks to surprise packages, and a 50/50 raffle.  There was also a balloon/dart game that was set up, however I chose the route of caution and departed before the darts started flying.  

Jessica is also planning a Car Wash at the site tomorrow at $10.00 per car, and each of them will continue raising funds for their charities until the contest ends on February 16, 2013.  At that time, the candidate that has raised the most will be crowned ‘Valentine Queen.’ 

Over the next several weeks leading up to the close, Nancy Green and Bridget Manken will have their chance to fill the house and raise much needed donations.  In the end, no matter which of these fine young ladies takes the Crown, they are all winners, and their selected charities will certainly attest to that. 

While gathering my information I had a chance to meet and chat with some of the regulars; Pat Crocker, Deana and Brian Gettig, Bill Van Campen, Tammy Corselli, and a number of others.  Every one of them just real, down to earth people, doing their best to help each other; the kind of people that anyone would want as their next door neighbor, and it made for a very pleasant evening for this reporter and everyone present.

The Holidays are here.  We took a walk around City Place in West Palm Beach tonight, looked at the lights on the Christmas Tree on the south side of the Himmel Theatre, grabbed a bite at Brewzzi’s, watched the snow fall a couple of times…that sort of thing.

Wait a minute!  I just mentioned West Palm Beach and snow fall in the same sentence; how is that possible?  Well, it just is, and it does…every night at 6:00, 7:00, and 8:00 on the hour, it snows in the court yard for about 10 minutes adding just a nice bit of magic to the Holiday Season.  Adults and children alike come down to sit and wait for the next ‘storm’ to start.

After my dinner, I met and spoke with several families.  Christopher had some business to attend to, so he and bride Shana came down for the day and brought their little guy Connor to view the lights, take in the evening scenery, and cruise around ‘The Island’ tomorrow.  

Next I spoke with Robin and George, who along with her visiting children Joe and Amanda, and Amanda’s boyfriend Brian, were also just strolling along, window shopping, and just having a blast.  Right about the time I met up with them, the ‘snow’ was accompanied by some real rain, and just for a moment I was transported back to my days up in Boston around Quincy Market.  All we needed to complete that moment was a chilling breeze.

And before heading away, I couldn’t help but notice two adorable three year old twins named Kylie and Kamryn who, along with their older sister Kendra had been nice enough to bring mom and dad, (Aimee and Walter) down to watch the festivities and lights as well.

City Place is always very inviting.  At this time of year, it is a wonderful place to visit, stroll around, and maybe have a bite at any of the dozens of eateries, or just do some old fashioned people watching with friends.  Besides, there’s nothing like a good blizzard in the middle of West Palm Beach.   

So, we heard the president was going to be speaking at the Convention Center in West Palm Beach today, and a whole bunch of his supporters would be on hand to get in and listen.  We arrived and parked in City Place a little after 1:00 pm, had a quick bite at Panera Bread, (what the hell happened to them by the way?  Yuck.) and then made our way up to Okeechobee Blvd.  

My first encounter was with a couple of WPB Police Officers who I asked how long the people had been on line.  One of the officers said he arrived at 10:00 and there were already over a 1000 people lined up.  I moved on.  I found about 100 Patriots; that is Romney supporters, on the medium strip holding up signs countering those waiting to get in to see the president, who did not arrive until near 5:00 pm.  

I decided to take a walk around the Convention Center building just to see what I could see, and I noticed some things.  Among my observations; I saw several people wearing shirts with the image of MLK on them.  Nothing wrong with that, but I think someone might want to mention to the wearers that Reverend King was a Republican; just sayin.’  

I also noticed that of the crowd of perhaps 5500 people, only about 70% were black; and if that is a reflection of his appeal among blacks right now, he is in trouble, and he knows it.  Here’s why, during the last election cycle, he garnered 96% of the black vote; that’s a 26 point difference.   It tells me that blacks, like most rational people, are simply not buying his lies, circumvention of the constitution, abetting of our enemies, and poor performance anymore.

Moving along through the crowds, I picked up on a couple of other things.  For all the talk of taking care of people, etc. by this administration; there were not even basic facilities set up.  No porta-johns, no trash cans, (please note the attached photo of one of many trash piles strewn on the ground) and no amenities of any kind.  I will say that the PBC Fire Rescue was on hand to handle any emergencies that might arise.

Finally, I couldn’t help but notice a cute little ‘Morkie’ name ‘Emmi’ hanging out by the Romney camp.  By virtue of her garb for the day, Emmi, (a dog) apparently gets it and knows what’s best for America; even if 5500 or so don’t get it.