People are gathering in the BSU Student Union for Rand Paul’s rally this morning, which has been moved to the Hatch Ballroom from the smaller Barnwell Room. The 258 chairs are mostly full, and a few are starting to gather in standing room in the back for the “Stand With Rand” rally. The audience appears to be mostly students, along with a mix of other Boiseans. Linda Pfister, a Boise retiree, said, “I’ve been a Rand Paul supporter for quite some time now. I think if anybody can get rid of the trash in Washington, D.C., I think he can.” She looked down, then added, “But in all honesty, I like Donald Trump, because he gets everybody ticked off. We’ve got to be doing something, and he’s not a politician – they can’t buy him.” She said her ideal ticket would be Trump and Paul, or maybe Trump and Ted Cruz.

Pfister said she’s always voted Republican. “There for a while I was ready to give up on them, too,” she said, because after election promises, “Nothing got done.”

Others gathered for the rally included Devon Downey, a first-year grad student at BSU in political science. “I want to hear more of what he actually has to say,” Downey said. “He doesn’t get a whole lot of chances.” Tyler Holden, who brought his wife, Ashley, is working on a master’s degree in poli sci. “I’m kind of interested to see what he says, because his polling numbers aren’t the highest, but yet he’s spending the resources to come to Idaho, rather than Iowa or New Hampshire.” Holden added, “I do have to admit I thought he’d be polling better – Trump is pulling from everybody’s polling, which nobody expected – except Trump.”