Bird-dogging Casey at Pitt -- how it happened

Ok, so! The Casey rally in at Pitt was a clear success. Here's how it went: Mary, Kate, and T from SGAP Pitt sat together, whereas I sat apart, as did Anna & the PittMed students. This worked well, as will be demonstrated later. The article gave a nice breakdown of how the event went. When Casey was running quite late, Chris and Andre Heinz did their best to fill the gaps, at which point I decided to stand up to ask a question. I stated that I, in light of the majority of Rick Santorum's policies, am faced with a grand conflict when I consider his support and leadership in the Senate for funding of HIV/AIDS initiatives, whereas Casey has thus far failed to make a commitment. Chris Heinz rattled on for a little bit about how Santorum mostly funds "Big Pharm" after which Kate, T, and Mary chanted, which, unfortunately was a little difficult to hear. When Casey finally arrived, Mary and Kate started chanting "Open your purses, we need nurses" about 5 minutes in, which wasn't received well; they were asked to leave by a rude security guard who threatened them! To correct what I think might have been incorrect in the article, I think it was Mary who asked if Casey would do more than Santorum, to which Casey replied that he would, on many things. (The AP woman didn't ask me specifically who said what, just, if I stood up and asked the question about AIDS...so I think that's where the misunderstanding came from). After Casey spoke and left no time for questions, he took his time shaking hands and asking personal questions and obliging with photos. Mary's friend Michael, who is HIV+, talked extensively to Casey, I believe about HIV/AIDS initiatives though I can't be quite certain since he scooted out while I was still waiting to talk to Casey. Anna and I spoke with him next, where she clarified that the problem is not just with nurses but with Health Workers, and of course the multitude of things that goes with it; I handed him the policy sheet that outlines the 8 bill over 5 years, all the national/international groups that endorse it. He asked me if there was a bill in the Senate that dedicates funding at present, to which I told him that there wasn't; that it was extremely important that this commitment comes from new money, and takes nothing from existing programs. I asked him if he would exceed Santorum, to which he said he would, and that he couldn't commit to having drafted anything by the time he's elected, but that he would do everything he could when he got to the Hill! I also asked him if he got our note from the debate (Mary and I left it on his car when we didn't get to speak with him) and he did! (He remembered what color paper it was written on and everything). I relayed all of this to the AP woman, who asked to speak with me afterwards. So, in all, it went extremely well; great work everyone!