ANAHEIM, Calif. — It was the oddest of occurrences — the rare chance to cover a Hillary Clinton rally followed by a rowdy Donald Trump protest, just 15 minutes away from each other.
I don’t cover politics — tech is my beat, so what I know about the presidential campaign is what I read and see on cable TV.
The surreal day last week couldn’t have been more eye-opening.
The Clinton rally in an old Buena Park union hall was quiet, subdued and gentle, like a polling place on Election Day. There were many folks, mostly women, greeting us. Most were ultra-friendly. I could park on the street, directly across from the rally.
There were 450 or 500 people on hand.
It always makes me chuckle when I see clips of politicians who come out at their rallies, laugh, point to people in the crowd, laugh some more, and seem to be having the time of their lives.
At the Clinton rally, the candidate did just that, emerging onto the stage about 15 minutes late, escorted by actress Jamie Lee Curtis, to Rachel Platten's Fight Song. She was laughing and whooping it up.
Just that morning, yet another wrinkle in Clinton's ongoing email controversy had emerged when the State Department issued a report saying the former secretary of State didn’t follow rules when she used a private server for her email.
I asked the press representative if we’d have access to the candidate for a comment. She said she’d get back to me. She didn’t.
I asked one of the journalists who travel with Clinton about candidate access and was told it didn’t happen. Clinton would come out, speak and then work the line to pose for selfies with supporters. The only way to get a comment was to storm the line and shout a question.
That didn't seem promising. With the music blaring, even if she did answer, you wouldn’t be able to hear what she said.
I tried. But Clinton didn’t answer any questions.
Once the rally finished up, I drove to a Trump event at the mammoth Anaheim Convention Center, where I’ve covered many trade shows over the years. I was greeted by a convention center sign saying that the rally was sold out. Local reports said 3,000 people were there.
Heavily armed police were seemingly everywhere, in cars, on foot, on motorcycles, on horseback.
Gathered outside the center was a large gathering of anti-Trump protesters, who were there to express their anger at the presumptive Republican nominee.
Signs compared the candidate to Adolf Hitler and pictured him sitting atop a pile of dog feces.
While most supporters were inside the convention center listening to their candidate, the protesters chanted “F--- Donald Trump” and pounded a big pinata with the candidate's likeness on it.
Immigrants who told me they were here illegally wore bandannas that hid their faces.
This was a scary place to be.
The anti-abortion protesters who show up at many convention center events were on hand, challenging the anti-Trump throng. The debate somehow diverged into immigration, with taunts to “go back home, we don’t want you here.”
Meanwhile a few brave souls sported signs calling for peace. I interviewed one woman about her peace plea, but the conversation didn’t get very far — pro-Trump forces started a debate in the middle of the interview, and the name calling began.
I asked one of the Trump supporters his impression of the scene:
“It’s fine, as long as there is no violence,” said Thad Fillman, from Temecula, Calif. But when “every other word” from the protesters is “the F word, I think it’s terrible.”
I left to file a story. It was later, after the Trump faithful left the rally, that chaos ensued. Rocks were thrown at police officers. A garbage can was set afire. At least seven people were arrested. It was the top story on Los Angeles news radio.
This follows other recent Trump appearances that ended ugly.
If this continues, looks like it's going to be a long, long summer.
Graham covers technology for USA TODAY.
