IowaPolitics.com: National Convention Blog

This blog is now located at http://convos.iowapolitics.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://convos.iowapolitics.com/feeds/posts/default.

Thursday morning, our delegation began its day with speeches from three Iowa congressional candidates. Mr. Kim Schmett (Iowa's 3rd Congressional District) Congressman Steve King (Iowa's 5th Congressional District) and Senator David Hartsuch (Iowa's 1st Congressional District.)

Kim Schmett spoke first on the need for common sense solutions to energy policy. Schmett said that Congress needs to understand the nation's urgent need to develop not just alternative forms of energy, but increase domestic oil production. Democrats don't seem to fully grasp the need to expand domestic oil drilling and Schmett is prepared to go to Congress to protect families from rising energy costs. I believe that Kim Schmett is a highly competent candidate with the background and experience to make a real difference for Iowans in Congress. Schmett's only real weakness is his low name ID. However, I would encourage everyone to take a good look at him and his campaign, you will almost certainly find something to like.

Senator Hartsuch, who spoke to the delegation at Tuesday's breakfast earlier in the week delivered a very similar speech Thursday. But he did make a point to mention that he would fight for disabled and disadvantaged people who have no lobbyists in Congress.

Congressman Steve King spoke last. His role seemed to be designed to fire up the delegation for the November election. King spoke about his recent trip to the Middle East and took some time to slam Senator Obama for being out of touch on foreign policy. King went on to tell the delegation that the world in 2008 faces many dangerous challenges not just with terrorism, but with a resurgence of Russian aggression. His message was very simple. The dangerous world we live in is not a world in which Barack Obama is prepared to lead.

Finally, the delegation was given a very rare chance to hear from a historic Republican icon. Abraham Lincoln (or rather an impersonator from Cedar Rapids) appeared before the delegation to speak about liberty and duty. The Lincoln impersonator used old speeches written by former President Lincoln from the mid 19th century to illustrate very modern Republican principals.

After the breakfast I asked around to find out why the state of Arizona had passed on the first roll call of states. As I wrote yesterday, I found it odd that Senator McCain's own state had passed in the roll call to nominate their own senator for president. Finally, I got an answer from congressional candidate Kim Schmett. "Its tradition" Schmett said. Apparently, tradition indicates that when nominating a presidential candidate, that candidate's home state passes automatically on the first roll call. When the other states have given the candidate enough delegates to reach the threshold of the nomination, that candidates home state is called upon again to give their candidate the delegates he/she needs to claim the nomination. Its an interesting fact that I had previously been unaware of and I felt it was worth noting.

On the way back to our rooms, there was buzz among the other delegates that Wednesday night, several activists from the anti-war organization "Code Pink" had entered the convention and tried to storm the convention floor during Governor Palin's speech. I was surprised to hear this considering the tight security around the convention complex. I also watched Governor Palin's speech last night and I never noticed anything amiss on the floor. Apparently, the protestors had been stopped before entering the floor by delegates from Idaho, Wyoming and Iowa before being arrested by security. There was also discussion among some delegates who told me that some delegates had been assaulted outside of the convention complex and their credentials and guest passes were stolen by protesters. It was sort of a scary prospect and with Senator McCain scheduled to speak tonight, I decided not to attend the pre-convention party for the Iowa and Minnesota delegations this afternoon because it was to be held outside of the secure convention complex.

When we arrived at the convention complex later in the afternoon we saw several police officers in riot gear standing guard near the gates of the convention complex. Apparently riots took place the previous night during Sarah Palin's speech and police were preparing for a larger demonstration Thursday. Inside the secured area, it was impossible to see any such protests and nothing being reported on the news was even remotely visible to the delegates at the RNC.

The convention hall seemed to fill up faster tonight than the previous three nights. Earlier, my wife Sarah and I had found a place to sit together up in the guest area when I was not needed on the floor. Tonight however, we found two seats in the guest galleries before I went downstairs to check in with the delegation. By the time I returned to the guest galleries, the entire seating area was filled. After listening to Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlentey and former Tennessee Senator Bill Frist speak we went out to the promenade of the Xcel Center to eat. We spent much of our last night wandering around the promenade stopping at the various boutiques selling buttons, t-shirts, hats and other GOP paraphernalia looking for a Sarah Palin button. We stopped at many occasions to check in on the major speakers like former Governor Tom Ridge and Senator Lindsey Grahm but spent much of the night taking in the festive atmosphere in advance of Senator McCain's acceptance speech.

By the time Senator McCain started speaking we had made our way to the area behind the stage to view the crowd. It was massive People had filled all of the seats in front of the stage and several more packed the aisles. In fact, the only visible room in front of the stage was the VIP holding area where VIPs were seated before being moved to the stage. Even in the area behind the stage, half of the seats seemed to be filled with onlookers who could only really watch the GOP nominee on the big screen televisions hanging high over the arena.

The crowd was in a festive mood and only one protester appeared able to breech the convention in an effort to shout down Senator McCain. The crowd would have none of it and drowned out the lone protester's shouts with a thunderous chant of "USA! USA!" People around the man who carried with him a homemade anti-McCain banner quickly seized the banner and called convention security who escorted the man away. Judging by the way security dealt with the man (I was watching from the next balcony over from the incident) it would be my guess that the man had entered the convention with one of the stolen guest passes I spoke of earlier. What the news does not tell you is that on the back of each guest pass and delegate floor pass is a bar-code that is scanned before you enter the convention. This gave convention officials the ability to track the origin of all passes in the convention. It would therefore take a person with very little interest in staying out of jail to enter the convention with a guest pass that was reported stolen by an assaulted delegate.

Apart from the one protester who was quickly dealt with by convention authorities, the night went very smoothly and the crowd appeared every bit as large and enthusiastic the stadium rally that Senator Obama held last week in Denver.

As I write this on Friday afternoon as we leave Minneapolis for home, I can only say that my perception of the 2008 Republican National Convention was one of total success. In a 5-day period, I have seen the enthusiasm level of Iowa activists explode. Crowd turnout at events is growing and I'm told that volunteers are calling into GOP offices around the country and signing up for phone banks, and door knocking efforts. Yard signs are flying out the door and the GOP is ready to stand up to Senator Obama and the Democrats, whose enthusiasm se\ems to be fading. While victory in 2008 may not be certain for the Republican party, I can finally look at the political landscape in America and say that I can see a path to victory for the Republicans in November. It will be an interesting and exciting two months to say the least.

-- Enos was former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's political director during his victorious Republican caucus campaign.

Labels: RNC2008

As the Republican National Convention builds toward John McCain's speech tonight, Iowa's delegates were still talking about the address delivered last night by vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

"This is going to activate the 30-somethings like we've never seen before," retiring state Rep. Sandy Greiner said of Palin's presence on the ticket.

Other delegates said they had been anxious to see how Palin performed in the spotlight, but that she exceeded all expectations.

Greiner and other members of Iowa's delegation gathered this afternoon St. Paul for an ice cream social hosted by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley.

-- By Mike Schramm

Labels: RNC2008

Labels: RNC2008

Our day started out once again with several high-profile surrogates for Senator McCain's campaign, including the senator's mother, who journeyed to our hotel to address the delegation at breakfast. The general feel among the Iowa delegation is highly optimistic.

Surely the McCain campaign would not be using so many of his most personal surrogates if he didn't see the situation on the ground in Iowa changing. For months, polling in Iowa had been leaning heavily toward Barack Obama. However, since the addition of Governor Palin to his ticket the mood has shifted. The grassroots appear to be coming home after several months on the sidelines and it looks like Iowa will again turn into a battleground state. With this in mind, it would seem that Senator McCain has decided to use his surrogates to help fire up the Iowa activists during their trip to St. Paul.

After the surrogates, our day was fairly quiet until we departed for the Xcel Center for day three of the convention. The chatter on the bus ride over seemed to center around two of the feature speakers on the agenda for the night, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. As Iowans know, Huckabee and Romney were the fiercest of rivals during the primary campaign and both men hoped to take the role of Ronald Reagan circa 1976 should the 2008 election slip away from the GOP. Tonight's speeches seemed to be an opportunity for both of them to present themselves to a national audience in an effort to claim that mantle.

The convention started off slowly and was a little dull. The speakers were a plethora of unknown and unexciting speakers who seemed to spend more time talking to the television cameras aimed at them than the actual delegates. The delegates were too wrapped up in their own personal conversations to take notice of the unfamiliar face on stage.

This disinterested mood seemed to change almost immediately when former Maryland Lt. Gov., and GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele took the stage. Steele has been a rising star within the Republican Party. He is relatively young, energetic, intelligent and he is a solid speaker. Many (myself included) believe that he could become the first African American presidential nominee of the Republican Party some day. However, Steele's speech was really more of a warm-up for the main event: Romney and Huckabee.

Governor Romney spoke first and came out in classic Romney style. He looked pressed and professional. His speech was pointed and took several well-worded swipes at the Democrats. But, like all Romney speeches, it was clearly read from a teleprompter and designed to throw as much red meat to the audience with as little actual emotion as possible. Personally, I've always believed that was Romney's greatest weakness. Sure, Romney was famous for his "adult epiphanies" on several major issues. However, many politicians (including Ronald Reagan) had similar moments of clarity on major issues. Unlike Reagan however, Romney is much more wooden on the stump. His emotion comes across as phony and he fails to connect with his intended audience on that subconscious level where our instinctive decisions are really made.

Next up was Governor Huckabee. Huckabee is much better than Romney at connecting with his audience on that personal level I spoke of above. However, tonight Huckabee seemed to be speaking more to the national television audience than the assembled crowd at the Xcel Center. He took a few swipes at Barack Obama for being out of touch with the average person. However, his red meat was toned down to a much smaller amount than Romney's and many of the stories he told were ones that Iowans who came to see Huckabee events during the caucus season have already heard. Huckabee's "from the heart" style in telling stories that embody the principals of patriotism and duty likely played better with the viewing audience than Romney's well-targeted, well-written, red-meat-laden speech. ... However, I am the first to admit that I am probably a little biased on this topic.

Following Huckabee and Romney was former New York Mayor Rudy Guliani. To Iowans, Giuliani's candidacy was one of the most over-hyped wastes of time in caucus history. Not only was Giuliani fundamentally wrong on almost every issue that is important to Iowa Republicans, his campaign in our state was non-existent. Today his speech was again hyped as an opportunity to throw some punches at Obama's weak record of experience. Like his candidacy in Iowa, his speech tonight failed to live up to the hype. No great, unforgettable one-liners. No slogans worthy of a bumper sticker. No real passion. Giuliani always came across to me as a smug, condescending New Yorker who was all too eager to tell "the rubes in Iowa how they do things in the real world (New York)." Rudy's condescending gestures like rolling his eyes, laughing at his own jokes, and turning up his nose always rubbed me the wrong way. Judging by his embarrassing fall from national front-runner to early-departing after-thought, I must not have been the only one who felt that way. However, I would have guessed that his fall from early GOP standard bearer to the warm-up act for another candidate would have taught him something about his poor delivery and annoying mannerisms. ... It didn't. ...

The final speaker of the night unexpectedly stole the spotlight from Romney and Huckabee. After nearly a week of taking attacks from Democrats about her lack of experience and from the media about an unrelated family matter, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin took the stage ready to fight. She started by kicking the political knees out from under Senator Obama, who claimed recently that she lacks the experience to be president. Governor Palin's response was to call Obama out on his own weak record. She told the crowd that the difference between being a small-town mayor (as she was) and being a "community organizer" (as Obama claims on his resume) is that "mayors are actually responsible for something." She went on to take a swing at the media outlets that have been attacking her family of late. This effort to call the media out on its personal attacks against Governor Palin's daughter and an outward invasion of her daughter's private life was met with chants of "NBC, NBC, NBC" by the delegates on the floor and several delegates pointed angrily toward the NBC desk in the convention. Palin went on to again poke at the media who has been so unapologetically jabbing at her this week. She basically told them that she didn't care if they liked her or not (which may be the same mistake that former Vice President Dan Quayle made in 1988) but for tonight, it played very well. She even took a few jabs at Senator Biden and had the crowd whipped into an anti-Obama frenzy. By the time Senator McCain made a surprise entrance at the end of Palin's speech, she had already hit a home run and accomplished everything in her remarks that the assembled crowd had originally expected of Giuliani.

The night ended with a roll call vote of the states to affirm the president/vice presidential ticket. I found this fascinating for a couple of reasons:

1. Did you know that when the roll call of states is done, the designated speaker from each state seems to be required to give a 5-minute speech complete with useless trivia knowledge about that state? This practice was kind of fun at first ... but after hearing seven states give long diatribes about their state motto, flower and "favorite sons" it got a little old and I no longer cared to learn about the state bird of Delaware. Seriously folks, we're here to cast our delegate votes to nominate Senator McCain and there are 56 U.S. states and territories to get through, lets get on with it shall we?

2. The state of Arizona actually chose to withhold its delegates from being counted in the final tally. ... I'm not sure what the story with that was.

3. Both Romney and Huckabee released their delegates to vote for Senator McCain so in spite of them finishing a close second and third behind McCain, neither of them received any delegates during the roll call.

4. In spite of choosing the popular governor as his running mate. John McCain failed to garner the support of 100 percent of the Alaska delegation to the Republican National Convention. Five delegates from Alaska voted for Ron Paul in spite of the fact that Ron Paul's name was never officially entered into nomination for the presidency at the convention.

By the end of the night, we had nominated our presidential and vice presidential candidates for 2008 and Sarah Palin had made a very favorable impression on the delegates and America after a week of criticism at the hands of the Obama-obsessed media.

-- Enos was former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's political director during his victorious Republican caucus campaign.

Labels: RNC2008

Iowa delegates today visited the Minneapolis Convention Center for a service project making comfort kits for those affected by Gulf Coast hurricanes. The Republican National Convention partnered with Target, FedEx and the American Red Cross to assemble and send 80,000 comfort packages.

At one end of the cavernous convention hall, volunteers worked to open and unpack boxes filled with toiletries and snack foods. In the middle of the hall, volunteers were lined up at dozens of long tables to organize and pack the boxes.

Earlier in the day Cedar Rapids area resident Kathryn Farrand played a DVD of photos of flood damage in Cedar Rapids and encouraged delegates to work on the service project.

"We of all people should have a heart for this," she said.

She also said help was still needed in Cedar Rapids, saying that many homeowners were unsure of the aid they might get because Congress is on recess and the state Legislature hasn't held a special session.

"We're a mess. We're an absolute mess," she said of her city.

"We as a delegation maybe have an opportunity to light a fire" to get more help for the flood-stricken parts of Iowa, she said.

-- By Mike Schramm

Labels: RNC2008

Party officials said this morning that U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley is in the Twin Cities. He wasn't at this morning's breakfast but he's planning to host an ice cream social tomorrow for members of Iowa's delegation. The event is scheduled to run in the late afternoon, before the convention events begin.

Labels: RNC2008

Charlie Black, a top adviser to John McCain, told Iowans the candidate was due to arrive in the Twin Cities today around noon. McCain's vice presidential pick Sarah Palin is set to address the convention tonight and McCain is due to speak tomorrow.

Black also gave a vague preview of keynoter Rudy Giuliani's speech, saying he would take on Barack Obama "on the issues," delivering a stronger speech than the one he gave in 2004.

Black ended his remarks by predicting a close election in Iowa and saying, "If we win Iowa, we're going to win the general election."

-- By Mike Schramm

Labels: RNC2008

Iowa's delegation this morning heard from a string of surrogates for John McCain, kicking off with his mother Roberta and ending with former UN Ambassador John Bolton.

Arizona's Jon Kyl, the other half of Arizona's U.S. Senate delegation, touted McCain's foreign policy credentials and his reaction to Russia's military move against Georgia.

He also said Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had brought a new energy to the Republican ticket and said McCain had gotten a boost from someone he called a "soulmate."

"I could see the glint in his eye," Kyl said of McCain after the Palin pick was announced. "He was re-energized."

Col. Bud Day, who was a prisoner of war with McCain, said one task for Republicans was to educate the "kids" who are supporting Obama.

"That's who we need to get," he said. "These kids don't know what's going on in the world."

He said talking to younger people and telling them about McCain's experience and principles would be important to the success of the GOP ticket.

He also likened the candidate to fictional boxer Rocky Balboa.

"Eighteen months ago John McCain was flat on his back ... written off as if he was a non-candidate," Day said. But just like Rocky, "he got up and fought again and won."

Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, sounded a similar message, talking about McCain's perseverance through the toughest times of his campaign for president. He said he saw McCain at a D.C. airport about a year ago, flying alone on standby. McCain's lot has improved since then, he said, and he's now the presidential nominee.

"I know in times of difficulty ... he will persevere," Steele said. "That's the mark of leadership."

Steele also said "the American press should be ashamed of itself" for the way Palin's been covered since she was named as the VP nominee. And Steele had a message for people he said were trying to tear her down.

"I know Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin's a friend of mine," he said. "You don't want to mess with Sarah Palin."

The morning speeches were capped off by former UN Ambassador Bolton.

Echoning some of what Steele said, Bolton said "there's an attack machine out there that's going after Sarah Palin." He predicted her speech tonight would show that the attacks are misplaced.

He also said he had spoken to her in Alaska last year and found her to be a "very bright woman" and well-informed on the Second Amendment and the foreign policy issue of missile defense.

Radio Iowa has audio of Bolton's breakfast remarks (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Labels: RNC2008

It's Iowa's turn to hear from surrogates for John McCain's campaign and the delegates are due to hear from an impressive line-up of speakers this morning, including Ambassador John Bolton and Roberta McCain, John McCain's mother.

Here's the full list, courtesy of the state Republican Party:
-Charlie Black, senior adviser to John McCain
-U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
-Ambassador John Bolton
-Colonel Bud Day
-Colonel Roger Donlon
-U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
-Roberta McCain
-U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer
-Former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, R-Md.

Read the speakers' bios

Labels: RNC2008

The delegation started off today to news that the convention was set to resume as planned. With the threat from Hurricane Gustav diminishing, sprits were high and it appeared that the convention could become more festive. We were informed that we would hear from several high-profile speakers including First Lady Laura Bush, Sen. Joe Lieberman and former Sen. Fred Thompson.

The delegation was also treated to a morning speech from Iowa senator and 1st Congressional District candidate David Hartsuch. Senator Hartsuch has been a strong leader in the Iowa Senate for the conservative movement and our delegation was happy to hear from him.

As the day wore on, several VIPs such as 3rd District Congressional Candidate Kim Schmett arrived to accompany the delegation to day two of the convention. I however, did not join the delegation for day two. I passed my credentials on to another delegate who took my space on the floor then I and ventured outside of the secure zone around the convention, making my way to the Target Center in Minneapolis where Congressman Ron Paul was holding a sort of "alternative convention" with special guest former Gov. Jesse Ventura.

Several reports on the morning news spoke of almost riot conditions in some parts of St. Paul on Monday when violent protesters actually engaged local police leading to the use of tear gas and fire hoses. I had also spoken with a Bloomington resident who told me that she had been in St. Paul when those events took place and was so afraid of the protesters that she wasn't planning on returning to St. Paul until Friday when the convention was over. Armed with that information, I was a little worried about venturing out on my own beyond the secured gates of the convention. However, on my way from the convention center to the Target Center I didn't see anything resembling a riot, or even a protest. I was able to make it to the Ron Paul "alternative convention" unscathed.

Ron Paul has always been something of a curiosity to me. Before I left for the Republican National Convention, I received two official-looking DVDs labeled as "time-sensitive information for delegates." From the look of the covers on the DVDs, it was my assumption that they contained information like convention rules, procedure and a snapshot of what to expect in St. Paul. To my surprise however, neither of the DVDs contained any such information. Both of them were 2-hour-long advertisements for Ron Paul, one of which was very negative against the Republican nominee, John McCain.

I would like to say that I was shocked, but this is really something I have come to expect from Ron Paul's over-zealous supporters. What I do find surprising is the vast diversity in Ron Paul's supporters. A few members of our delegation supported Ron Paul and they are very intelligent, articulate and well-intentioned people. This is in direct contrast to the Ron Paul supporters who put out these DVDs. That diversity among his supporters never ceases to amaze me.

Paul's "alternative convention" reminded me a lot of the "alternative forum" that Congressman Paul held in Des Moines last year when he was not invited to participate in the candidate forum hosted by the Iowa Christian Alliance and Iowans for Tax Relief.

I have always been fascinated by the swarms of people who are attracted to Ron Paul in spite of his almost total unavailability as a candidate. After all, Ron Paul's rhetoric isn't exactly new. He is essentially saying the same thing today that he's been saying since his Libertarian days in the late 1980s but now, in the twilight of his political life, it seems as though someone finally got the memo.

Following a short visit to the Ron Paul convention, I made a two-block journey to a popular Minneapolis night club where former Ark. Gov. Mike Huckabee was scheduled to play a concert with country music star Josh Turner in honor of the Arkansas delegation.

As Governor Huckabee's former Iowa political director, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see him and the rest of our staff again. By the time I finally arrived, the convention in St. Paul had ended and scores of delegates from around the country had boarded buses and were en route to the Huckabee reception.

After being handed my VIP pass and making the rounds chatting with old friends now employed with Huck PAC (Huckabee's Political Action Committee) I was told that the RSVP list was over 750 people and at least 100 more than that were likely to just show up. This was a far cry from the crowds of 20 people who came to meet Governor Huckabee in Pizza Ranches across Iowa last summer.

It's sort of heart-warming to see how far Governor Huckabee had come since I started working for him in February of 2007. In those days, we were always struggling to turn out even a handful of people to hear him speak around Iowa. Those days are long gone.

I guess it was appropriate that Huckabee's band, by playing the Brooks & Dunn hit "Only in America." This song brings back two memories for me: The first was when it was played when Huckabee took the stage to claim victory in the Iowa caucus on Jan. 3rd of this year. The second was when it was played when Huckabee took the stage to concede defeat in the South Carolina Primary on Jan. 19. I was personally with him on both occasions. They represent both the highest high, and lowest low of the campaign and the song "Only in America" was played at both. To hear him play it tonight was bittersweet for me and allowed me to personally reflect on a time in my life that I am truly grateful to have been a part of ... even in the middle of a crowded night club packed with dancing delegates, holding glow sticks and singing along with the band.

-- Enos was former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's political director during his victorious Republican caucus campaign.

Labels: RNC2008

Protesters again took to the streets in St. Paul Tuesday night, resulting in three arrests by police, plus the use of tear gas and flash-bang grenades.

Police line one street in downtown St. Paul


Security fences line the perimeter of the Xcel Energy Center

Labels: RNC2008

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Christopher Reed said today that he liked his chances against incumbent Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Cumming) because the Senate could "use a little less experience right now."

He said the main difference between him and others who have challenged Harkin is that he's a party outsider.

"Nobody expected me to win the primary race because I wasn't a part of the political machine of Iowa," he said. "I'm just the average Iowan looking to represent Iowans the way the houses were created by our founders. Iowans have a real chance this November to actually put a representative in Washington who's one of them."

Reed said he is "focusing on the grassroots" and has visited more than 60 of Iowa's 99 counties since July.

"I've been meeting and greeting voters, I'm not just doing Republican venues," he said. "I want the independents out there to also know that there's a choice this year."

Saying that voters want someone who "really knows what it means to live in Iowa," Reed said Harkin is no longer the voice to speak for everyday Iowans.

"Harkin is out of touch with Iowans," he said. "He hasn't lived in Iowa for years. He represents elites."

Reed issued a challenge to Harkin, saying he'd debate him "anytime, anywhere, anyplace."

Reed also said he was concerned that Iowa's flood recovery would be put on the back burner now that the Gulf Coast has been hit by hurricanes. He said that situation has only been exacerbated by "Iowa being underrepresented" during the August congressional recess.

"I think that our representation recessed prematurely," he said. "We have a few Democrat congressmen who came back from recess early who should have been able to speak to their leadership and explain to them the importance."

Listen to an interview with Reed, conducted by IowaPolitics.com's Mike Schramm and James Lynch of the Cedar Rapids Gazette

-- By Mike Schramm and Matt Clark

Labels: RNC2008

During this morning's meeting of Iowa's delegates to the Republican National Convention, state Sen. David Hartsuch spoke on behalf of U.S. Senate candidate Christopher Reed. Stephanie Laudner, Reed's campaign manager, also addressed the crowd.

Hartsuch said Reed's campaign was low on cash. Republicans, he said, "have been used to kind of, well, basking in the money," but "when you're in the minority all of a sudden the money isn't there."

Hartsuch said the activist base is excited, but getting the donor base involved "is kind of like starting a fire in the rain."

To regain the majority, he said, the party needs to "kind of ramp up our activist base," asking activists to distribute literature, make phone calls and talk to their neighbors about GOP principles.

Laudner also lamented the low cash flow of the Reed campaign -- she said his primary debts were paid off but he only had about $6,000 in the bank -- and said it would lead the campaign to rely on a grassroots strategy.

The plan is for Reed to visit two to three counties a day between the end of the convention and election day, aiming for at least one stop in every county. She asked delegates to contact the campaign with ideas for event locations in each county.

Laudner told the assembled Republicans that she had been in touch with the Iowa Farm Bureau and said the group is staying neutral in the U.S. Senate race, endorsing neither Reed nor U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin.

Listen to the remarks from Hartsuch and Laudner

-- By Mike Schramm

Labels: RNC2008

Day one of the convention lived up to what we had been recently promised, a straight-to-the-point session that was less about partisanship and more about coming together as a nation. By noon, the members of our delegation had boarded buses for the trip to the Xcel Center.

On the drive over, the buzz on the bus was not about Hurricane Gustav, the scaled-back convention or even the most recent efforts to discredit Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Most were talking about a group of protesters that had been arrested on Sunday. The protesters were such a big story not because of their intentions to gain a national spotlight for their activities, but because of the contents they held in their possession when they were arrested. They had been arrested with items including chains, sledgehammers, and several 5 gallon buckets of urine ... Needless to say, the prospect of being doused with urine was not one we were looking forward to.

Luckily, organizers did a fantastic job of ensuring that this didn't happen. Protesters were welcome to organize and demonstrate outside of the secure area around the convention hall. I, however, did not see any protesters around the convention. Delegates were safe from any random act of vandalism any group may have planed.

Security around the convention center was tight. Inside, the crowd was enormous. Moving around was difficult amidst the sea of delegates, VIPs and media. Even the seats on the floor were cramped, and I felt it was a true testament to party unity -- so many delegates were able to squeeze in together in such a tight space. Fortunately, the event staff did a great job of keeping the convention hall cool enough to be comfortable even though we were virtually sitting on top of one another.

After the gavel fell, we went immediately to work conducting the business of the convention. After a few short hours of passing the necessary resolutions to adopt the rules, a platform, etc., delegates were treated to an appearance by First Lady Laura Bush. The First Lady did a great job calling the delegates to action and pushing them to assist in any way they could with hurricane relief.

Following her speech, Governors Rick Perry (Texas), Bobby Jindal (Louisiana), Bob Riley (Alabama), Haley Barbour (Mississippi), and Charlie Christ (Florida) spoke via satellite from the Gulf states. They thanked the delegation for its efforts to help the affected citizens of their states, and applauded Senator McCain for his leadership and help with disaster relief efforts. Finally, Cindy McCain gave a brief speech to the convention and reiterated the words of the first lady and the Gulf states' governors.

As we left the convention, the buzz had shifted to Governor Palin, as we knew that the media was feeding on the recently confirmed story that the governor's 17-year old daughter was pregnant. The general consensus was that efforts to make an intimate family matter into a public debate on Mrs. Palin's character was both tasteless and uncalled for. Delegates and party activists have rallied around Governor Palin, and the scandal surrounding her family in no way deters that support. In all, I felt that in spite of the difficulties, day one was a success.

-- Enos was former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's political director during his victorious Republican caucus campaign.

Labels: RNC2008

This week's national convention marks the second time this year Iowa Republicans have seen severe weather affect one of their gatherings. In June both the Republican and Democratic state conventions in Iowa were delayed due to flooding in Des Moines.

Now Iowa Republicans watching the effects Hurricane Gustav is having on the Gulf Coast are hoping for the best for residents of the affected areas, but at the same time some are wondering if a focus on new natural disasters will pull attention away from the parts of Iowa still recovering from the June floods.

"The media's kind of got a short attention span. I think it's our responsibility to remind people that Iowa's still hurting," said Sarah Henderson, a resident of Cedar Rapids who saw the effects of flooding up close this June when she was flooded out of her workplace. "Instead of leaving people hanging out there while you deal with the next disaster they should have taken care of it in August."

Todd Henderson, Sarah's husband, said "in Iowa it really hits home" watching other communities deal with disasters. Henderson said he knows Cedar Rapids residents who are still "in limbo" due to uncertainty over federal recovery funding.

"There are still people that have been affected and are still devastated -- haven't recovered yet -- and Dave Loebsack and the Democratically-controlled Congress went on recess," Henderson said. "Katrina had funding on the way in less then a week -- they had it approved in less than a week. And here we are three-and-a-half months later and we haven't even had the discussion yet."

-- By Mike Schramm

Labels: RNC2008

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, wearing a bandage on his nose after recent skin cancer surgery, this morning lectured Iowa's convention delegates about the importance of preventive health care.

"The nice thing about what we're talking about today, chronic illness and prevention, it fits right in with our philosophy," said the former Bush administration HHS secretary. "Taking care of things before they get so bad that you can't fix it."

Thompson was direct in his discussion of the dangers of smoking and said he had banned it entirely when he worked at Health and Human Services, even going so far as to physically remove cigarettes from the mouths of smokers he came across.

He also discussed the importance of preventive health care in reference to his own cancer

"I had to go in and have some minor surgery for cancer," he said. "It's a good lesson: Don't tarry, don't wait, don't wait until something gets more serious. ... I saw I had something wrong on my nose and I went down and had a little surgery and took care of it."

Thompson, briefly a prez candidate who visited all 99 of Iowa's counties in the run-up to last August's Ames Straw Poll, said after the speech he regretted focusing entirely on Iowa and that he should have spent more time in New Hampshire. Thompson dropped out of the presidential race after a 6th place finish in the straw poll.

"It was a dumb strategy," he said of his all-Iowa, all-the-time plan. "You never overlook Iowa but don't put all your time there like I did."

This morning's breakfast the La Quinta Inn in West Bloomington was sponsored by The Partnership to Prevent Chronic Disease.

Listen to audio of Thompson's remarks

-- By Mike Schramm

Labels: RNC2008

On Monday morning we woke up early to attend a 7:30 a.m. breakfast where the Iowa delegation was addressed by Tommy Thompson, a former Wisconsin governor and one-time presidential contender.

Thompson was scheduled to speak to the delegation on behalf of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease. As a former secretary of Health and Human Services, Thompson was probably the best spokesman the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease could hope to have. However, his presence only reinforced my theory as to why his presidential candidacy had ended so prematurely.

I have always liked Tommy Thompson and he had be an early favorite of mine during the presidential election.

However, I believe that Governor Thompson was pigeonholed early, by both the media and prospective voters, as a single-issue candidate on health care.

One thing I've learned is that if you hope to capture the White House, you need to be a well-rounded candidate with knowledge (or at least the perception of knowledge) about a whole range of issues.

Alas for Governor Thompson, he did not sell as anything but "the health care candidate" … which may be why he was speaking to the Iowa delegation on behalf of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease on Monday morning, and not preparing to accept the Republican nomination for president on Thursday.

-- Enos was former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's political director during his victorious Republican caucus campaign.

Labels: RNC2008

Mark Lundberg, a delegate from heavily Republican Sioux County, said the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as McCain's VP was "truly a remarkable pick" that would help motivate the party's conservative base.

"Some of the conservative voters had some concern about John McCain and this just reinforces their support from the conservative wing of the party for the ticket," he said from the floor of the Minneapolis Convention Center during the delegate welcoming event Sunday night.

Anecdotally, the state Republican Party reported a noticeable uptick in callers offering to donate or volunteer after they heard about the Palin pick on Friday.

Tim Demuth, an at-large delegate from Coralville, said Palin helped to reinforce McCain's message of bringing change to Washington and fighting wasteful spending.

"It's an excellent pick to show that John McCain is still the maverick. Washington hasn't changed him," Demuth said. "Bringing her in -- not from Washington -- reinforces that John McCain is the real agent of change, if that's what this election is going to be about."

Demuth also talked about the way the convention was changing in the face of Hurricane Gustav hitting the Gulf Coast. He said the thoughts and prayers of the convention attendees would be with the people in the path of the hurricane.

"We understand that we're in the midst, unfortunately, of another crisis," Demuth said. "It's unfortunate that folks like [Florida Gov. Charlie] Crist and [La. Gov.] Bobby Jindal -- rising stars within our party -- aren't going to be able to make it, but they're needed elsewhere."

Lundberg said he would have liked to have seen President George W. Bush at the convention, but that he understood the decision to slim down the schedule.

"It would have been wonderful to have President Bush kick off the convention on Monday night, kind of saying goodbye to everybody, but obviously they have more pressing issues," Lundberg said.

-- By Mike Schramm

Labels: RNC2008

Driving from Des Moines to St. Paul carried with it a sense of uncertainty. With Hurricane Gustav threatening the Gulf Coast of the United States, we had heard rumors from every major McCain surrogate on the media circuit that the convention would be changed.

As we drove on, we were intently glued to the radio waiting for an announcement from Senator McCain himself to tell us if we were going to be participating in a political convention, or a 4-day telethon program to raise money for those affected by the storm. Finally, as we crossed the Minnesota border, Senator McCain's voice crackled across the static on the AM radio for his interview stating that we would be "playing it by ear."

We learned that only Monday's program had changed for certain. We would be conducting the legal process necessary to nominate Senator McCain and Governor Palin as our party's candidates for president and vice president, passing a platform, approving our rules and then adjourning.

Early reports hinted that many of the after-party events presented by the host committee would change or be completely canceled.

After arriving at the hotel, we received our credentials and were then hurried onto the charter bus that would take us across town to the Minneapolis Convention Center for our delegate welcome party.

Stepping off the chartered bus at the convention center, we were greeted by a sea of volunteers welcoming us to Minneapolis and the delegate party. There was a three-piece band that included a very enthusiastic banjo player, playing a touch of Dixie.

We headed inside to Civic Fest, a massive gala full of exhibits and vendors. In truth, it was a lot like a highly politicized version of the Varied Industries building at the Iowa State Fair.

Labels: RNC2008

Delegates from across the country convened tonight at the Minneapolis Convention Center to take in Civic Fest, a look at American history produced by the Minneapolis St. Paul 2008 Host Committee. More than 100 corporations, organizations and individuals made donations to support the event.

Attendees were ushered by volunteers down a long red carpet into a giant room filled with dozens of exhibits, tables of finger food and bars with free drinks. Displays included mock-ups of Air Force One, the Oval Office and the White House Rose Garden plus looks at historical documents and the history of Minnesota.

Read more about Civic Fest

Labels: RNC2008