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