8:25 PM: Delegate diary: GOP enthusiasm shows through in convention's final day
Wes Enos
Delegate diary
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
