Politicians, reporters, commentators, delegates and even protestors seized upon
St. Paul for four days of over the top excitement. That’s exactly what they got and then some.
My trip to the RNC started the Friday before Labor Day. The country waited in eager anticipation of who John McCain would announce as his running mate. I got the news just an hour before we left Cedar Falls. I could not have been more surprised or happy. Many months ago, a friend of mine had mentioned he would like to see Sarah Palin be McCain’s VP. So, imagine my shock when she was chosen. I’m taking my friend to the casino to see what his psychic abilities could do for me at the craps table.
The conservative talk radio hosts were all abuzz with the news of Palin. For four hours, my husband and I listened to Andrew Wilkow and Sean Hannity talk about the great things she has done for Alaska (cutting taxes, cleaning up corruption and still standing on her beliefs and never backing down). There were moments when I choked back tears of joy at such a wonderful pick. It’s not that she is a woman – that’s a non-issue for me. It’s that I suddenly realized we could win this election. No more questions, no more doubt – I was sold. We CAN win this election.
In the days leading up to the convention we began to notice the veiled and not so veiled attempts of the media to slander Governor Palin. Many of the stories they published and broadcasted were down right absurd. We heard everything from Palin tried to fire a state trooper because he and her sister were going through a divorce to her 17 year old daughter was the actual mother of her brother Trig. While it was fun to watch the left wing media scramble to try and find dirt on Palin, it was down right scary to know that there would be those stupid enough to believe the blasphemy.
On Sunday evening we were informed the convention was scaled back out of respect for Louisiana as they were being pounded by hurricane Gustov. The abbreviated session threw the convention for a loop and the first day, which is usually bustling with excitement, actually seemed rather sluggish. But leave it to the protestors to keep things hopping. As we left the Xcel Center early that evening, we were informed that the bus that was to take us back to our parking spot could not cross the bridge. It seems that due to some of the protestors getting out of hand, the bridge was on lockdown. Traffic was not allowed across the bridge and no one was allowed to walk across the bridge unless they were walking away from the Xcel Center. As we began our track across the bridge to the car, we saw protestors scatter down below the bridge. We stopped to watch as law enforcement in riot gear began marching down the street in an attempt to push them back. They began gassing the protestors and shooting rubber bullets. It did not take them long to push the protestors back all the way down the street.
Now, it’s really important to make the distinction here between the protestors and the criminals. Many of the protestors were rather peaceful. I saw three protestors doing ‘Yoga for Peace’, gay rights protestors telling us not to be afraid of them but to support them and a guy with a ‘Vote for Jesus’ sign. These protestors cheerfully spoke to people in line to get into the Xcel Center. None of them were nasty and none of them were threatening. They just wanted to be heard and they were. Then there was a group of several hundred whose primary goal was not to be heard but cause destruction to the city and harm upon the delegates and guests. One protestor tried to snatch the credentials off one of the delegates and several others smashed police cars, broke windows of downtown shops and even slashed the tires of the local Fox affiliate. In the end, approximately 1,000 arrests were made at the RNC.
Session two and three were pretty quiet as far as the protestors and criminals go but inside the action was bustling. It was actually pretty overwhelming. There were politicians and news personnel everywhere. Fox had a news tent up called “The Fox Experience”. They would open it up to the public a couple times a day. There, we met Ben Stein. We also saw Chris Wallace and Karl Rove come out of the tent. I, along with another volunteer, stood between the door and the elevator like a bunch of Beetles fans hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite star. It was then that we saw Megyn Kelly of Fox News. Down on radio row, I met Andrew Wilkow of Sirius Satellite Radio and saw Alan Colmbs and Steven Baldwin. It was my great disappointment that no matter what I did or where I went, I did not meet Sean Hannity.
There were so many speeches over the course of the whole convention from well known to not so well known business owners as well as some of the major players in the Republican Party. It is for that reason I cannot possibly comment on all of them. But I can comment on the ones I found the most amazing.
Fred Thompson was fired up and his first jab was at the media for the nastiness they have thrown Palin’s way since the announcement she was running as McCain’s running mate. But that wasn’t even the most memorable part of his speech. It was when he said that being a POW doesn’t qualify someone to be President but it speaks volumes about his character. Scott and I talked to several former Fred Heads and we all agree that if Thompson spoke like he did at the convention when he was on the campaign trail, he might have pulled some poll numbers.
Although George W. Bush could not physically be at the convention, the audience was very happy to see him via satellite. President Bush has never made a bad speech and his convention speech was no different. He was very complimentary towards McCain but still kept his distance from him by stating that they didn’t always agree on everything. I think it was a smart move because it’s important to show that McCain/Palin are different than Bush/Cheney.
Mike Huckabee gave his speech and although bits and pieces of his speech were from prior speeches he made on his own campaign trail, it was still electrifying. He took a couple of swipes at the media which eventually became a theme throughout the convention. At one point, the delegates and guests turned to the NBC booth and began booing.
Rudy Guiliani really played up to the audience. When he started talking about Drill Here, Drill now, someone shouted “Drill, baby drill.” Guiliani smiles and says “Drill, baby, Drill?” Then the audience starts chanting “Drill, baby drill.” Rudy was the best I’ve ever seen him. He got the audience fired up, he took jabs at the media and Obama and talked about McCain’s experience and his readiness to lead this country.
Governor Sarah Palin blew everyone out of the water. I had goose bumps half way through her speech. Of course, it was mighty cold in the Xcel Center so it was hard to tell if it was the temperature or Sarah’s speech. Her speech had everything that she needed to help unite the party. She gave a biography of herself by talking about some of her major accomplishments like keeping taxes low and giving money back to the Alaskan people, saying no to the Bridge to Nowhere and selling the private jet she was to fly in on ebay. She talked about driving herself to work and how she’s just another wife and mother that just so happens have a job looking out for the people of Alaska. She took a pretty big swipe at the media saying “I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I’m going to Washington to serve the citizens of this country.” She also whipped Obama stating that being a Governor is like being a Community Organizer but has actual responsibilities. At some point during her speech, either the teleprompter went out or was scrolling too fast but she never missed a beat. She continued speaking and we had no idea until later that there was a problem. She spoke from the heart so there was no need to rely on the prompter anyway. The audience was pretty hyped up after her speech and I’m sure many went home too energized to sleep.
When McCain took the stage on the last night, the stage crew had to quickly change the shape of the stage so that it looked more like the townhall look that McCain was going for. However, there were some mixed opinions for those who sat in the higher elevations of the Xcel Center. I think most of us appreciated the more reserved square stage but once McCain was on stage, those thoughts took a back seat.
McCain’s speech was prefaced by his video biography that was both moving and inspiring. It spoke of his military service, his days as a POW and how he and Cindy met and married. When McCain walked out on stage the crowd went wild with applause and cheering. Shortly after the audience settled down and McCain began to speak, an anti-war protester began shouting. They took her out. He began speaking again and another protester was caught. The audience wasted no time chanting U.S.A while the protesters were removed from the Center. Too bad they didn’t enter by the Texas delegates! They would have eaten them alive. You don’t mess with Texas!
He went on to thank everyone for supporting his choice for VP and touted her record as being a no nonsense type of lady who will help him fight for us. He reminded us that he supported the surge even when it was unpopular and that he’d rather lose an election than lose the war. He promises to veto park barrel projects. He will promote school vouchers and put the management of education back into parent’s hands. He showed support for Georgia and shamed Russia’s aggression towards them. He also spoke of his energy policy to drill for our own oil and stop depending on foreign oil from countries that wish us harm. He also is the best I have ever seen him.
Overall, the RNC is what we imagined it would be only greater speeches and more enthusiasm. If the party wasn’t united and energized before the convention, it was when we left the convention. After the RNC, the poll number began rolling in and it appears that the VP pick along with the convention helped boost the polls in McCain’s favor by at least 4%. I suspect that in the coming days that percentage will bounce even higher.
