Final Thoughts from Convention Week

I thought I'd give you a wrap up of the week with my own thoughts and recollections.

Governor Sarah Palin is the Real Deal.
It was a privilege to meet her, and her husband, and her mother, and her aunts. Folks, these are real, every day, down to earth people. No putting on airs, no falsity, just real people - and frankly a breath of fresh air.

Politically, that is going to connect with most of the heartland of this country. The northeastern liberal elites, especially in the media, will never understand the Palins, and will never understand why they connect at such a deep level with ordinary Americans. Neither will the West Coast Hollywood crowd. But the vast middle of the country, stretching from the Sierras to the edges of the Beltway, will understand this family perfectly - because we and they are the same. These are normal people with normal struggles and triumphs and challenges. That is why the left and the media have gone bonkers trying to cut her to ribbons - they understand the danger Governor Palin brings without understanding her at all.

Her speech was simply brilliant - even more so because the teleprompter had died a third of the way through. When they checked the tape to the original, she had changed one only word (not counting the insertion of the now famous pit bull/hockey mom/lipstick reference). That is a sign of a great and polished speaker who kept her head remarkably well.

But her speech, while fantastic, wasn't the memory I will cherish the most from this convention. Later that night, after we rode the bus back to the hotel, but before we went to the party up the street, a number of us were in the hotel lobby/lounge area. In walks Henry Kissinger. I get to meet Henry Kissinger and shake his hand - too weird. I'm still in that lobby (after taking a few pictures) when I hear the elevator ding - and in walks Sarah and Todd Palin. They meet a few people and chat, and pose for pictures, before the Secret Service politely reminds her to keep moving, and she does - into the hotel lounge/restaurant area.

The roar that went up from the folks in the hotel lounge is a sound I will remember for the rest of my life. It sounded like a Stanley Cup winning goal had been scored, or a Super Bowl winning touchdown - in overtime. The hotel shook with the noise - and then they all started chanting "SARAH... SARAH..." I get choked up just remembering that sound. I spoke with someone Friday morning who still had chills just thinking about it - she was on the third floor and on the other end of the hotel, and she still heard it (and wondered why she wasn't downstairs in the lounge...)

One last thought on Sarah Palin - sometime Wednesday night, around 11PM EDT, the Presidential hopes of Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback, and anyone else whose name was on this year's ballot - their future White House hopes died that night. Anyone on this year's ballot had only this year to pull the trick - and that moment has now passed. The entrance of Sarah Palin onto the national stage heralds the end of one generation of Republican politician and the beginning of the next. This new breed is conservative socially and fiscally, but is reform minded - something the Big Government breed of Republicans just can't get. The corruption, scandal, and failure of Tom Delay, Mark Foley, Larry Craig, Duke Cunningham and the K Street cabal has led inexorably to a generation of leaders like Governors Palin, Jindal and Sanford (and probably others we don't even know yet) who will lead this party into the future. I welcome this development wholeheartedly, even as I remain concerned with some of Senator McCain's own proclivities on border security and global warming...

Other highlights of this week: Wednesday night's speech lineup was rock star - and they all hit it out of the park. Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani - all did fantastic jobs at warming things up. That more people watched Wednesday night than watched Obama's speech augurs well for the Republicans this fall.

Lowlights of the week - protestor idiots, especially the ones that MSNBC allowed to get access into the arena on Thursday night. Shame on MSNBC for knowingly giving protestors badges so they could make trouble - someone needs to get fired for that, just as someone needs to get prosecuted for stealing the identity of an Indiana delegate to gain unlawful access.

People I got to meet (and really enjoyed): The Palins, Mayor Giuliani, Jon Voight, Mary Katherine Ham, Henry Kissinger, and the guy who played George Washington.

SC people (some delegates) I had the pleasure of hanging out with this week: Lou and Patrick Nolan, Doug and LouEllen Robertson, Gen. Richard and Linnea Eckstrom, Kevin Hall, Jim Corbett, Reps. Alan Clemmons, Tracy Edge, Eric Bedingfield, and Wendy Nanney (along with her husband Tim), Glenn McCall, Moye Graham (who is a prince), Eaddy Roe Willard, Katrina Shealy, and Drew McKissick. Special Thanks also to the folks who did videos this week: Lt. Gov Bauer, Atty Gen. McMaster, Speaker Harrell, Congressmen Wilson and Inglis, Rep. Bedingfield, and Kevin Hall. I do wish Governor Sanford could've stayed longer (we had to cancel the scheduled video due to Hanna's arrival) and that Rep. Gresham Barrett could've come up (something happened there and that video didn't happen either).

It was a pleasure and a privilege to go to this convention with such a fine delegation - even more so under the leadership of our Chairman, Katon Dawson, who did remarkable work this week. Jay W., Katie, Lisa, and Rob also were terrific, and did a ton of work keeping things running. Well done all.

So now it's back to work. I'm back in Lexington, dodging the hurricane on the drive down from Charlotte airport last night. After this many nights of too little sleep, I think it's nap time...

SC Delegate reactions from the RNC

Two reaction videos for you, from the Hilton Minneapolis - Kevin Hall of Richland County and Rep. Eric Bedingfield of Greenville. These are two of the wonderful people I've had the pleasure and privilege of hanging out with this week.

First Kevin:



And Eric:

Andre Bauer at the RNC

SC Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer talks with us before the SC delegation breakfast on September 4, 2008

Glenn McCall at the RNC

Glenn McCall, Republican National COmmitteeman joins us at the Republican National Convention. Day 4 after breakfast.

SC Attorney General Henry McMaster at the RNC

From the Morning of Day 4 at the RNC: SC Attorney General Henry McMaster

And now for something completely different...

I thought I'd also show some of the fun side of Minneapolis. The Civic Fest has been running since Sunday, and Sunday night, we started with the Host Committee Reception there.

So... here's some video of what that looked like this afternoon...



Unfortunately, I missed getting pictures of Abraham Lincoln.

More photos from some of my fellow delegates to come, including the frankly surreal moment where some of us got to meet Dr. Henry Kissinger, while others met Todd and Sarah Palin...

AND - I'm on the floor tonight!!

RNC Day 4 breakfast

After a really stirring night last night where Sarah Palin hit a grand slam with her speech, we got together for one last delegation breakfast.

Our Intro speaker was Senator Lindsey Graham, who also spoke later in prime time.



That was followed up by one the young bright lights of American conservatism - Michael Steele of GOPAC. Video in two parts below.

Part I:




Part II:

Thoughts from the 50th, Part II: Jim Demint

After we heard at length from T. Boone Pickens, we got to hear from our Senator, Jim Demint. Jim spoke on the challenges that face our party, including the energy challenge that T.Boone had just laid out...

Part I:



Part II:

Thoughts from the 50th Floor: Breakfast at the RNC

So breakfast this morning was on the 50th Floor of the IDS building in downtown Minneapolis: "Windows on Minnesota". This is the view out one of those windows, an iconic downtown Minneapolis office building on the right and the Mississippi River flowing on the left.

As we walked out of the hotel this morning on our way to Windows, we were immediately hit with the after-effects of Labor Day - Fall has fallen on Minnesota. The brisk breeze this morning was an amazing refreshment after months of heat and humidity, and served to wake us all up in a hurry, despite the early hour. (I was up working on the blog and still unresolved video issues from yesterday until about 2AM... 0730 meeting in the lobby came awfully early today.)

Our speaker this morning was also well worth the wait - one of America's finest entrepreneurs, T. Boone Pickens. Mr. Pickens is out working on promoting his energy program, which largely consists of expanding our domestic energy production, especially revitalizing our transportation infrastructure with natural gas and our home energy needs with wind, solar, and nuclear. The environmental impacts of this would be remarkable, but the key point, as you will see below, is removing America's dependence on foreign sources of oil. I suggest watching all five in order - this was pretty much the full speech, divided up this way so I could load on YT.

Part I:




Part II:



Part III:



Part IV:



Conclusion:

Republican National Convention Day 2

VERY Busy day today - sorry for how late this is getting posted! With the convention in full gear, we didn't have many moments to spare...

We opened up with another delegation breakfast, this one a joint deal with New Hampshire. It was an opportunity for the McCain campaign to thank the two states that gave him early primary victories.

We heard from the Secretary of Commerce, then a former POW who had been in the Hanoi Hilton with Senator McCain.




After remarks from Senator Lindsey Graham, Cindy McCain addressed the breakfast, as well as America's Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Unfortunately the video files are getting fought by YouTube and Blip... hopefully I'll have those up soon.

After getting some of our marching orders for the day, a few of us headed over to a surprising symposium on education involving Speaker Newt Gingrich, MN Governor Tim Pawlenty, and ... the Rev. Al Sharpton! Yes, a Republican audience gave Al Sharpton two standing ovations! Shocking stuff, I tell ya... The crux of the argument is choosing children over bureaucrats - including merit pay for teachers and more market based reforms (school choice, anyone?) American Solutions has more information and the video here.

Then it was off to lunch with the delegation - and two very special guests, the Ambassadors from India and New Zealand. Congressman Joe Wilson made some remarks on the importance of US-India relations, and emphasized the SC ties with India. And the food was awesome...

Then we headed over to another restaurant in town (the restaurant row in downtown Minneapolis is called Nicolette Mall -- and it's truly impressive...) for a reception honoring Senate Conservatives, especially Senator Jim Demint. It was great to see the Senator there as well as Governor Sanford. Because of scheduling, this was just a quick drop by before we boarded buses to cross the Mighty Mississippi for St. Paul.

As for the first full night... the video clips were amazing, especially the ones narrated by Robert Duvall and Gary Sinise.

I got to the floor for Fred's speech... and loved every minute of it. Fred was as good as I've seen him all year, perhaps more comfortable singing the praises of others than he was himself during the campaign.

Then it was off to Senator Demint's birthday party...

More to come tomorrow.

Convention Day 1: George Washington gets us kicked off

South Carolina's delegation breakfast got off to a rousing start today with the actor who played George Washington in the History Channels "The Revolution". After giving us some historical perspective on the importance of prayer, General Washington led us in a prayer of his own (taken from his diary.)



After that, we got our marching orders for the day (get your badges, make the bus, don't forget the milk and cookies party...) and an update on the electoral landscape from Whit Ayres (who agrees with the importance of the Palin pick.)

Mostly just business today while we watch. Everyone is palpably relieved that Gustav seems to have spared New Orleans. At the same time, Don Fowler has clearly put his foot in it with his over the top rhetoric about God sending hurricanes to stop the convention. Favorite unintentional admission of the morning: Howard Wolfson on Fox News "Sometimes we say things we don't mean." Yep - that's one of the differences between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats often say things they don't mean - thanks for admitting it.

The energy surrounding this campaign is overwhelmingly positive since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the running mate. The base is energized and motivated in a way we weren't just a week ago. The polling from Rasmussen and Zogby shows McCain/Palin leading (in basically a statistical tie) with Obama/Biden, and that's after their convention and before ours - unheard of. As long as we can get in three solid days of message (Tuesday through Thursday after the cancellation of political speeches tonight due to Gustav) we should see a modest bounce on top of that, and go into the final two month stretch with a lead...

Convention Arrival

I pulled in around 9:00 PM local time last night, weary from too much flying (I still don’t know if it was Northwest or Priceline that bumped my two-hour direct flight from Charlotte to MSP into two separate two hour flights, with Memphis in the middle… I suspect the airline… and I digress.)

The trip up was eventful. The drive up I-77 to Charlotte included some guy in a minivan who rode my bumper for an hour (even when I changed lanes…). You know that section where 77 goes from two to three to four lanes? I stayed in the “fast” lane, which became the “2” lane. The minivan goes flying around me, but fails to notice the real reason I was driving 70 – the unmarked officer car in front of me, who promptly nails the minivan for whatever speed he was doing when he blew by Sparky. Sometimes, karma’s a beaut.

My first flight was with an LAPD officer who just got back from Iraq this week. Definitely an eye-opener on what’s going on there. It’s clear we’ve won what we went to do – so it’s fast approaching time to declare victory, turn it over to the Iraqis and bring the boys home. Victory with honor is a great way to wrap it all up…

My second flight was also interesting. I was next to two older gals from Mississippi. One was from the north part of the state and was headed to a Montana retreat with her family for two weeks. The place sounds idyllic – a ranch with a stream in the mountains… The other gal was from Pass Christiane, and was fleeing Gustav in advance. When she had returned to her home after Katrina, EVERYTHING had been gone, including the foundation, and two of her best friends. This time, she and her husband didn’t pack the blueprints for the house – if this hurricane takes the newly rebuilt home, they’ll go somewhere else.

These two gals are part of a very important sector of the Republican coalition – married women (who, the polling tells us, are twice as likely to vote Republican as are single women.) Suffice it to say they both had similar feelings as I have had in this election season. None of us were all that thrilled with the concept of a McCain candidacy, but we’re all absolutely stoked over a McCain/Palin candidacy. Two days on, among the folks who are the backbone of the Party, the Palin choice is an absolute home run – exactly what was needed to reach out to the Republican base and energize it. McCain is his own best outreach to the middle (though Palin’s reach to independent women and the “hockey moms” of the battleground states of the northern Midwest {MN, MI, WI, IA, OH, and PA} will be critical).

After so much flying (and a long wait for the luggage at MSP) it was a relief to get to the hotel and immediately be among so many friends. I’ve already run into at least a dozen SC folks, including Chairman Dawson this morning. It’s kinda weird to travel all day, and then see friendly faces you know when you get here. I’ve also run into a fellow traveler from the Fred Thompson campaign as well as Bud McFarlane, the former Reagan National Security Advisor who is now a delegate from DC.

Dawn broke this morning to a brilliant blue sky day here – a cool breeze blowing through the sun-splashed city. I walked the two blocks down to Key’s Café, which came highly recommended by security here. (Travelers hint – if you want to know where to go to get a real breakfast, ask security. They know. Trust me.) The “Everything” omelette was as good as promised, including the homemade strawberry jam on the 12-grain wheat toast. The ambiance was somewhat disturbed when we were joined by the members of a lesbian protestor choir who saw our badges and simply glared…

OH yes, I nearly forgot – the “protestors”. A handful of “peaceful protestors” were arrested yesterday by local law enforcement (God Bless Them All), and charged with conspiracy to start a riot. Among the items confiscated were knives, machetes, slingshots, bows, arrows, lighter fluid, and (my personal favorite) “buckets of urine.” I’m guessing they wanted to mark their territory before they shot the flaming arrows of Gladiator doom in our direction. Good on the local sheriff for shutting it down.

St. Paul city Councilman Dave Thune gets the prize for clueless local Democrat politician quote of the day: (amalgamated from MSNBC and the STrib)

"This is not the way to start things off," Thune said Saturday morning. "This is sending the wrong message. Regardless of how you feel about these people...they had a right to be there… We spent so much time trying to welcome people to the city and now this is the way we start out," he said. "It pretty much sucks."

Gee, Councilman Thune, “We invited folks to be here” is an awfully strange excuse for why those folks should be met with weaponry upon arrival…or did you mean you’ve been inviting anarchist rioters to your district, while the rest of the city is trying welcome Republicans here for a convention? (So… yes, I am wearing my convention security badge for the next week…)

Actually, the local folks working the convention have been spectacularly welcoming. Special shout-out to Annie and Lorri from the MSP2008 crew who have been invaluable in dispensing tourism advice and maps... even last night's cab driver was into the convention spirit, as an immigrant who came here legally to start a new business and enjoy the American dream as “his own boss.”

Bad Republican rumor of the day – if and when Gustav hits we may shut down the convention. That would be a mistake. This is an opportunity for Senator McCain and Governor Palin to be serious about serious issues at the convention – even if by satellite live from the Gulf Coast. We delegates can be responsible and dial down the “party” aspect of a convention like this – but we shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to energize the base (here and around the country). The Palin nomination has us all in high-energy mode right now, and this convention could be a terrific way to channel that energy into community service projects (locally and in the Gulf) that could go a long way towards building our reputation along those lines. All that said, our prayers go out to the folks along the Gulf Coast right now in the path of the storm. They’re very much in our thoughts.

I’m one of at least three of us blogging from the SC delegation – along with my convention roomie Drew McKissick (Conservative Outpost), and Rep. Alan Clemmons, who is writing for the Sun News. I’m looking forward to what the next week holds.

OK, Moye Graham just rolled up - time for the Party to start...

Pro-Life VP or Bust

Cross-posted at SC Conservative

There has been a ton of speculation that John McCain may be considering a pro-abortion Vice Presidential nominee (bringing responses and pontifications at Politico, Hot Air, Rush, just to name a few).

I'm with the Hot Air folks on this one. A pro-abortion nominee like Lieberman (or Guiliani, or Ridge) would be an unmitigated disaster for McCain, perhaps the one last way he could derail his own campaign and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. As a strategy, it would lead to the wholesale departure of the Republican base, (more than making up for any gains he would make with independents) and the resulting low-base turnout could lead to a filibuster-proof majority in the US Senate - for the Democrats.

With those specters looming, do not expect the delegates at the Convention to go quietly on this point. I've been talking to some of my fellow delegates and alternates from around the state and around the country, and they do indeed have the stomach to fight their own nominee on this one. Remember: the delegates hold the power at the convention - and we can nominate someone of our own choosing to go up against a pro-abortion VP nominee. Alert pro-life Republican delegates are already organizing for a possible convention uprising if the need arises. Speculation centers around the same list of pro-life Governors that McCain has been said to be considering - Palin, Jindal, Romney, Pawlenty, and yes, Mark Sanford.

Hopefully, Senator McCain won't make the pro-abortion VP mistake, and will instead choose a running mate who can secure his base while he tacks to the middle in the general election campaign (which he does without really trying, frankly). With a 5 point lead (according to Zogby this morning), Senator McCain would be wise to secure his base and consolidate the lead with less than 3 months to go.

Going to MN!

It's official - I've been elected as a statewide alternate to the Republican National Convention!!

I'd like to thank each and every one of my readers and fellow delegates who chose me for this position - you know who you are, and I am grateful to you for your support. We will need to stand strong for our across-the-board conservative principles if we are to reclaim the leadership of our country, in the Congress and the Executive branches.

Again - thank you.