Ho Tuan and I have been posting a diary of our on-the-scene RNC coverage on our "RNC Coverage" page. More entries are there, but here is yesterday's entry:
Today was the second day of the Republican National Convention. And what a day it was.
The day started fairly early as we were scheduled to have breakfast with the Massachusetts delegation at a nearby hotel. As gobs of rain splattered against the windshield of our friend's car, we looked forward to the day's events, and wondered what the Republican Convention had in store for us.
The Massachusetts delegate breakfast was held in the basement of the hotel. Although the space was ample enough to hold the entire delegation and guests, it was probably only a little larger than a typical high school classroom. As the minister giving the benediction noted, "We thank heaven that we could find a room big enough to hold all of the Republicans in Massachusetts."
As we ate the typical hotel meeting fare of eggs, hash browns, and fruit, Mitt Romney arrived to deliver the delegation keynote speech. Romney arrived in a manner befitting of a popular politician-quick entrance, take care of business, quick exit-and gave a speech that strongly endorsed McCain and Palin, while addressing some sour grapes. After thanking numerous supporters and donors, Romney started attacking Obama's experience, credibility, and competence. Some of the critiques were reasoned and to be expected. Governor Romney also used the opportunity to deliver some sarcastic though not very argumentative criticism of Obama for a few laughs
This election race is so close that they can't decide it in the electoral college and decide, instead, to decide the presidency through an ice-fishing contest, right here in Minneapolis. Whoever can catch the most fish in four days would win the presidency. So the first day, McCain catches ten fish and Obama catches none. The second day, McCain catches twenty fish and Obama catches none. The third day, Harry Reid comes to Obama and says that McCain is catching so many fish, he must be cheating. So he encourages Obama to go spy on McCain. Later, Obama gets back and tells Harry Reid of what he say. "You'll never believe what he was doing," said Obama. "He actually cut a hole in the ice!"
The room exploded in laughter and the speech went on. Romney called Obama wrong on Iraq; he said that Biden has had a lot of experience, but mostly experience with being wrong, and cited the Cold War, the Gulf War, and the surge as examples where Biden was wrong. "Thanks heaven we didn't listen to Barack Obama and Joe Biden," he said repeatedly.
He also discussed the economy, which was interesting because it is his expertise. Romney said that the problems with the economy started with the housing and credit crisis, which he presented as a natural event that the Republicans neither caused nor could prevent. He then accused the Democrats as using economic woes to "appease special interests" that wanted bigger government and higher taxes. He didn't specify what those special interests were.
Romney talked about his new role in American politics-including how he is constantly humbled, like when he went to the Olympics and thought that fans were taking pictures of him, until he turned around to see that they were actually photographing NBA star Kobe Bryant-and urged Massachusetts supporters to use their time and resources to help in New Hampshire and other nearby states that are more closely contested.
Kerry Healey, the Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor under Mitt Romney who lost the latest gubernatorial race, disagreed, and said that she was making the case to McCain campaign managers to try to win Massachusetts in '08. There are still many Reagan Democrats, she said, and they're worth trying to win over.
Talking to many of the delegates in the room, it was a little more doubtful. It is to be expected that many of the Massachusetts delegates would have been pulling for Mitt Romney. Most of them were. While they seemed genuinely ready to do their best for John McCain, their attitudes towards Sarah Palin were different. Some of them were frank about their reservations. Others we asked about Palin hesitated for a moment, wore momentary faces of reservation (and sometimes disgust), and then talked about her qualifications. Some thought it was a brilliant pick. But there seemed to be an unspoken schism , in which many felt that Romney was passed over because of his Mormon religion.
We chatted energy policy and health care with many delegates. On the energy policy front, all of them agreed that we need to transition to the next energy economy, but many of them disagreed about what that was or how to get there. "The oil is there for us to use it," said one delegate. She and another delegate stated that "there is a theory that oil is being produced right as we speak." They went on, "why should we disrupt a natural process?"
Most of the delegates thought that it was prudent for the convention to be delayed for Hurricane Gustav. One lady we spoke with believed that you should always do what you say you will do, or what you're expected to do, and that disrupting the RNC, and not just changing it, was the wrong thing to do. She was the only person we spoke with who stated this position, however.
We got to interview a young Republican politician named Doug Bennett, who is a candidate for Boston City Councilor at-large. He hopes to win in 2009. One of the questions we asked him was how he presents a conservative platform to one of the most liberal areas in the country. He said that he doesn't emphasize the social conservative platform, and that big government means staying off of your back and out of your life, including whether or not you get an abortion.
The Massachusetts delegation was extremely gracious with us and invited us to some other events. With a few hours before the convention, Tuan and I went to the Mall of America. Suffice it to say that it's huge. Numerous roller coasters. Numerous food courts. A freakin' aquarium. An extremely flamboyant Bruno-like salesman named Fabrizio took Tuan by the hand and asked him "why don't you take care of your nails, is it because you're too lazy or because you don't care?" Tapping Tuan on the nose, he then proceeded to give Tuan a one-nail manicure. That nail continues to be very shiny.
From the Mall of America, we took a bus to the Xcel Center. Trojan had a big truck parked and were having an event to advance their sexual health advocacy. They gave T-shirts and condoms to contestants who raced to grab a condom, read the expiration date, properly put it on a banana, take it off, and tie it up. Tuan's new condoms would later spill out of his bookbag during a routine Secret Service backpack check, prompting glances from numerous guards in the area.
"Big plans tonight?," asked one officer. "Just be safe," said another.
We got in and found some of the Massachusetts delegates. One candidate, Earl Sholley, who is running to throw out Barney Frank, was enjoying his time at the convention and was waiting on interviews and press for his candidacy.
The speeches went on as you would have seen them on television, though there were some awkward moments. There was the moment where the Jo Anne Davidson, leader of the Republican National Committee, mistakenly celebrated the nomination of "Governor Sarah Pawlenty," confounding the presumptive vice presidential nominee from Alaska and Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, who was her closest competitor. Next, there was a female firefighter who came forward to give a speech and stepped forward just as President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush were to speak. That long applause was not for her.
We met numerous luminaries while at the convention, including Senator John Thune, actor John Voight, reporters Andrea Mitchell, Ann Curry, and countless delegates and supporters. We also met many young Republicans, who carried the enthusiasm and ferocity of their party forward a generation.
We left after an eventful night, missing the GOP Express back to our area. But after chatting with Wolf Blitzer, we were invited to the invitation-only CNN Grille private party, where we met Tom Brokaw, Chuck Todd, Ann Curry (again) over some burgers and beers and socialized with close friends in the Massachusetts delegation..
We split a ride back to our friend's area with a Massachusetts delegate and pondered the future of the Republican party, in light of the day's impressions and recent events. While delegates were ready to express enthusiasm for McCain and his pick, we couldn't help but think that the cracks on the surface of the Republican party were deeper than they would look from the outside. The impression we got from private discussions with tipsy delegates was that the glue that holds many traditionally Republican constituencies together-business conservative, social conservatives, opponents of big government, and the large group of Ron Paul libertarians-is slowly aging and cracking.
We'll update you on today's impressions soon.
