Wired and Inspired

Wired and Inspired is a good description of the last two days. I was in the hall and on the floor during Sarah Palin's speech last night. It was electrifying; it produced laughter, tears, and cheers. She touched the women on the floor, especially when she mentioned "the good old boys." Every woman I know have had bad experiences with the good boys and we knew exactly what she meant. The tension in the hall was huge while waiting for her. She started out a little slow but got much stronger and better. She is not going to be a push over. It was interesting before the speech to spend some time in the National Federation of Republican Women/Women for McCain box and talk with women from all across the country. All of them were furious at the unfair attacks on Sarah Palin by the leftist blogs and the MSM. It appears that her speech last night helped to tone down some of the nastier attacks. I left the Xcel Center last night totally exhausted, both mentally and physically. It was am amazing night.

Today I went to a Tribute Lunch for Cindy McCain. My seat was at a table about three rows from the back but I got moved up to the first row. My friend and I sat behind Judy and Charlie Black from the McCain headquarters and right next to Carly Firoina. We were two tables away from Cindy McCain and Todd Palin. The master of ceremonies was Elizabeth Hasselback from the View. John Voigt introduced Cindy after we heard from Todd Palin. He is a funny guy. I had an opportunity to talk with him afterwards and asked how he was holding up and he said fine. I said that I hoped when he came to North Carolina sometime in the next two months he still felt the same. After the lunch went down stairs where we ran into Richard and Brooke Burr and sat with them for a few moments and got caught up on things. It is always good to see Richard but he has been so busy traveling around the nation as a surrogate for John McCain.

The hall was full for John McCain's speech. Before his speech we spent some time in the women's box and the Republican Club lounge where we ate. I thought Senator McCain's speech was rather somber. But then again we are in somber times and perhaps it was fitting. He built up steam as he went and by the end he had the crown on their feet. Memorable speech, no. Did it do the job? Yes. But there is no doubt that Sarah Palin is the star on that ticket.

There were several Code Pink demonstrators in the galleries but they were swiftly removed. There were also a number of Ron Paul folks that just sat on their hands the entire evening.

Now we enter the final phase of this election season, the general election campaign. It is going to be a wild ride for the next 60+ days.

This was a full week full of some good speeches, some great ones, and some that were so forgettable that I don't even remember who they were. But those speeches were full of personal stories about the John the speakers know; full of personal testaments to him and Cindy; and full of speakers saying (to paraphrase Lloyd Bensen in the 1988 Vice Presidential debate with Dan Quayle) I know John and he is a friend of mine. These speeches were in stark contrast to the ones last week in Denver where there were no such speeches.

One final note, Republicans know how to do balloon drops much better than the Democrats. They came down on time, there were a lot of them, and the glitter included small round circles with McCain's picture on one side and the logo for the convention on the other.

I will add pictures in the next few days.

Day 3

Am starting this early today as I find myself with free time and awake!!! Being an alternate delegate is wonderful but we move in a bubble and have no understanding of what is happening outside that bubble. For example I never did know about the demonstrations Monday night until I got back to the hotel and turned on the news. The same is true of the nasty stuff being said about Sarah Palin. I find it appailing and uncalled for. I know the far right and the far left do it but it also this time seems to be coming from the Obama campaign. The feeling in the convention hall is that they had better watch it as it may backfire on them. There were rumors that she might step down; that would be the worse possible thing she could do. However, for the sake of the argument what would the results be? I would argue that it would hurt the Democrats. A good case could be made that the women would blame the Obama campaign. First of all they kept Hilliary off the ticket and then the other woman in the race was forced out. Questions about her standing on issues and what she has done in her various elected positions and her life is fair game. But questions about her children should be off the record as well as the children of Obama, Biden, and McCain. They are not running.

Fred Thompson was wonderful last night. He tossed off the red meat to the crowd and he was loved. The question I heard the most afterward was where was this Fred during the primaries. I was a Fred support early on but became very disenchanted because he did not show up.

This morning at The Washington Center the first speaker did not show and the second one was Bob Barr. He is running for president on the Libertarian Party ticket. He has very strong policy ideas. He talked for about 20 minutes and then took questions from the students for another 40 minutes or so.

Just heard that Obama will be on Bill O'Reilly during McCain's acceptance speech. Shows you what little class the guy has. On the night of Obama's speech, McCain went on the air with the following classy ad: McCain Convention Ad Obama should do the same not try to steal the thunder.

More later after this evenings events.

Day 2 of the Convention

It was an interesting day today. We went into St. Paul for a party sponsored by Bob Crumley and it was wonderful; food and company was great. We then returned to the hotel and I went up to the room to take a lunch, but it did not work out. I had an e-mail from a reporter from the News & Record and he wanted to interview me. When we finished I had to run to get the bus back to St. Paul for the delagation picture. Then back to the Xcel center for the opening of tonight's session. I did get on the floor. The speeches were good. Fred Thompson gave the crowd the red meat they wanted and the crowd responded. Joe Lieberman was also good. Laura Bush introduced her husband. I wish he had come out for the night so that we could once again show him how thankful we are for him. President Bush 41 along with Baraba were there this evening. Cindy McCain and John's 90+ year old mother were also there. Saw a lot of friends from the NFRW.

Day Two

Sound quote of the day from Sarah Palin-- do you know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? lipstick. She can handle herself!! More later.

Minneapolis

Minneapolis is an interesting city. In the early 1990s when all the problems in Somalia occurred, President Clinton made a deal with the gov. of Minnesota to take in Somalian refugees. As I understand it, the people got on planes and did not know where they were going until the plane doors opened up in Minneapolis. Some 60,000 plus were relocated here. As a result Minneapolis has the largest concentration of Somalians in the United States. St. Paul has a huge concentration of Hmongs in the U.S. The area that I am staying in (and the North Carolina and New Mexico delegations) is very diverse due the the large number of Somalians and Ethiopians. In addition, we are across the street from the University of Minnesota West Bank campus.

The light rail system here in Minneapolis is wonderful. We are about 2 blocks from the nearest station. I took it out the the Mall of America yesterday. That is one of those places that one has to go visit just to say you were there. It is a huge shopping mall with an amusement park in the middle. The same with the State Fair. It was a fun evening and a wonderful fair. How could one not go and eat dinner on a stick.

Last night I successfully "crashed" the Medial Party -- that makes three conventions three crashes. The food was outstanding and of course the liquid refreshments were very liquid. It was a huge event, over two buildings, a tent, and a closed street.

Some friendly folks at the Media Party -- Sens. Lindsay Graham and Norm Coleman and my friend Nancy Mazza

View from the balcony at the Guthrie Theater, one of the sites of the Media Party.

We are still uncertain as to what is going to happen in the next several days because of the hurricane. It has been reported that President Bush and VP Chaney will not be here. Also the Governors of Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas will not be here. We all are praying for the folks in these states and hope that it comes ashore as a tropical storm instead of a Cat 5. Rightfully so, the shape and tone of the convention is going to change. We have business that has to be accomplished and that will be done. But the celebratory nature of the convention will be muted.

The buzz on the nomination of Sarah Palin is very high. Everyone I have talked with are pleased with the selection. It is going to help to energize our grass roots and help us with volunteers. She has a record of being a strong conservative, a life long member of the NRA, good family values, and who doesn't like a woman who sells the state plane on Ebay?

Last day of the DNC Convention

Interesting evening. I was not impressed by the speech given by Barak Obama this evening. It was the same old same old list of liberal ideas. Yes there was some differences in tone but the ideas were the same. The speech was full of sound bits and nothing else. It seemed staged. The big screens, at the end, were covered with streamers which made it look like they had been dropped on the candidates but they were not. Also interesting, as I am listening to CNN, they also must not have thought it was that great as they are discussing the GOP convention and what might happen if the hurricane lands along the Gulf Coast. They were talking about delaying the start of the GOP convention, about McCain going down there or even Bush not coming to Minneapolis. The end of the evening would have been even better if Hilliary had come out on stage. This coming week is going to be interesting to see how the GOP counters this convention.

Two other observations: one, the ad McCain ran this evening throughout the convention congratulating Obama was a class act. I can't imagine Obama doing the same. Two, it really was a strange way of ending the convention. I was surprised that he did not refer more to MLK and his I have a Dream speech. The music that was played during the fireworks was a little grand and too over the top. It just played into the Republican story of him. The set was also a little too over the top.

One last comment. I have been talking with the students in my small group about the expectation game. The GOP is predicting a 15 point for Obama. The Obama folks are saying it might be a 5-6 point bump. This year it will be strange since there will be no time for the events to sink in. Obama will have tonight and tomorrow morning to be the focus in the media and then McCain will take over. He is going to announce his VP selection tomorrow at noon. The week end talk shows will be discussing this selection and this will help to mute the bump. According to the latest polls, since Biden was named to be on the ticket, Obama had lost points. So we will see what kind of a bump, if any, he receives.

A funnel cake and a rose window, can life get any better?

Wednesday (What every happened to Tuesday?)

These last two days have been long and busy ones. The seminar is going great with wonderful speakers. The thing I really like about TWC and the seminars is that they make you think. The speaker challenge the students and they in turn respond with wonderful questions. Mikey, the Faculty Director, and Meena, the scholar in residence, are fabulous. Their analysis of the situation and their background knowledge is unparalleled. They also provoke the students in various ways; if only to learn how to frame questions!!!

Yesterday we took a tour of the Twin Cities and then went on the the State Fair. What fun that was. Of course everything was fried and on a stick. Saw the Marines there and the back of their t-shirts read "Pain is weakness is leaving your body." I had never seen that before. We also wondered by Al Franken's booth. They didn't have any good stuff so we left. But did stop by the GOP booth and bought some buttons for $.50 each (they will be $2 each at least next week at the convention). The new eats at the fair this year is bacon covered with chocolate and then deep fried. We did not see that booth but did see bacon on a stick!!! Several of the staffers ate dill pickels smothered in cream cheese and wrapped with pastrami on a stick. Look absolute disgusting.








We did get back in time to hear Hilliary last night and I thought she was excellent. Best speech she ever gave. Of course it was all about her but then again she is a Clinton. Also thought that one of the best speeches up to her was the Gov. from Montana. He has hokey but it worked. He got the crowd on their feet. Warner and the other speakers that night were not at all good. When the camera panned the arena the faces looked blank. There was no excitement or enthusiasm in the arena. Not until the Gov. came out. And then Hilliary came out. So the evening ended on a high note.

Today, after our morning sessions, we had a tour of the Xcel center in St. Paul. It is a beautiful and functional space and the dais is going to look great on tv. I then had a small group session for a couple of hours.



After that they were on their own to explore St. Paul until the welcome receiption at 6pm. I walked up the hill to the Cathedral and got there about 5:10pm. Thought I would just take a tour and walk back down the hill but ended up staying for Mass. The place is magnificent. It ranks up there with Cathedrals I have seen in Europe.


We then went to a welcoming reception at the Landmark Center which is an old Court House/Post Office building that has been restored. Stunning building. Reminded me of the Pension Building or the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C.

Got back in time to hear Biden's speech. It was a two parter -- the first part was excellent in that he talked about his family, his highs and lows and the second part when he became a pol (this wasn't that good the first part brought tears to my eyes as it did to others.) Then when he was done and his wife came out instead of basking in the spotlight (after all he probably won't be seen again until the debate) Obama came out. It did not feel right. Presidential nominees don't come to the arena until the night they give their speech. Why take the limelight away from Biden? It just plays in the GOP hands and their story of him being narcissistic in that everything has to be about him.

One last scary thing from the fair:

Monday, first day of seminar

Today was a long day. We left the hotel at 8am and got back about 5pm. I walked around for about an hour to find a market of some sort and there was nothing. Loads of condos but no markets. Guess the natives drive to the market. Finally found a gas station that not only had gas but also food to purchase (at a reasonable price) as well as fresh fruit and hot food. Plus it looks like a local police hangout. There must have been 10 of them in there!!!

The day was interesting. Former Congressman Mickey Edwards is the Faculty director. He is also a VP of the Aspen institute and now teaches at Princeton. Mickey is fabulous speaker and leader. He has a vast store of knowledge and an interesting way of looking at things. He also has a vast store of stories to tell and can answer any question dealing with politics without hesitation. We also heard from Dr. Meena Bose from Hofstra University who is our scholar in resident. The two of them are dynamic.

I am now spending the evening listening to the speakers at the DNC convention. Nancy Pelosi was not very good. The catty part of me says it is because of all the botox in her face!!! But Jessie Jackson Jr. was excellent. He is a much better speaker than his father is. The tribute to Teddy Kennedy was wonderful and a tear jerker. This is probably going to be the last convention for him. He has been senator now for 44+ years. I am now listening to Michelle Obama and she is good. But her dress is driving me crazy as it does not fit her and her bra strap shows. But as the camera pans around the hall you see older black women wiping a way a tear or two. I can't imagine what they are feeling. Now I am watching Juan Williams and he is just about in tears talking about this speech and what it symbolizes to black America. That is something a lot of us can not understand. That is one level on another level she was talking to the rest of America and wanting to reassure them that they are not a threat. It was a soft speech and she really did not talk about her husband. But it was interesting. But will it work? I don't know. She is usually "stronger" on the stump in defense of her husband. The bit at the end was hokey but ok.
She did deliver the speech very well and looks like a natural giving a talk.

First Day

Yesterday was a long day. As I mentioned in my last blog, I did not get here until very early Sat. morning or very late Fri night. The first meeting of the faculty leaders and staff started at 9am and lasted until 4:10. We met in the lobby of the hotel and walked over to Augsburg College which is not that far - it is right across the street from the University of Minnesota. The College is small and old but looks like a good place to be. I certainly can not complain about the facilities. My fellow faculty members are a diverse lot of folks, two of which I had worked with before. Several of them are in communication and debate and are from the smaller schools (not Yale or Harvard). However, we do have one from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point. It was a long but interesting day and we went over all our responsibilities and the schedule. Some of the first timers are a little nervous and are afraid they won't be able to do everything. Guess what, they won't be able to. The key to survival of this program is to be flexible, flexible, flexible. Speakers change at the last moment, there is too much going on in terms of the work we have to do to ensure that this is truly an academic program and in terms of the events we want to go to. But somehow it all works out.

We went back to the hotel and then re-gathered at 6pm to take the light rail down town. Of course the stop we got on was one before the Metrodome and it was a mess as the Vikings were playing the Steelers last night. Once we got past that we were in good shape. We went to the oldest resturant in Minenapolis -- Gluek's. What a great name. The atmosphere was friendly and wonderful. Stained glass and wood. Food was even better -- I had the sausage party which was two different types of sausages (I had Brats and Ukrainian) and saurkraut with hot german potato salad. And of course to go along with it a Gluek's Red on tap!!! Fun evening getting to know my fellow faculty leaders and the staff. And Gene was Gene and full of fun. He did report that everyone on Denver got into the Media party!! That is usually one of the best parties and hard to get into. So there is hope we all with get into the one here next Sat. night.

Weather is absolutely wonderful.

I hate flying

Well I got here safe and sound with relatively little problems. But the airlines sure don't do a thing for you anymore. I had two bags, the first one was free because I had booked before a certain date. After that date, the first bag is $15 and the second is $25. So I had to pay $25 even before I got through security. Then on the plane if you want water it is $2. Of course this is all due to the rise in fuel prices. Yeah right!! My flight to Charlotte was so short only 25 minutes. By the time I got through the Charlotte airport to the right terminal and gate I only had about an hour to wait for the flight to Minneapolis. They offered an upgrade to first class for $100, I passed and later regretted that I did as I got stuck in a window seat next to a guy that I don't think took a bath in a month. The only thing that really saved me from throwing up was the fact that he grabbed the one blanket and pillow for the three seats and wrapped him self up in it which contained the odor. It was an uneventful trip of about 2 and 1/2 hours. Got my bags right away and a cab to the Holiday Inn Metrodome where I will be for the next 10 days.

Got into my room and turned on the TV and found that Biden was in fact Obama's running mate. I am going to have to think about that one.

The other news of the day is that I reluctantly accepted the job as McCain Chair for Forsyth County. More about that later. Right now I am going to bed as I have a 9am faculty meeting.

Conference calls

Conference calls are wonderful things but hard on the ears. Last night I participated in one with all the McCain county chairs here in NC. Also on the line was the regional directors of the campaign. I find it really interesting to listen to the questions that the various chair have. Ended right on time -- 1 hour -- so we could watch the McCrory/Perdue debate. Tonight was a call for RNC delegates. On this call was Rick Davis, the campaign manager, and Sen. Fred Thompson. They passed on information on the line up of speakers for the convention. Again it was interesting to hear the questions that were asked.

Am getting more and more excited about heading out to Minneapolis on Friday. What fun it is going to be.

Saddleback Church

It was interesting to see McCain and Obama last night. I thought they both did an excellent job. But I have a few reactions. First of all Obama -- I though he came across as very thoughtful; as someone who looked at both sides of an issue. However, while this is something very good for a campaign, for governing I think it will cause problems. He reminded me a lot of Jimmy Carter. Very thoughtful, very smart, but tries to be fair to both sides. That makes it hard to come to a decision quickly. His comment on when life begins will hurt him with the Christian fundamentalists. McCain was very good, to the point. His answer to the question about his greatest moral failure was a home run. It blunted the comments being made by the Democrats about his first marriage. How can you criticize John Edwards for cheating without doing the same for McCain? McCain helped to sure up the fundamentalist Christian base; Obama made inroads with them.

First blog entry

This is going to be an interesting experiment. I am going to try to post each evening. I am leaving this Friday (8/22) for Minneapolis where I will be a Faculty Leader with the Washington Center (TWC). There are about 6 college students in my group. This will be the third convention I have attended as a Faculty Leader with TWC. The difference this year is that I am also a delegate. So while I will be spending the day with the college students, the late afternoons and evenings of the second week will be spend at the convention hall. It will be a long two weeks but a lot of fun. The invites for parties are starting to come in and I plan to take advantage of them all (or at least as many as I can get to)