Honey, I Shrunk the Convention
Email10:50 pm MT: Rick Klein from ABC’s The Note here — blogging all week again, this time from St. Paul.
The Republican National Convention was always going to be less of a spectacle than the Democrats’ big party last week. The GOP brand is severely damaged, so much so that Republicans in tight races were always planning to skip the week in Minnesota.
The GOP of 2008 simply doesn’t have the roster of superstars to sustain a week’s worth of speaking schedules. And nothing can match the Clinton-Obama storyline that fed the media obsession in Denver.
But now comes a hurricane to blow even the diminished plans off course. The president and vice president aren’t coming after all. Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., a rising star, can’t make the trip for obvious reasons.
Delegates from Gulf Coast states may curtail their trips. (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., isn’t coming either — he’s stuck in a state budget fight on the left coast.)
Sen. John McCain’s team is trying to figure out how to handle it all. Depending on how back Gustav’s damage is, McCain himself may wind up addressing the convention remotely.
The flip side: This is an awfully good year to have an atypical convention. Four days of revelry in St. Paul may have been good therapy for the delegates in time for their quadrennial party, but it would have showcased a party that it’s a bit of an identity crisis.
The convention almost certainly will go on; there are legal and financial ramifications for making the McCain-Palin ticket official at a nominating convention. But the smaller party may be just what the image doctors ordered.
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“The Republican National Convention was always going to be less of a spectacle than the Democrats’ big party last week.”
What? No “I wish it was green” Greek toga party? I’m shocked.
Posted by: Don | August 31, 2008, 12:12 pm 12:12 pm
Obama is watching this New Orleans storm like a hawk, readying his rallying cry, “the ways of Washington”.
Posted by: young_voter | August 31, 2008, 12:28 pm 12:28 pm
WoW the Republicans are screwd. So much for a convention bounce.
Posted by: Vanessa | August 31, 2008, 12:31 pm 12:31 pm
Your concern for hurricane victims is duly noted, Van.
Posted by: Don | August 31, 2008, 12:57 pm 12:57 pm
Have you guys noticed how McCain eyeballs his new VP when she’s speaking. No wonder he wants to do a road trip to Mississippi. Cindy must be having her lawyers go over the prenuptial agreement with a fine toothed comb.
Posted by: doug | August 31, 2008, 1:03 pm 1:03 pm
Bush won’t speak? That’s a shame given what a spectacular public speaker he is. Cheney won’t attend either? Rats, because I was really looking to hear the truth about what to expect in the next four years. And McCain may speak remotely? Which house will that feed come from? This is a shambles, I was hoping to be one of the 3 people tuning in to hear what they had to say…
Posted by: Could Be Worse | August 31, 2008, 1:07 pm 1:07 pm
dougy, your fantasies notwithstanding, could you at least try to stay on topic or did the evacuation notice already take effect on portions of your body?
Posted by: Don | August 31, 2008, 1:10 pm 1:10 pm
Personally, I love the breathalyzer, inhalator speech, but I could go for the 10,000 dead, I’m in St. Louis, Auschwitz, Arabic speaking Afghanis, Kentucky is closer to Arkansas type of delivery.
Posted by: Sue | August 31, 2008, 1:13 pm 1:13 pm
I am really a hard core republican. But I am not really very entuasticated by the ticket McCain chose. Neither does my mom. But people say it is an exciting ticket. So far I didn’t get it.
Posted by: Sam | August 31, 2008, 1:15 pm 1:15 pm
You repubs can try to clean this up all you want to. This convention is a DISASTER even before it gets started. Even mother nature is against this raggedy republican convention. You guys are laughing stocks this election.
Posted by: Order | August 31, 2008, 1:29 pm 1:29 pm
So deep. Thanks for the contribution, O.
Posted by: Don | August 31, 2008, 1:37 pm 1:37 pm
Whatever happened to the folks who were praying for rain on the Democratic outdoor spectacular? Did they get it wrong and give God the wrong dates and the wrong location?
Posted by: Joel | August 31, 2008, 1:42 pm 1:42 pm
Wow! There really is a GOD. Can I say what goes around comes around? Can the Republicans still continue to deny Global Warming?…which is directly connected to OIL DRILLING, which later is burned…along with COAL.
Palin will continue the denials of Global Warming. How can anyone, Republican or not, perpetuate these denials? The Reds DESERVE to lose.
Posted by: grace | August 31, 2008, 1:50 pm 1:50 pm
Well, thanks Grace. I never knew that drilling for oil caused global warming. I guess Algore just omitted that precious factoid from his best selling fiction novel.
Posted by: Don | August 31, 2008, 1:58 pm 1:58 pm
I think God has the last word. This will be awesoem to ask others to help on a national stage. It’s wonderful that we have the conservative governors in the effected states to handle this properly. The past governor- ness of LA dropped the ball. Good bye to her! She caused a lot of turmoil and lives lost. Her legacy because she was her state’s representative didn’t do her job. She wouldn’t declare a state of emergency so the feds/ Bush could assist. In the real world, you cannot blame Bush. Blame is for the people who were not prepared and expected the government to take care of them. Vote McCain for leadership. Vote Obama for hand outs and blame games. The DNC will play politics over this storm so I am glad God is here and knows who can handle this.
Posted by: Christie | August 31, 2008, 2:08 pm 2:08 pm
Obama just proved once again that he is not for bringing all people together. He just ask for his party faithful to send money to help the storm areas. He’s sending an email to his army. Why wouldn’t he say Americans.
Posted by: Christie | August 31, 2008, 2:14 pm 2:14 pm
Sarah Palin wasn’t always a Republican. She once belonged to the The Alaskan Independence Party whose founder, Joe Vogler, was quoted as stating “I’m an Alaskan, not an American. I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions.”
This is a party whose members advocated secession. Considered becoming part of Canada.
Palin recorded a message welcoming party members to its 2008 convention as part of her duties as Governor of Alaska.
On September 2, 2008, the political website Talking Points Memo reported that Palin’s husband, Todd Palin, was a member from 1995 through 2002.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Independence_Party
Posted by: david armendale | September 2, 2008, 5:35 pm 5:35 pm
See: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/us/politics/02vetting.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&8au&emc=au
Now, the truth is starting to come out about the reckless, cavalier, and dangerous decision made by McSame to place Sarah (knock ‘em up) Palin on the ticket. If this is the type of decision making to be expected of McSame in the White House, then he is a very dangerous man indeed to even be considered for the presidency. Hopefully, the American people (this doesn’t include mentally deranged social conservatives) will wake up and smell the coffee before it’s too late. Obama/Biden 08!!!
Posted by: caliguy55 | September 2, 2008, 5:45 pm 5:45 pm