Republican War Room Fires Back at Democratic Convention Claims

Denver, Aug. 27, 2008 -- It's the Democrats' party, so who invited the Republicans?

"We invited ourselves," said Danny Diaz, communications director for the Republican National Committee, prior to the start of the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

The GOP faithful have made the most of their outsider status, dispatching high-profile Republicans to dispute the barbs being tossed from the podium inside the Pepsi Center, the Democrats' political power base for a week as they gather to nominate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in a battle for the White House against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Former New York Mayor and 2008 presidential contender Rudy Giuliani is the latest party crasher in the Republican "war room," arriving Wednesday to counter-punch as Sen. Biden, D-Del., and former President Bill Clinton take center stage across the street.

At a news conference in Denver organized by the Republican National Committee, Giuliani argued Obama isn't ready to lead.

"I think the case could be made very strongly from the words of Democrats that he's not ready to lead. Hillary Clinton said that," Giuliani said.

Giuliani is just the latest GOP heavyweight to swing through Denver talking up McCain and talking down Obama.

Former McCain rival Mitt Romney spoke to journalists Tuesday and former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina, a top McCain adviser, held court Monday.

GOP War Room Counters Democratic Convention Claims

The Republican "war room" is far cry from the high-tech, plush digs of the RNC in Washington.

More a remote battle station than a headquarters, the outpost has a mission -- as depicted by the words emblazoned over an image of Obama on the wall -- that's clear: "Not Ready '08: a Mile High and an Inch Deep."

Just three miles from the Pepsi Center, about two dozen mostly young men run a rapid response unit from 6 a.m. local time in Denver until the end of the convention speeches late each night.

Flanked by dozens of American flags, fewer than 10 GOP researchers, bloggers and spokespersons sit in front of laptops in a glassed room with a large conference table surrounded by several televisions all tuned to various news media outlets.

A large television in the lobby is tuned to Fox News, and a satellite truck sits outside at the ready for transmitting interviews with prominent Republicans to local media markets across the country.

The rapid responders flood reporters' email inboxes, take calls and blog on the McCain campaign Web site. Republican spokesman Alex Conant said he alone sent about 30 e-mails on the convention's opening day, not including what his colleagues sent to reporters.

Spreading the media narrative of Democratic party disunity, Conant's first e-mail, sent at 4:55 a.m. MT, was a Politico story titled "Obama, Clinton camps snipe at each other" and the last was at 9:32 p.m. MT" "Carville: "If this party has a message it's done a hell of a job hiding it tonight, I promise you that."

"We're posing the question: What's changed since Biden and Clinton called Obama not ready?" Conant told ABCNews.com. "This is the Democrats' week and we're realistic about our potential impact, but I think so far we've had a lot of success highlighting Obama's inexperience."

The message may be working: the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll showed McCain leading Obama by 2-1 margins as more knowledgeable on world affairs and as better-suited to be commander in chief.

GOP Targets 24-Hour News Cycle in Media War Room

Media "war rooms" have become a staple of modern politics since then-Gov. Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign against President George H.W. Bush.

Made famous in the documentary "The War Room," Clinton's team prided themselves on letting no statement, ad, claim or attack go unchallenged.

Their motto: "Speed Kills," and they relentless pounded three consistent themes in all of their responses: "Change vs. more of the same," "It's the economy, stupid," and "Don't forget health care."

The war room's status and essential place in any serious presidential effort became permanent with the explosion of online media and 24-hour news cable channels since that time.

"Reporters are now not writing for the next day, they're writing for the next hour, for the next two hours, because they have blogs that need to be updated, they're going on TV, they're doing radio interviews so if you let an attack go unresponded to [sic] then that attack is repeated in numerous other outlets," said GOP communications director Nanny Diaz -- incidentally, a dead ringer for ex-Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer.

"As we get into the evening and the actual convention resumes, we'll be monitoring every word that comes from the podium looking for factual inaccuracies and responding when appropriate," Diaz said.

Republicans Draw Attention at Democrats' Party

The war room's existence alone gains media attention.

With reporters eager to show balance in their stories this week, over a dozen reporters, cameramen and photographers showed up Tuesday to for a "media walk through" of the war room.

A typical scene from the war room this week: McCain spokesman Brian Rogers is on the phone, trying to spin the campaign's message and direct the focus on Obama's experience.

"We're just trying to set the record straight about the Democrats and Barack Obama," he told ABCNews.com, "and point out that as the sign says he's not ready to lead, as Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton made clear in recent months."

Rogers joked that as an interloper at the Democrats' big party he walks around with a bag over his head.

"No, it's great. Political campaigns are a lot of fun. And we enjoy it and I'm sure they'll be joining us in Minneapolis," Rogers said.

Indeed, Democrats will return the favor next week when the GOP faithful gather in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

ABC News' Tahman Bradley, John Berman, Ursula Fahy, Hope Ditto, and Jan Simmons contributed to this report.