From Joel Strom, RNC delegate, via Richard.

Too much happened tonight to go through a chronological recap. I am just overcome with joy, tears, respect and hope, yes hope. And while hope in and of itself never cuts it, I think this hope is backed up with a rational belief that our guy and gal trumps the other guys. Contrast the speakers, the players, the family members with the DNC. How many longtime friends came up to speak about Obama, about his integrity, his humble leadership, or his accomplishments? Maybe can count on one hand. But enough about Obama.

So what was the mission of this convention? In my view, it was fourfold:

introduce this intriguing VP selection, Sarah Palin
call into question the readiness and philosophy of the other guy
make sure the American public, especially the independent and undecided voters, know the man, John McCain, his lifetime of public service, transformative years in a POW camp, his soul
unite the Party and energize it for the two-month campaign

Who can question the success of his selection and introduction of the next Vice-President of the United States? Covered a bit last night, but with 24-hour hindsight, even my unfettered enthusiasm was not adequate to describe the true boost Governor Palin gives to this ticket. Not only did we see a $10,000,000 boost in campaign online fundraising, but the smiles on the faces of all delegates along with the concerned looks of talking heads across the spectrum said it all. What a star.

Starting last night and continuing tonight, albeit with a little less red meat, speaker after speaker asked “where’s the beef” when it comes to Barack Obama. Great speaker, great promises, but no way, no how, can he deliver. And G-d help us if he could…higher taxes, more regulation, government run health care, unilateral reduction in military readiness, appeasement, you name it. From Rudy to Romney, from Thompson to Huckabee and to a red hot Graham tonight, Barack Obama was grilled in absentia. Now, the Dems will immediately yell “divisiveness”, “more of the same”, “swift boating”. But their expected charges will only show their nervousness, their inability to counteract the charges with facts. So, check off the second bullet.

Tonight, the riveting nature of Senator McCain’s own words about his capture, his internment, torture and transformation, were the difference from a B+ convention to the A it now earns. Speaker after speaker tonight, including Cindy’s wonderful words to us, plus the brilliantly packaged life history pieces, referred to McCain’s life and change related to his POW years, but face it, very few have heard McCain in his own words, hesitant at times to reveal the pain. What struck me as the most potentially helpful in peeling off undecided voters was McCain’s willingness to reveal his narcissistic years and his eventual transformation which occurred only after being nursed back to life by fellow soldiers whom he barely knew. Truly heart stopping, something no open-minded American could have listened to without tears, without feeling that this guy has faced death, faced hurdles very few men have cleared. Surely, he can lead this country to better times. So much for the third bullet.

You did not have to be on the floor tonight to feel the love, the energy, the pre-game pep rally spirit. Even the CNN team had to give the RNC planning team its just desserts. Had someone told me a few months ago that the Republicans would be more united than the Dems on Sept 5th, I would have called up the funny farm to pick him up. But lo and behold, here we are on September 5th and with the Hillary/Obama split (despite their attempts to conceal or convince otherwise) and the Palin pick, it is certainly reasonable to pick the Republicans as the unified Party, not the Dems. And that is always a good sign for victory. McCain’s speech, while not filled with the red meat of others, not a sweeping panorama of an Obama speech, and not filled with attractive yet impossible promises, was more than serviceable. It was unifying and revealing. It was what he needed to do. A bit light on specifics in my opinion (I would have preferred a bit more on contrasting policy philosophies), but there is always time to do that post convention. So, you could say, fourth bullet accomplished.

In sum, most people who know me expect me to offer up a tough critique of most RNC actions. But this time, I’ve got to give the organizers their kudos. From the last minute changes due to Gustav, the somewhat unexpected pick of Palin, the sometimes inclement weather, the rather violent anarchist protestors, and the tough tasks outlined above, nothing negative from me. The RNC team accomplished their goals in extremely difficult Republican political times and with high hurdles to clear. Job well done. Or should we say….MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Democrats like to panic.  The past eight years have left them Rove-shocked, they have political PTSD after being Florida-ed and Swift Boated in the last two generals, but they need to buck up.  It’s not going to happen this time.

John McCain has peaked.  This is it, his high water mark.  Maybe, just maybe he’ll pull even or a point or so ahead in this weekend’s polls, but it’s all downhill from there.

I don’t like crow, even though I hear it tastes like chicken, and I’m sure my fellow hypocrisy blogger, Righty Rich Cochrane will serve me a big heaping plate if I’m wrong, but it says here McCain/Palin is a losing ticket.

Al Gore polled 600,000 more votes than his opponent in 2000—which is about 85 times the total population of Wasilla Alaska—but lost because of an electoral college quirk, and a few hundred votes in Florida by Jewish retirees whose cataract surgeries were scheduled after November and voted for Pat Buchanan by mistake.

John Kerry lost in 2004 because he was a hairdo in search of a personality who ran a wussy campaign.  Kerry proved that not only can you not beat somebody with nobody, you can’t beat nobody with nobody.

But this time it’s the GOP that is saddled with the superannuated grump and the empty dress.  Barack Obama is no wuss, he’s smarter than Gore, Kerry, McCain and Palin put together, and cooler than George Bush’s true feelings about the Maverick from Arizona.  He’s what the Democrats have been looking for since Bill Clinton.  A winner.  Just ask Mr. Clinton’s wife.

Once the convention bounce is over, and the two candidates appear side-by-side and commercial-by-commercial, it will become clear—Barack Obama wears well, John McCain is worn out.

Right now the Republican faithful are giddy about Sarah Palin, a woman nobody ever heard of until last week.  That seems like good fortune, a game-changer appearing out of nowhere to save the day, but it’s not.  It’s desperation.  When a party has to reach into the low minors to fill the second spot at the top of the ticket it says two deep things: The party doesn’t have a deep bench, and the party is in deep trouble.

I listened to her speech.  I didn’t hear an original thought, I didn’t sense a penetrating mind, I was not inspired to great dreams or deeds, I didn’t wet myself with enthusiasm, like the desperate GOP delegates, I wasn’t wracked with chills of fear, like some chicken-s**t Democrats.  What I saw, all anyone saw, was a nice lady reading a nice, safe, mediocre speech.  If you saw more than that, you weren’t watching, you were projecting.  You were fooling yourself.

Do you want to know who wasn’t fooled, watching Sarah Palin deliver her ghost-written lines?  Vladimir Putin.  Ho Jintao.  Hugo Chavez.  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Or anyone else who took the measure of the woman who could be one melanoma away from the oval office in four months, and smiled.

Joe Biden is a man of many parts, too many of them mouth, but he’s up to the job if Something Happens To Obama, God Forbid.

In three months Sarah Palin will be back in the frozen north.  The conservative base is bonkers over her now, but she’s just a rental.

John McCain said he is the candidate of change—no, he’s not.  John McCain said he’d fix the mess that is Washington—no, he won’t.  John McCain said he can cure our energy problems—no, he can’t.  All he can offer is four more years of Republican rule.  America can’t stand that, and won’t.

This election will be close.  Barack Obama needs to convince the electorate that he’s a smart, tough-minded liberal who will help restore our most precious commodity—American self-confidence.  He can do that because he is living proof of those ideals.  It won’t be easy, but he’ll get it done.  His opponent, John McCain, is a man who has done great things for his country; he’s made many sacrifices.  And he’s about to make one more.

Obama 49, McCain 47, others 3.  The margin in the electoral college?  Bigger.

The Republicans had a good week.  I hope they enjoyed it because it’s all over now.  John McCain has peaked.

Yes! Yes! Yes! Republicans aren’t bumping fists we are pumping fists up high and strong today.

Wasn’t she terrific? You sort of thought she would be because you don’t move up that quickly in politics unless you can give a great speech, right Obama? But Gov. Palin surpassed all expectations. You can tell she was enjoying every moment of it when she relaxed against the podium and smiled as she drawled out zinger after zinger while the crowd roared around her. The critics complained that she was reading speeches others had written. Oh how petty. Do they really think Obama wrote all of his speeches?

The other complaint was that she didn’t go into details. That’s right, she didn’t. This wasn’t a policy speech; this was a party speech, to introduce her to the convention and the nation and to build up enthusiasm for the ticket. And she did that in spades while the Republicans made some history of their own. (I can only imagine how angry, disappointed and envious Hillary must be right now.)

Anyway, back to the argument that there were no specifics. This is a very important fact that the liberals have never understood. Most of the voters are the ordinary citizen living in small towns and not policy wonks like they are in Washington. Instead they judge a man (and woman) by their character and by their past performance. Who are you? Can we trust you? Do you believe in the same basic things we believe in? And at top of those basic things are Family, God and Country, not necessarily in that order. Sarah Palin’s speech told us her life story and woven throughout it was how these three things impacted her life; her love for her family, even the least of them, her love for her Country with her service in government and as a mother and aunt with sons in the line of duty and her love for God. And the crowd recognized themselves in her speech and cheered.

Today, the media and liberals are shaking their heads and wondering how people can be “taken in” by a speech that didn’t address the issues in details. In 2000 the liberals had the greatest political wonk of all, Al Gore and he lost. They lost again in 2004 when they again ran John Kerry. And in both cases the media and liberals couldn’t understand it when the people said “morals” were a primary issue. And just a few days ago the media went crazy when a top Republican advisor said it wasn’t about issues, it was about character.

More on this in another blog, because I think it is important, but back to the conventions. In addition to Palin there were a number of other speakers last night. As someone put it, we heard from “the losers”; Romney, Huckabee and Giulliani. The first two, well, let’s just say I remember why they lost. I thought Giulliani started off slowly but after the first five or ten minutes really got into his speech and got the crowd cheering (and booing). He was as good as I had hoped he would be. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Fred Thompson from the night before. Now he was terrific. I hope he goes out on the trail campaigning for her.

One last thought on last night. Sarah Palin wasn’t the only female to win the heart of the convention and viewers last night. Barack Obama, you no longer have the lock on adorable little girls. Wasn’t Sarah’s youngest daughter just a hoot? Apparently even the cameramen couldn’t resist her as they kept turning the cameras on her all night. The shot of the night was of that little girl holding her baby brother, licking her palm and using it to wet down his hair. How many mothers could relate with that? It made Sarah Palin seem like any other mother, like you and I, and maybe just maybe like the next Vice President of the United States. 

As Todd Purdum, one of the many Stepford captains of the USS MSNBC Obama, a very beautiful ship, said, they (the Republicans) do not want us to “over analyze” their speeches, uh, make that, ” do regular analysis” so they are staying on a tight schedule.

If MSNBC bias did not exist, Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate. Their anti Clinton bias is only exceeded by their anti Palin bias.

To beat that, sexist Carla Fiorina, a previous executive of Hewlet Packard who made an executive controversial decison, voted against by the heirs to Hewlett and Packard founders, which ultimatley save their bacon, chimed in.

She pointed out the historical practice of both women and men, of “calling women showhorses rather than workhorses” says Gov Palin has made more decisions in her two years of Governor (let alone being a mayor of a small town, raising five children with a husband and knowing how to hunt and standing up to the good ole boy network including many corrupt Republican establishment types in Alaska, including those in her own party who after first losing as a Lt Gov candidate, came back to defeat the likes of then Alaska Gov Frank Murkowski) than Barack Obama has made in his life including his entire political life which seems to have been spent jumping from job to job running for president permanently.

If Barrack Obama had beaten Frank Murkowski, he would have been heralded as a savior and an Icon of freedom, let along of style and sexuality, in the likes of Sainted John Kennedy. Kennedy was actually a worse president than the current George Bush although it is close. That sentence means I have no friends any where in the world.

Rather than reporting and investigating these ideas further, the ones Carla spoke about, that Presidential candidate Barack Obama has less executive experience than Vice Presidential candidate Palin (a President is a CEO not a periodic voter, whose absence is usually not noticed, as only one of 100 (Senate) or 535 (Congressman),  the executive, the President with cabinets, or Governors and staff, still make daily decisions to make the government work.

Kinda like the MSNBC game

Keith Olberman added adroitly to the discussion by telling us that Obama was a cheerleader once in his life, not sure if he threw papers at he lense and broke it or not, do you remember? Yes, he is a joke, but a joke many rely on for news, disguised as clever partisanship. Sportingly clever. I enjoy watching him like I enjoy the Simpsons.

Rainy night in St Paul

Tuesday……rain, CA delegation meeting…. RJC event…..convention

Hello again from the rainy Midwest.  The natives are quite friendly but the alien invaders seem a bit restless today.  The distances between events is perilously long for anyone trying to stick to a schedule.  Nice concept to hold convention events in twin cities, but in reality, a day cannot go by without either an expensive cab ride or a lengthy shuttle bus journey.  The Target Center is quite distant from the two California hotels, the Sofitel and Sheraton, but even the distance is not dampening the growing energy that marks this day.

On the persistent media asking questions about Sarah Palin’s daughter mar the seemingly energized early morning.  In the bar, in the hallways, in the elevators, waiting for the buses.   They are like gophers (pardon the Minnesota pun) that pop up everywhere.  Persistent little buggers.

First thing this morning, some folks took a leisurely five mile run around one of the many local small lakes.  The heavy rain that began during the run was refreshing.  California’s delegation, the largest at the Convention, had a wonderful brunch at the Lafayette Club while listening to featured speakers, Frank Luntz and Hugh Hewitt.

Oh, and did I mention the gophers, sorry, reporters, asking about Sarah Palin’s daughter?  Still asking.  Waiting with impatience for that one delegate who will say something terribly embarrassing.  Still waiting as of noon.

The convention opens with the most resounding renditions of the Star Spangled Banner I have heard in recent years and it brought the crowd to a roar.  You could feel the energy in the room, anticipating the evening speakers, especially former Democrat nominee, Joe Lieberman.  Word was the President will be introduced by Laura Bush and that’s exactly what happened.  Laura ticked off a few of the accomplishments of her husband, most of which have either been long forgotten or never remembered.  After a brief address by George W., a tribute to Ronald Reagan brought some tears, but also pride as up stepped former Presidential candidate Fred Thompson.

He spoke highly of both Palin and McCain. The crowd clearly, not seemingly too upset by the media gophers mentioned above rose to their feet in support of Governor Palin.  Thompson did a great job of introducing the John McCain that the media seems to have forgotten, or maybe just never remembered.   Tears of pride drenched the convention and it was the supreme hope that enough Americans listened to, or witnessed the televised speech so that they would understand the difference between speaking of honor and judgment and living honor and dignity.  Time and time again, Thompson cited McCain’s ability and willingness to buck the system, even his own political mentor, Party icon, Ronald Reagan.  Quite simply, this was one of the most effective, rousing intro/support speeches I have ever heard.

Believe it or not, there was a break in the Sarah Palin’s daughter questions during the speech.

Next up, former Dem VP Joe Lieberman.  Must be one of the only times a former Dem ticket member addressed a Rep convention.  A more than warm welcome to a man who has the same backbone of his good friend, Senator McCain.  Asking the question, “what in the world is a Democrat like me doing at a Republican gathering like this”?  He followed that question with a strong message to Independents and Dems – Obama is clearly not ready to lead our country, nor does he have the ability to bring us together even though he talks incessantly of change and unity.  Now, I would guess most of the delegates would not want Lieberman on the ticket, they clearly have taken a liking to this man.

At the end of the evening, a new energy filled air and dare I say a new hope beat in the hearts of the delegates.  Seeing no protestors this time, everyone departed the Center somehow a bit lighter, far more optimistic and ready for the next two nights.

God knows this spirit will not be reported.  And sure as shootin’ there will be some reporter back at the hotel ready to ask us about Sarah Palin’s daughter…….

Goodnight from Minnesota

Report from the RNC in St, Paul, Minnesota. And I thought “change” was the operative word of the DNC!

Immediately upon arrival we heard that “change” was afoot; as hurricane Gustav ambled slowly across the Caribbean, it became more apparent that this RNC would need some radical adjustments if we were to demonstrate the true concern and compassion truly felt by most every delegate here in the Twin Cities.

Rumors abounded in every nook and cranny of our California hotel, the Sheraton South in Bloomington (more on the hotel later). But even though the changes announced today were meant to maximize the huge opportunity we had to help, the convention planners could not overlook the like media lambasting of a rich, cold-hearted, incompetent GOP partying the night away while our Southern brethren suffer the displacement and suffering caused by another gulf hurricane.

Obama would no doubt follow suit.  By the way, where was B.O., yesterday and today — campaigning shamelessly while the potentially devastating storm was barreling towards the Big Easy.

Scorned Clinton Women Could Support Hutchison as VP.

If Texans were drafting their fantasy football team, Republican U.S. Sen. Bailey Hutchison would be the No. 1 pick, and others would sit on the bench for the first few selections.

Looking two years into the future, a poll showed that Ms. Hutchinson is more popular than Gov. Rick Perry and that either of them could beat potential Democratic candidates in a governor’s race.

No politician won a majority of likely voters. But, of all likely voters, Ms. Hutchinson was favored by 35 percent nearly double the next in line.

In January 2007 Hutchison told the Washington Times while she would not promote herself for Vice President she said “I can’t imagine that I would say no.”

Her biggest liability her age has been tamped down by Joe Biden’s picked as Obama’s VP who is also 65 years old and elevated her because his appointment has scorned already unhappy Hillary Clinton women voters, and generally women everywhere especially the unaffiliated.

Hutchinson is no pansy and she could handle Biden handily in their VP debate while putting him in the untenable place of being an ugly mean guy picking on a woman.

Obama toyed with Waco, Texas Congressman Chet Edwards before rejecting him in favor of Biden. Edwards could deliver Texas with 34 electors is a likely GOP win and would be solidly so with Hutchinson. But she could pull back New Mexico that is now leaning toward Obama with its 5 electors and erasing half of Obama’s narrow 10 elector lead.

What I am saying is that after doodling and researching the idea I agree with Dick Morris Texas Senior Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson could be the nail in Obama’s self constructed political coffin.

He can’t.

Joe Biden has been described by friendly media

sources with the words:

Lunch bucket, blue collar, Catholic, plain spoken, now disciplined, Iraq war supporter, critic of Obama inexperience, lots of legislative (35 years), judiciary and foreigh policy committee (Chairman) and foreign travel experience, meeting with foreign leaders. He is also an Amtrak commuter, born in Pennsylvania.

Gloria Berger of CNN from Denver, CO, says he is a great VP pick, but that has not always made a difference (clever and full of gravitas, Lloyd Bensen “I knew Jack Kennedy and Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy”) but Biden probably was one of the best picks Obama could have made to minimize Hillary hurt.

Biden is somewhat charismatic, plain spoken, (but capable of “going off the reservation” a common liberal expression ironically”)and while older than she is he also does not seem to be a political “threat” to her in any way beyond the age issue. Speaking of age, in eight years, he will be 73, older than John McCain is.

All in all a great pick for Obama. It will be hard if not impossible for McCain to help his ticket as much as Biden helps the Obama campaign, even though he once said he would be proud himself to run with McCain. McCain considers Biden a friend and has called to congratulate him, but of course the political campaigns are already out with adds that showcase Biden’s own words, devaluing an Obama candidacy. It will run it’s course and not suppress the positive attributes of the selection.

Their official web site will get you started.