Sunday, August 31, 2008

Cancelling Monday’s Convention Good News

bill rappleye

No Bush, Not Bad, says delegate

Delegate Steve Kass, the former radio host and current state employee, says of the cancellation of speeches tomorrow, “It’s a blessing.  It certainly doesn’t hurt the McCain campaign that both Bush and Cheney will not be speaking.“  What organizers plan to do for the rest of the week will be decided as the storm in News Orleans plays out.  Kass did say he hopes some of the speakers, like Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and Senator Joe Lieberman, will get a chance later in the week to speak in prime time.  But he said cutting out all the speeches on Monday isn’t all bad.  “Have you ever heard some of these people?“, he quipped.  When asked if he thought the party would suffer from reduced television coverage, he said, “ If we get Tuesday and Wednesday in, it won’t make that much of a difference.“  The RNC has said it is considering making one of the days of the convention a fundraiser for potential victims of the hurricane.  So there may be little political speechmaking here in St. Paul, other than the acceptance speeches by the two candidates.  Given the millions of dollars, 18 months of preparation, the scheduling smack up against the Democrats;  all intended to counteract the positive impression the speakers in Denver projected across the country, it must be a huge disappointment to the party strategists.  At least an unexpected development.  Perhaps it plays into their hands, as they scramble to come up with a Plan B.  No Bush, as Kass pointed out.  A chance to show how much they care about poor people.  Show real disaster management expertise.  And what says concern more than money, and the party is talking about turning the political fundraising masters into relief agents.  And if McCain-Palin are on TV in Louisiana, it makes the contrast with the unpopular incumbent even more dramatic, and more real to the voters.  The more circumstances are played up as inconvenience, the more credit the ticket gets for compassion.

Wipe Out

bill rappleye

Gustav throws a wet blanket over the convention

i sat with the Rhode Island delegation as they watched the news conference announcing the grand kick-off of the Grand Old Party’s quadrennial campaign showcase will be cancelled.  No George W Bush.  No Demkocrat turned Independent Joe Lieberman. No bodybuilder turned Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger.  That’s a lot of star power wiped off the slate.  And no saying whether they’ll be rescheduled later in the week.  But tomorrow is business only.  Delegates reporting in, establishing a quorum, and doing the procedural stuff that is part of the nominating process, which is what the convention is ostensibly about.  This has to be a hit for the party’s plans to bounce back after the hugely watched Denver display by the Democrats.  The delegates are disappointed, but not complaining, because of the sensitive issue of the hardships coming towards New Orleans.  And who knows, they may find these multi-million dollar stageshows called modern conventions, may be overrated.  Maybe McCain-Palin will do betterl by showiong up on the Gulf Coast.  Maybe this will be the end of lthe corporate sponsored week long adult camps with liquor that these conventions have become.  Would that be a loss?

Friday, August 29, 2008

workman

bill rappleye

building a case for President

Remember when Hillary Clinton was at RIC and delivered her memorable criticism of Barack Obama…“Celestial choirs will sing,the skies will open up…“  Mocking the soaring lyricism of her primary opponent.  You couldn’t say that about his speech tonight.  Instead, Barack Obama stepped out onto the stage wearing his tool belt.  Like a demoliton expert, he tore down, one by one, the criticisms that have been pinned on him by the Republicans.  Not patriotic.? He scolded McCain by name and said we all put this country first.  Weak on defense?  It was McCain who claimed he’d follow Bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but didn’t even have the wisdom to follow him to the cave where he lives.  Encouraging dependence on government?  Obama said it’s not Big Brother, but parents who have to turn off their children’s television and make them do homework.  This was not a night of lofty reach.  It was a gritty, methodical construction of a refutation of the charges that have been plastered on him.  A far different speech than the one he used during his victorious primary season.  He didn’t try to elevate, he stayed right on the ground.  And shied away from nothing.  He dove headfirst onto the three charged rails of American politics: abortion, guns, and gay marriage.  And displayed the secret of his politics by staking out the common ground that none of us can deny.  We all want to avoid unwanted pregnancy.  Even gun owners don’t approve of
AK47’s in the hands of urban thugs.  And who would deny a lifelong partner’s right to console a dying lover on their sickbed.  It was not ethereal; it was sturdy. 

Thursday, August 28, 2008

it’s all about the party

bill rappleye

convention, what convention

the problem with working at these national conventions, is that i have missed the main part of the occasion.  The parties!  i arrive at these delegate breakfasts all bright eyed, sitting with slow moving and heavy lidded delegates and guests.  Sure they want to discuss the speeches from the day before, and yes, there’s quite a bit of chatter about how the strategy of the campaign is reflected in the show at the Pepsi Center…but the good stuff is the huddled conversations about who saw who at which party…“oh Harold Ford was at the club..did you see James Taylor?...we went to the Massachusetts party, but it was a dud…did you get into the sold out concert?“  We’re out of town.  The delegates are away from their jobs.  During the day, they’re lining up what they’ll be doing at night.  No deadlines for these folks.  Now I’ve got that off my chest, I’m going up to the delegates’ breakfast.  To find out what I missed again last night. 

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Bottled Pepsi

bill rappleye

filled to the brim

I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the delays in getting into the Pepsi Center…so I was prepared on the four block long walk into the building last night for the Hillary speech.  I groaned internally when I saw the line outside the security gate backed up with hundreds of people, and despaired that I had no chance to get in for the start, scheduled for twenty minutes from then.  Then I heard a cop say the busses lined up on the adjacent road would take us to another checkpoint.  Big choice…take a chance on whether that unknown entrance would be a quicker option…plus the bus ride.  I made the decision, got in line, and waited anxiously to board a bus, while watching the other line, and second guessing myself.  But the bus came, drove about three minutes to the other side of the Pepsi Center where there must have been twelve rows of metal detectors and attendants, and bang bang, I was through, inside the perimeter, and walking briskly toward the Center.  I’d heard it was tight going into the front door…but I stepped right in with the crowd, climbed on an elevator, and next thing I knew, I’d found a seat on a stair in a jammed stadium in time to hear Governor Deval Patrick and Montana’s Brian Schweitzer before the Clinton introductory film, and then her speech.  It was actually easier than getting into the conventions in New York and Boston four years ago, when hundreds or more were locked out hours before the main speeches.  So give the organizers here in Denver kudos for getting the crowds into the building.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Three Wheelin’

bill rappleye

getting around

Denver has a strip where a median attracts street performers and skateboarders, and restaurants and bars line the edges.  Between the sidewalks and the middle,  there are lanes for bicycles, and a transportation alternative that we don’t have in Providence.  Bicycle powered rickshaws.  They’re doing booming business with the tired delegates who aren’t driving in the restricted city streets and are tired of walking or trying to find a taxicab. 

Rhody loves Barack?

bill rappleye

can’t pay him to visit?

Mark Weiner promised today he could raise more than a million dollars for Barack Obama in a Rhode Island record breaking fundraiser next month.  It would depend, though on Obama coming to the Ocean State.  A number of the delegates here in Denver say that’s never going to happen, not even for a million dollars.  Just as it is a delicate dance between the Obama and Clinton campaigns, if what the delegates told me is ture, there are some hard feelings from the Obama camp for Rhode Island, which voted overwhelmingly for Senator Clinton in the presidential primary.   

People Power?

bill rappleye

the price of security

The SWAT forces here are omnipresent, and oppressive.  They deploy en masse for no apparent reason.  Yesterday afternoon, as I was walking downtown, there was a sudden symphony of sirens…three vans, bursting with SWAT teams, led by a patrol car with lights strobing, and followed by a school bus full of more black clad military type defenders with automatic weapons pressed against the windows, raced down the street.  They halted at a corner, the men piled out, and proceeded to walk to positions spread down the street.  There wasn’t a disturbance, and somebody told me they just do this periodically to establish presence. These guys have body armor more elaborate even than the squads that were all over New York and Boston in the last conventions:  all black (good for sitting around in the hot sun, not!), plastic shin and feet guards, elbow pads, helmets, batons, and all sorts of stuff attached to their belts, machine guns.  The armor on their upper bodies is so thick, they look like an evil Michelin tire man.  And you’ll see them in teams of twelve or so, piled onto the running boards, and a rear platform of an extended SUV, just cruising up and down the street.  It kind of puts a damper on the atomosphere here.  There’s are blocks and blocks of walking to get into and out of the Pepsi Center where the convention is being held.  So delegates are kind of dragging in the heat and altitude, and this military presence is inescapable.  Despite the handful of vendors and Uncle Sam impersonators trying out their routines,  it’s not a cheerful celebratory scene of the people’s will in action.  Between the steel barriers and the souped up police, it feels a lot more like prison than freedom.

clinton delegation

bill rappleye

can they go for barack?

Remember the primary in Rhode Island?  Little Rhody broke Obama’s string of victories with an overwhelming vote for Hillary Clinton.  One of her highest pluralities in the entire season.  It’s one reason why the delegation is sitting in seats that require supplemental oxygen and a telescope to see the podium.  And the Clinton support in the delegation, which is made up of the high ranking party operatives who made their political bones with Bill and then Hillary, is still strong.  Joe Paolino told me, “I wouldn’t be in Denver if not for the Clintons.“  Mark Weiner still maintains Obama is the lesser candidate, though he promises to work hard for him in the general election.  The upshot of this loyalty, is Clinton delegates intend to cast their votes for Hillary tomorrow night.  They want, and expect a roll call vote, and say it is only right.  The details continue to be hammered out, as to whether it will be a roll call of the entire convention, or just a few states.  Paolino says the two sides are working cordially and productively to come up with a solution…but stay tuned to see if Rhode Island Clinton bakcers get to show their respect with a vote for her on the convention floor.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Toto, we’re not in Boston anymore

Bill Rappleye

This will not be like Boston.  I haven’t even been downtown yet…our hotel is a twenty minute bus ride from there.  I stopped at Florida’s hotel last night, and they’re even farther, on the other side of Denver.  Tim Grillo from the Democratic state party said he went in for a walkthrough yesterday at the Pepsi Center…and it took two HOURS to get in…a lot of protesters made the trip difficult.  Logistics are going to be tough.  The big news this morning is that Senator Ted Kennedy is out here for his special evening.  Night One of the convention will include a tribute to him…including a film by Ken Burns…and the Senator’s appearance was thought to be doubtful.  I’m hoping I can get through to Congressman Patrick Kennedy during the day…but security rings are so strict…you can pretty much only get to people if they want you to.

It’s a beautiful sunny day…but weather’s not a joke here.  Three tornadoes touched down locally yesterday, according to local newscasts.  No damage, but when you think aboput an outdoor address by the nominee on Thursday, it’s certainly something to think about.