RNC

Berks GOP helps hurricane victims

The call has gone out from here in Minnesota to back in Berks County -- it's time to help victims of Hurricane Gustav. The chair of the Berks Republicans, Mark Gillen, tells us the party is collecting donations both at its headquarters at 420 North Park Road in Wyomissing and at Big John's Restaurant on Schuylkill Avenue in Reading. They're looking for mainly six items: diapers, wipes, flash lights, batteries, blankets, and hand sanitizer.

Mother McCain

The mother of Republican presidential candidate John McCain just addressed Pennsylvania delegates at their breakfast in Minnetonka, Minnesota, near Minneapolis. Roberta McCain, 96, walked up to the stage to a standing ovation from the audience and left in the same manner. In between, she told the delegates how she's always felt a special relationship with Pennsylvania and thanked them for their support of her son.

Politics & prayer

Delegates from across Pennsylvania are gathering in the ballroom of their hotel right now for their daily breakfast program. Mark Gillen, a GOP delegate from Mohnton, Berks County gave the invocation. He specifically asked those who are gathered to pray for the Gulf Coast residents being affected by Hurricane Gustav.

The delegates just heard from former New York Governor George Pataki. He told them that, just how New York and Pennsylvania got through the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks together, so to will the Gulf Coast states in dealing with whatever Hurricane Gustav brings their way. And he said, as in 9/11, the rest America will be there to support them.

Change of time

We're hearing a lot in this presidential election about it being a time for change, but it's the change of time I'm having a hard time getting used to. We have to follow two sets of schedules -- one set to the local time, and the other to our time back home.

Last week in Denver, we were two hours behind Pennsylvania, which meant our deadlines for the 5:00 and 10:00 news were much earlier than we're used to. The bottom line is our days started earlier to coincide with the East Coast and ended later to match up with the Rockies. So, there were nights we managed to get only four hours sleep.

Then, over our short weekend at home, it was back to Pennsylvania time and, for me, trying to remember that breakfast at McDonald's ended at 11:00 on Saturday, not at 9:00. No need to rush out the door for my hotcakes. Now that we're in St. Paul, we're an hour behind.

The one thing I'm thankful in all of this is that, with the advances in technology, the clocks on all my phones change the time on their own. Amazing how that works.

RNC -- Day 1

The sun is about to rise on the first day of the Republican National Convention, however, concern here in St. Paul has not been about the usual party politics, but with the Gulf Coast residents who won't be seeing the sun come up today. They're in the path of Hurricane Gustav.

The first day of the convention will just be about official formalities -- what needs to be done to start the process of nominating the presidential and vice presidential candidates for the GOP. The political pomp on the arena floor tonight, featuring speeches by the President, Vice President, and First Lady, has all been cancelled. We won't know anything about Gustav's impact on tomorrow's schedule until later today.

The Pennsylvania delegation is proceeding with the schedule it has set for here in St. Paul. In a couple hours, we'll be heading over to the delegates' hotel for breakfast. They're supposed to hear from John McCain's mom, Roberta, and former New York Governor George Pataki. Tonight, they'll have the chance to enjoy a dinner cruise on the Mississippi River.

Delegates vote to shop?

The Mall of America near Minneapolis and St. Paul is no doubt on quite a few delegates' to-do lists this week. And it certainly didn't get its name by accident. With more than 520 stores and 50 restaurants, the $650-million mall opened in 1992 is the largest retail and entertainment complex in the country.

Entertaiment, you ask? That's right! It has its own indoor theme park, a walk-through aquarium, and a 14-screen movie theater. Oh! And a wedding chapel.

The mall's website points out that if a shopper spends just 10 minutes browsing inside each of the mall's stores, the excursion would last more than 86 hours. I'm not sure any of the delegates will have that kind of time this week, but I'm sure they'll try to squeeze as much in as they can. And like in PA, there's no sales tax on clothing in Minnesota.

PA Plans to Proceed

Karin talked with Pennsylvania Republican Party Chair Robert Gleason, Jr. a short time ago. He said plans are for the PA delegates to continue with their schedule here in St. Paul, despite the RNC cancelling all unofficial activities at the Xcel Energy Center. They'll begin their day with breakfast at their hotel tomorrow morning. Among the guests scheduled to be there are John McCain's 96-year-old mother, Roberta, and former New York Governor George Pataki.

Convention conundrum

Hurricane Gustav hasn't even made landfall in the U.S. and it's already raining on the Republicans' parade in St. Paul. The GOP has cancelled all the unofficial activities scheduled for tomorrow. After that, party officials say they'll be making day-by-day decisions on how to proceed, depending on Gustav's imact on the Gulf Coast.

Party officials say they are required to carry on with certain duties, which include calling the convention to order, electing officers, and adopting the party platform. What will be out, at least on the first day, is all the nighttime pomp and pageantry familiar to TV viewers. President Bush and Vice President Cheney had already cancelled their planned visits to the convention. In a statement via satellite from St. Louis today, John McCain told reporters here that "this is a time we have to do away with our party politics and act as Americans."

Part of the Republican's newly-revised plans for the week include raising money for charities that will be responding to whatever Gustav brings with him. The Republicans certainly want to avoid any repeat of the federal government's failed response to Hurricane Katrina just three years ago. So far, McCain says he's seen excellent cooperation among all levels of government.

Good to go

So far, so good here in St. Paul. We're already set up at our workspace on the second floor of the RiverCentre, which is attached to the Xcel Center arena. Karin is working on setting up interviews for a story she'll put together for the 10:00 news tonight. Right now, it looks like her focus will be the impact Hurricane Gustav has had already on this convention. Bill is making sure all the technical elements we'll need to send our stories back to Pennsylvania are in place. And of course, I'm writing about what's going on. As soon as I'm done, I'm going to snoop around and see who else is set up inside this building.

Quick and easy

We already have our credentials in hand for the week and we're off from Minneapolis to find the Xcel Center in nearby St. Paul. It was quite an easy process. We were even given a special permit to drop off our equipment near the arena, so that will hopefully save us some walking.

Speaking of age

Since I touched on age in my last post, I thought I'd share a story that I found to be entertaining when I heard it.

The driver who picked us up at the airport on Friday told me about a personal encounter he had with Ronald Reagan more than half a century ago.

Reagan worked as a spokesman for General Electric back in the 50s. He was scheduled to speak to a group near Schenectady, New York, but a large enough venue couldn't be found. I'm told it was decided to hold it at a field house on the campus of a local school. Our driver was a student there at the time, and when the dinner organizers needed help, he signed on to earn some extra money. On the night of the dinner, he was assigned to the head table and ended up serving Reagan his dinner.

Now 78 and retired as an engineer, our driver isn't letting his age slow him down. He continues to take people where they need to go, putting in an average of about 30 hours a week. He said he doesn't know if Reagan ever looked back on that night, but he still does.

Age old politics

As we head off to St. Paul, I was reminded of a speech President Reagan once gave at a Republican convention and was struck by a similarity it draws between his campaign for the presidency and that of John McCain. It's their ages and the attention given to them by the media.

At the time he was sworn in for his first term in 1981, President Reagan was just shy of his 70th birthday. If McCain wins, he'll be 72 on inauguration day.

President Reagan often joked about his age and the attention given to it. He told GOP delegates in New Orleans in 1988, "I can still remember my first Republican convention -- Abraham Lincoln giving a speech that sent tingles down my spine. No. I have to confess. I wasn't actually there. Truth is, way back then, I belonged to the other party." It is true that Reagan was once a Democrat, but not that long ago.

His age also came up in the 1984 campaign. And in a debate with the younger Walter Mondale, Reagan said, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."

McCain has also made light of his age during the campaign. When someone brings up the subject, McCain will often jokingly ask if he or she has met his 96-year-old mother.

But the issue of McCain's age has been talked about more seriously in recent days by those, including some Republicans, who don't see his choice of running mate -- Sarah Palin -- being ready to step into the Oval Office should something happen to McCain.

Time flies between conventions

I'm sitting down eating dinner (a tasty hoagie from V&S), wondering what happened to my one and only day home between conventions. It went by so fast. In just 12 hours, Karin, Bill, and I will be back at the airport, waiting to board our plane for the Republican National Convention in Minnesota.

I woke up at 9:30 this morning after sleeping for about 10 hours. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like someone who had 10 hours of sleep (exactly how does that feel?), so I lay back down for a nap around 3:00. In between, I managed to do some gift shopping for my mom and brother-in-law, whose birthdays are just two days apart as soon as I get back.

I also unpacked and did two loads of laundry. I still have to put the clothes back in the suitcase. This time around, I have to pack for two trips because I'll be flying down to Florida after the convention for some R&R with my wife. It will be our last vacation before our first baby is born in November.

There's one good lesson we learned on our trip to Denver -- we didn't need all the equipment we took with us. So we'll be traveling to St. Paul a little lighter, although not much. The weight of what little bit we leave behind will likely be made up for by our arms still being exhausted by what we had to lug around on our first trip.

Political spin storm brewing?

Hurricane Gustav continues its trek toward the U.S. Gulf Coast almost exactly three years after Katrina came ashore. While the federal government was widely criticized for its response in 2005, the way it handles Gustav could either offer Republicans a chance for redemption during the week of their national convention or Democrats the opportunity to pounce with even further criticism in the presidential campaign.

The Bush administration is in regular contact with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who plans to skip the GOP convention because of the storm. Texas Governor Rick Perry has yet to decide whether he'll go to Minnesota. And the president's schedule may be thrown off as well. He's scheduled to speak the first night of the convention, but the storm could force him to cancel the appearance. A Republican convention spokeswoman said there are no plans to delay the events.

Who's Sarah Palin?

No matter whether it's Barack Obama or John McCain who wins the White House in November, one thing is for sure: History will be made with either the first African American president or the first woman vice president.

Today, John McCain introduced Sarah Palin as his running mate. McCain said the Alaska governor is "exactly" what he and the country need. Palin, 44, is described as a conservative with a maverick reputation for bucking the GOP establishment and Alaska's powerful oil industry. She's been governor for less than two years. Before that, she was the mayor of a small town. She and her husband, Todd, have five children.

The choice leaves out several more prominent prospects, including former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the latter of whom was one of McCain's rivals during the primary.

The schedule

The RNC just unveiled the theme of its convention to be "Country First," with daily themes being service, reform, prosperity, and peace. It also pulled the wraps off the RNC podium, which will feature a 30-by 50-foot HD screen that can project video, photography, and graphics. The GOP convention will run from next Monday through Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center.

"The 2008 convention program will bring together Americans who will speak to John McCain's vision for reforming our government, building prosperity and ensuring peace for future generations," said Jill Hazelbaker, McCain 2008 communications director. "We are excited about next week and we are looking forward to showcasing John McCain’s life-long record of putting his country first."

The speakers the first night include President Bush, Vice President Cheney, First Lady Laura Bush, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, 

Former Pennsylvania Governor and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is scheduled to be one of the speakers on the second night of the convention. He has been said to be on McCain's list for vice presidential running mate, along with former Ohio Congressman Rob Portman, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.