As with each day we’ve started here at the Republican National Convention, Wednesday began with a certain measure of excitement and uncertainty.  Excitement, of course, because of the nature of the event; uncertainty, because the Republican National Convention planning committee has been pretty awful about providing schedule details in light of the cancellation on Monday.  We started the day at the Mall of America where we ran into numerous Massachusetts and California delegates who were eating and shopping.  There are no clothing taxes and it’s a big, big mall.  It’s to be expected.

We then went back to the Crowne Plaza in Bloomington, which is the hotel of the Massachusetts and West Virginia delegations and had become our unofficial center of operations outside of our host’s house.  As we waited  for the GOP Express to take us to the Xcel Energy Center, we got to interview Russ Weeks, who is trying to be the third Republican governor of West Virginia in seventy years.  He believes that West Virginia is becoming more conservative (they voted for Bush both times) and is ready for conservative leadership, especially because of the proven energy reserves.  “Coal is king in West Virginia,” Weeks said.

It was interesting to see the myriad ways that the Harvard name falls upon conservative ears. There is a paradoxical response to the name. On the one hand, Harvard, famous for being liberal and playing host to the “East coast Ivy-league educated elite” is often villainized by conservatives as producing uncommon commentators who are out of touch with real, working people. One West Virginian used the Harvard credential as an excuse to challenge us to produce specific production facts about oil and coal.  Suspicions we had about the statistics he was naming turned out to be proven by Googling some of the questions he asked us. On the other hand, the Harvard name commands a certain respect, admiration and generous willingness to help us out. Mostly, our reception at the RNC was warm with a few people treating us just like anybody else at the convention, while others would bend over backwards to help through tight spots and plead to well-connected people to get us in to exclusive hot spots around the convention. Meeting with members of the Texas delegation, dropping the name “Harvard Independent” guaranteed an immediate request for an interview on the delegate floor.

We took the GOP Express to the Xcel Center and started tracking down some of the people we had met previously.  The larger-than-yesterday crowd had settled in for the second full day of convention activities, and speaking to people it seemed that everybody had settled into the groove of the convention; it lacked the novelty of the first day.

We walked past a room labeled “Chapel” and decided to go inside.  It is a small room with shaded windows, and one thirty-year-old woman with a Fox News hat and McCain t-shirt praying.  Looking up, we saw a gigantic wooden cross with Christian prayer material elsewhere on the table.  For a Jew and a conservative Buddhist, we couldn’t help but think that this was a side of the Republican party that they try to suppress during the conventions.  There were no alternatives for other religions.

Exiting the chapel, we told the staff our concern: if there is a single chapel under the big tent that is supposed to be the GOP, there should be a space for people of other religions to pray.  The chapel was a sign that the GOP was committed to representing people of faith, but only people of the Christian faith.  The chapel staff was trite: “I’m sorry we can’t help you.”

The ethnic makeup of the convention also merits some words.  The smaller speakers of the convention—certain CEOs, some citizens, and others who were given opportunities to speak on the Republican podium—would make it seem like the GOP is a diverse crew of multiracial American conservatives.  The story told on the podium is very different than the story told on the delegate floor, or on the stands.  Sad to tell, the Republicans as represented at the convention are still very much the white, Christian party.  The non-white speakers could as well be speaking in spite of their ethnicity, not because of it and not indifferently toward it.

After watching the Romney speech from the club level, we split up. Nick went off to the Jewish Republican Coalition on the Suite level, while Tuan returned to the media viewing post in the back to watch the Huckabee speech with one of the Massachusetts delegate’s wife.

On the way, Tuan went to use the restroom, and ran into to Tom Brokaw taking a bathroom break between broadcasts. Washing hands next to Tom, Tuan, star struck, asked Tom about the Romney speech. The discussion went to the effect of:

“Hello Tom, how’s the broadcast this evening?”
[washing hands, gives that signature Tom Brokaw smirk] “Thank you for asking. It’s been going well.”
“What are your thoughts on the Romney speech?”
“It was a good speech. This will certainly not be the last we’ve seen of Romney, and he made that very clear tonight.” [reaches for paper towels to dry hands]

Huckabee again demonstrated his ability to appeal to working class social conservatives with his usual brand of witty retorts and charm. He reasserted his support for McCain, appealed to some of Obama’s own remarks (followed by criticism of Obama’s “Excellent Adventure to Europe”) and repeated many of his usual talking points from the primaries. Admittedly, not everyone from Tuan’s post standing with guests of the Massachusetts delegation (with the media bloggers on the phone typing away on their laptops) were huge fans of Huckabee. The previous night, one of the delegates at the CNN Grille rolled their eyes at the mere comment that he was coming to talk (“Do not get me started on Huckabee…”). Despite that, however, everyone acknowledged what a “swell guy” Huckabee was (the ultimate working man’s man). The previous night, Huckabee had been playing at one of the bars in town taking autographs and “chillin’” with the delegates. The response to Huckabee can best be summarized as one of “He won’t be President, but gee whiz, he’s just such an awesome guy…” The ultimate highpoint of the speech came when Huckabee pointed out that Palin had received more votes running for mayor of Wasilla than Biden had received running for President of the United States, at which point all 20,000 in the hall stood up roaring with applause. Definitely well-received, but the immediate response among from the guests was “Can someone check those numbers? It would be awesome if it were true.”

Nick, meanwhile, watched the speech with The Jewish Republican Coalition, a thin coalition of New York and Midwestern Jews who were placed directly behind the TV screen behind the podium, with a blocked view of the speeches and events. One woman was a New York trial lawyer who used to be a prosecutor until she became a criminal defense lawyer and did medical malpractice law.  She made it clear that despite concerns leveled about the GOP excluding non-Christian religions at their own prayer sites, the Jews of America must unite to vote John McCain president because he is the only candidate who will adequately defend Israel against its enemies.  Barack Obama, she said, has agreed to meet with Ahmadinejad without preconditions, and has supported plans for a divided Jerusalem.  She praised Christian conservatives for supporting Israel unconditionally.  To her, and the others in this room, the choice was clear, even though there was a palpable grunt when Mike Huckabee, the speaker at the time, said that “the 3 sacred heroes were Jesus, Elvis, and FDR, not necessarily in that order.”

For each of these speeches, there were a few characteristic commonalities that created assured crowd reactions.  Whenever the speakers played to standard conservative mainstays, the crowd went nuts.  There were a few arguments in the typical speech, like how Obama’s cutting taxes on families but raising them on businesses has the effect of raising taxes on most families.  But other than that, when the speakers weren’t telling conventioneers how they get American values and the Democrats don’t, they wielded heavy sarcasm to devalue the Democrats and energize the crowd.

During the Giuliani speech, the crowd started chanting “drill, baby, drill,” in response to Giuliani’s assurances of McCain energy independence.  Most (definitely not all) of the Republicans here acknowledged that oil would have to be a bridge to the next energy technology.  With “drill, baby, drill,” one is compelled to ask exactly what these people have in mind.

Security is no joke to these Republicans.  When Giuliani stated that Obama wanted to forfeit to Osama bin Ladin, one delegate shouted “never,” and many others followed him.  Giuliani’s discussions of about Obama’s alleged fear of using the phrase “Islamic terrorism” or “victory” in discussing the war on terror provoked similar jeers.  In a complete turn-around, the Republicans have gone on the offensive with Palin’s experience, and took it as granted that she is a tremendously experienced executive.

We did meet some other cool people: The Daily Show’s John Oliver, Conan O’Brien’s Triumph the Comic Insult Dog, and others.  We also had some interesting conversations with Ron Paul and John McCain supporters who were supporters of their candidates but, when asked, didn’t totally understand their policies.

In the end, despite the fanfare of the night, there were many people we spoke with who had private reservations.  The Palin speech was very well-received, though many still questioned her policies and experience.

We look forward to the final day of the convention, with the newly built podium, where McCain will accept the nomination.

Ho Tuan and I have been posting a diary of our on-the-scene RNC coverage on our “RNC Coverage” page. More entries are there, but here is yesterday’s entry:

Today was the second day of the Republican National Convention.  And what a day it was.

The day started fairly early as we were scheduled to have breakfast with the Massachusetts delegation at a nearby hotel.  As gobs of rain splattered against the windshield of our friend’s car, we looked forward to the day’s events, and wondered what the Republican Convention had in store for us.

The Massachusetts delegate breakfast was held in the basement of the hotel.  Although the space was ample enough to hold the entire delegation and guests, it was probably only a little larger than a typical high school classroom.  As the minister giving the benediction noted, “We thank heaven that we could find a room big enough to hold all of the Republicans in Massachusetts.”

As we ate the typical hotel meeting fare of eggs, hash browns, and fruit, Mitt Romney arrived to deliver the delegation keynote speech.  Romney arrived in a manner befitting of a popular politician—quick entrance, take care of business, quick exit—and gave a speech that strongly endorsed McCain and Palin, while addressing some sour grapes.  After thanking numerous supporters and donors, Romney started attacking Obama’s experience, credibility, and competence.  Some of the critiques were reasoned and to be expected. Governor Romney also used the opportunity to deliver some sarcastic though not very argumentative criticism of Obama for a few laughs

This election race is so close that they can’t decide it in the electoral college and decide, instead, to decide the presidency through an ice-fishing contest, right here in Minneapolis.  Whoever can catch the most fish in four days would win the presidency.  So the first day, McCain catches ten fish and Obama catches none.  The second day, McCain catches twenty fish and Obama catches none.  The third day, Harry  Reid comes to Obama and says that McCain is catching so many fish, he must be cheating.  So he encourages Obama to go spy on McCain.  Later, Obama gets back and tells Harry Reid of what he say.  “You’ll never believe what he was doing,” said Obama.  “He actually cut a hole in the ice!”

The room exploded in laughter and the speech went on.  Romney called Obama wrong on Iraq; he said that Biden has had a lot of experience, but mostly experience with being wrong, and cited the Cold War, the Gulf War, and the surge as examples where Biden was wrong.   “Thanks heaven we didn’t listen to Barack Obama and Joe Biden,” he said repeatedly.

He also discussed the economy, which was interesting because it is his expertise.  Romney said that the problems with the economy started with the housing and credit crisis, which he presented as a natural event that the Republicans neither caused nor could prevent.  He then accused the Democrats as using economic woes to “appease special interests” that wanted bigger government and higher taxes.  He didn’t specify what those special interests were.

Romney talked about his new role in American politics—including how he is constantly humbled, like when he went to the Olympics and thought that fans were taking pictures of him, until he turned around to see that they were actually photographing NBA star Kobe Bryant—and urged Massachusetts supporters to use their time and resources to help in New Hampshire and other nearby states that are more closely contested.

Kerry Healey, the Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor under Mitt Romney who lost the latest gubernatorial race, disagreed, and said that she was making the case to McCain campaign managers to try to win Massachusetts in ‘08.  There are still many Reagan Democrats, she said, and  they’re worth trying to win over.

Talking to many of the delegates in the room, it was a little more doubtful.  It is to be expected that many of the Massachusetts delegates would have been pulling for Mitt Romney.  Most of them were.  While they seemed genuinely ready to do their best for John McCain, their attitudes towards Sarah Palin were different.  Some of them were frank about their reservations.  Others we asked about Palin hesitated for a moment, wore momentary faces of reservation (and sometimes disgust), and then talked about her qualifications.  Some thought it was a brilliant pick.  But there seemed to be an unspoken schism , in which many felt that Romney was passed over because of his Mormon religion.

We chatted energy policy and health care with many delegates.  On the energy policy front, all of them agreed that we need to transition to the next energy economy, but many of them disagreed about what that was or how to get there.  “The oil is there for us to use it,” said one delegate.  She and another delegate stated that “there is a theory that oil is being produced right as we speak.”  They went on, “why should we disrupt a natural process?”

Most of the delegates thought that it was prudent for the convention to be delayed for Hurricane Gustav.  One lady we spoke with believed that you should always do what you say you will do, or what you’re expected to do, and that disrupting the RNC, and not just changing it, was the wrong thing to do.  She was the only person we spoke with who stated this position, however.

We got to interview a young Republican politician named Doug Bennett, who is a candidate for Boston City Councilor at-large.  He hopes to win in 2009.  One of the questions we asked him was how he presents a conservative platform to one of the most liberal areas in the country.  He said that he doesn’t emphasize the social conservative platform, and that big government means staying off of your back and out of your life, including whether or not you get an abortion.

The Massachusetts delegation was extremely gracious with us and invited us to some other events.  With a few hours before the convention, Tuan and I went to the Mall of America.  Suffice it to say that it’s huge.  Numerous roller coasters.  Numerous food courts.  A freakin’ aquarium.  An extremely flamboyant Bruno-like salesman named Fabrizio took Tuan by the hand and asked him “why don’t you take care of your nails, is it because you’re too lazy or because you don’t care?”  Tapping Tuan on the nose, he then proceeded to give Tuan a one-nail manicure.  That nail continues to be very shiny.

From the Mall of America, we took a bus to the Xcel Center.  Trojan had a big truck parked and were having an event to advance their sexual health advocacy.  They gave T-shirts and condoms to contestants who raced to grab a condom, read the expiration date, properly put it on a banana, take it off, and tie it up.  Tuan’s new condoms would later spill out of his bookbag during a routine Secret Service backpack check, prompting  glances from numerous guards in the area.

“Big plans tonight?,” asked one officer.  “Just be safe,” said another.

We got in and found some of the Massachusetts delegates.  One candidate, Earl Sholley, who is running to throw out Barney Frank, was enjoying his time at the convention and was waiting on interviews and press for his candidacy.

The speeches went on as you would have seen them on television, though there were some awkward moments.  There was the moment where the Jo Anne Davidson, leader of the Republican National Committee, mistakenly celebrated the nomination of “Governor Sarah Pawlenty,” confounding the presumptive vice presidential nominee from Alaska and Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, who was her closest competitor.  Next, there was a female firefighter who came forward to give a speech and stepped forward just as President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush were to speak.  That long applause was not for her.

We met numerous luminaries while at the convention, including Senator John Thune, actor John Voight, reporters Andrea Mitchell, Ann Curry, and countless delegates and supporters.  We also met many young Republicans, who carried the enthusiasm and ferocity of their party forward a generation.

We left after an eventful night, missing the GOP Express back to our area.  But after chatting with Wolf Blitzer, we were invited to the invitation-only CNN Grille private party, where we met Tom Brokaw, Chuck Todd, Ann Curry (again) over some burgers and beers and socialized with close friends in the Massachusetts delegation..

We split a ride back to our friend’s area with a Massachusetts delegate and pondered the future of the Republican party, in light of the day’s impressions and recent events.  While delegates were ready to express enthusiasm for McCain and his pick, we couldn’t help but think that the cracks on the surface of the Republican party were deeper than they would look from the outside.  The impression we got from private discussions with tipsy delegates was that the glue that holds many traditionally Republican constituencies together—business conservative, social conservatives, opponents of big government, and the large group of Ron Paul libertarians—is slowly aging and cracking.

We’ll update you on today’s impressions soon.

We woke up bright and early today, not totally sure what to expect from the mostly-cancelled RNC Monday but still with a lot to do. The Republicans needed to take care of actual, legitimate business (you know, nominating John McCain). Ron Paul was to speak at a park out in St. Paul, where a lot of Libertarians would be gathered at a barbeque. And finally, it was the Minneapolis State Fair’s last day, and we had been told that it was not to be missed.

As we waited for information about the RNC to flow in, we decided to start at the bottom of our list, at the Minneapolis State Fair. After paying the outrageous fee of eleven dollars to get in, we were immediately greeted with the Miracle of Life Center. In this center, gawkers circulate about a room populated by cows, pigs, sheep, and other livestock that have just given birth, and their newborns. In case you weren’t walking into a live birth (and they had a live tally of how many animals had given birth in the room that day), fear not; high-definition flatscreen televisions were mounted all over the room and were constantly displaying videos of previous births, in their full pixel-count glory, in a constant loop. They were also showcasing some of the latest farm technologies, including a pen that would keep a sow from crushing her piglets. Anyway, that was the Miracle of Life. We left before the smell could seep into our skin.

After perusing an impressive selection of food-on-a-stick (macaroni and cheese was the most impressive, although—and we’re not kidding here—the whole city was abuzz about the new selection of chocolate covered bacon on a stick) and riding some rides, we received information that Laura Bush and Cindy McCain would be appealing on behalf of the hurricane victims. We proceeded to the park where Ron Paul would be speaking, when we learned that…

…even rather short distances can take a long time to traverse when you’re wearing a suit, carrying numerous bags, and getting directions from people who aren’t really sure themselves. The Ron Paul event looked surprisingly like any political gathering, though it looked as though it was for a local candidate. We came in when the speaker was encouraging supporters to make that last phone call and shake that last hand, even when they thought they were too tired. There was a clear losers mentality about it—“even if we don’t win, each of us should know we did our best”—but they all had a clear sense of purpose.

We whisked away, this time by care, to the Xcel Energy Center, where the RNC is being held. We were dropped off in the middle of a protest. Check out the pictures.

Heavily protected troops with wooden sticks and dozens of rubber handcuffs were forming a human barricade against protesters. The protest was just flaring up, apparently (it’s still unclear why they thought this—the protesters were just standing there) , and so the armored knights against political protest couldn’t let us through. We ended up finding a path around them, and soon found ourselves in the Democratic National Convention Offices at the RNC.

The staff at the DNC were quite friendly, but were being very mum. The Republicans were being non-partisan today, a high-level representative said, but we should come back if (when) the Republicans become partisan in their convention again. We look forward to doing so.

We finally arrived at one of the entrances to the RNC. Tuan and I took turns going in. Tuan went first, and watched Laura Bush’s appeal for help. Then I went in and wandered around the delegate floor.

On the floor was a microcosm of the GOP today. There were religious voters, economic voters,and terrorism voters; there were students, businesspeople, and guys in cowboy hats; there were men, women, and the occasional “Youth for McCain.” There were McCain die-hards and people who seemed to support their nominee for the sake of the party. I got a chance to speak with the California and Massachusetts delegations. Although neither of these states are especially Republican, both of them had prominent Republicans (Schwarzenegger and Romney, respectively) scheduled to speak. Seated way in the back, some members of each delegation felt that they got the shaft with seating. Disgruntled Romney supporters from Massachusetts thought that if their former governor had won, they might have gotten better seats.

I approached the podium and examined it for a little while. The Republicans have been making a big deal out of this podium. Unlike the Obama podium, which was built for a spectacle, the McCain podium was built to be low key. I found it colorful but classy.

Outside were peddlers and promoters pushing goods and ideas. Some seemed serious: we got very grave pamphlets and DVDs about radical Islam, for example. Others were flat-out sarcastic. Three college students tried to sell us an “Obama Bin Biden” shirt, with a mushroom cloud in the middle of the iconic Obama “O.” A white truck drove around with a big banner featuring Barack Obama as Uncle Sam. It read “Barack Obama Wants YOU: To Pay for Abortions.” Before we left, we made plans for all of the crazy stuff we’ll be doing tomorrow.

And so, we headed to our temporary home at a friend’s house. We look forward to reporting to you tomorrow, when the real convention begins.

After much preplanning for the events this week, I finally checked in 1PM at Reagan National in DC to head out for Minneapolis/St. Paul for the Republican National Convention. Upon getting through security in the Midwest/Northwest terminal it became immediately clear that I was merely one of droves of people flying out of Washington for the RNC. All eyes were on the newspapers and tv screens as rumors floated around about possible cancellations due to Hurricane Gustav.

Of course, not everyone was there for serious RNC business. Waiting in line, I met “Sloan” a former campaign staffer for McCain 2000 who was looking forward to a few days of rest to party and hit the bars with some old McCain friends and senior staffers.

After arriving in Milwaukee for my connection to Minneapolis, I received a call from Nick who had just landed in Minneapolis informing me of the Hurricane Gustav situation, and that the evening broadcast for RNC Day 1 had been cancelled. Everyone in the terminal seemed somewhat confused, and unfortunately all we could do was rely on our cell phones for the latest news (with WiFi being overpriced, and no tv screens in sight).

The flight from Milwaukee to Minneapolis was teeming with delegates, press and talk about the RNC. I sat next to Cam Edwards from NRA News (broadcasting on Sirius Satellite Radio) who spoke to me about gun ownership, his dissatisfaction with the situation of our country (and of Obama’s proposals) before quickly shifting to healthcare.

“You must be 1 of 5 conservatives at Harvard!” he joked, but later somewhat retracted commenting how it’s reasonable for any college student (whether at Harvard or any college for that matter) to be very liberal. “I was a liberal in college…until I started working” he commented.

In front of me sat an alternate delegate (recently graduated from college) and his girlfriend’s father joined in on the conversation all the way to Minneapolis, and relished in the fact that we would not be landing in the Hubert Humphrey Terminal. He also very kindly gave me a book to keep (“Running on Empty” by Pete Peterson) as he sought to criticize Democrats AND Republicans for failed fiscal ap

I finally arrived in Minneapolis in the early evening, and Grant Dasher (roommate and friend who was hosting us for the week) picked me up and we head over to Downtown Minneapolis to catch the end of the Harvard IOP reception with Nick at Nick and Eddies, where we schmoozed with IOP fellows and area Harvard alums for several hours before heading to the Minneapolis Convention Center to pick up our Press Credentials. We could not have asked for a kinder reception. Although the atmosphere was somewhat dampened by the cancelled events for RNC Day 1, everyone was still excited, and we gave and receive many Republican High-Fives.

The convention had not even started, but I already found myself exhausted by the time Grant brought us home. I know the week ahead will only be more hectic and exhausting, but I’m excited for the adventure ahead.

I haven’t been totally sure about what to expect when covering the Republican National Convention. Just a few months ago, when Ho Tuan and I were cleared by the Republican Organizing Committee and given a press pass, I thought that this could either be a broad collection of Republican stereotypes meeting to pat themselves on the back and applaud speeches in order to do good PR for the GOP. The other possibility was that this would be a convention of Americans with real concerns an interests meeting to usher in the next four years of their party, network, and consider the future of the party. Uncertain but eager, I agreed to come.

As I drove into Los Angeles International Airport and checked in at the baggage desk of little-known Minneapolis-based Sun Country Airlines, I took a look around me, expecting to see the old Republican stereotypes I had been warned about when growing up in liberal Los Angeles. For the most part, there was nothing especially conservative about the people standing in line. No staunch, suited-up banker types; no religious zealots; no farmers. Although many of these families were clearly from the more Republican outskirts of Los Angeles, most of them looked like families on vacations. Nothing too unusual; it would be a pretty white-bread flight, but there was respectable diversity on board.

After a short, three-hour flight, I landed in Minneapolis, which will be my home for the next couple of days. The people have been friendly. Since the IOP was having a mixer shortly after I landed, I headed immediately over there, and was a bit early. I heard some rock and roll music at a nearby park, and went to investigate.

That’s when I discovered the gold mine: the Libertarian picnic.

I have this feeling that if you go too far the either the left or right, things start to look the same. Blur your eyes, and the realities of communism and fascism look similar. So too is it with hardcore libertarianism and hardcore liberalism. They place looked like a hippie rally—beer and pot, stump speakers advocating radical change and (at least the one I heard) non-violent lawbreaking, and talks of spreading new ideologies around. Check out the pictures.

But instead of demonstrating by marching, for example, from Tampa Bay to Minneapolis to talk about the dangers of global warming, there were people marching that long distance with the claim that global warming is a hoax by some shadowy world government. They were genuinely and sincerely concerned that the American dollar is backed by fiat (as they called it, “nothing”).

I spoke with some of these people. We’ll have some videos up soon.

Speakers included a libertarian radio host from out West somewhere (Arizona or New Mexico, I think). In addition to the usual libertarian bonanza of restoring the Constitution and ending taxes, he also encouraged those in attendance to break the law in the name of “the Revolution,” which they should only utter with love.

As I travelled to my friend’s house for the night, I knew that some interesting times and colorful characters lay ahead. Stay tuned for more.

Nick and Tuan have landed in Minneapolis, settled in, schmoozed-with-far-too-many-people, and are too tired to write anything substantial right now.

We’ve already met numerous members from the NRA who are no doubt disappointed by the ban on weapons inside the Xcel Center. We have spoken with esteemed delegates from across the country and have extracted numerous Republican High-Fives! And we have also met numerous Ron Paul supporters and are looking forward to hearing him speak tomorrow about how Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke caused Hurricane Gustav.

STAY TUNED TOMORROW for incisive, breaking coverage of the star-studded first day of the Republican National Convention! Nick and Tuan go to the Minneapolis State Fair.