Republican National Convention Thread (September 1-4, 2008)

I don't think they care about the election. I don't know what you say to these people, it's got to be 10 times worse than when somebody comes up to you on a college campus or the DMV and tries to talk to you about Lyndon LaRouche.

I mean they were attacking delegates, right? People like rocketsjudoka who are just regular everyday people, not political powerbrokers. You may disagree with them, but they are trying to set the course of the country the right way by participating in democracy.

 

Thanks but I wasn't there to really to protest just to take in a historical event and lend a hand if needed. I don't agree with the Republicans and respect their right to have a convention as much as other people have the right to peacefully express their dissaproval.

My days of being a student radical are behind, I think its a requirement if you go to Cal, and even then I was disgusted with those looking to come out and fight and destroy stuff.

 

I didn't say you were there to protest, I thought you were a delegate which I guess I was wrong about.

 

I always preferred to just observe.

 

I agree. Sorry, Refman.

Guy needs to be banned or put on everyone's ignore list. He can screw upa thread worse than TJ.

 

dumb question time!

When exactly is Palin's speech?

When exactly is McCain's speech?

I very much want to watch both of those, if possible.

 

Palin should be Wednesday night during the national coverage time (9-10pm Central). McCain should be Thursday night, same time.

 

I wish Palin was pres instead of that RINO mccain.

 

You might be thinking of Weslinder who is a member of the Texas delegation. I'm just a resident of Twin Cities.

 

The Battle Between McCain and Bush: The Cancelled First Night, The "Furious" President and the Palin Gambit


Sidney Blumenthal

The cancellation of the first night of the Republican National Convention marks the renewal of the rivalry between George W. Bush and John McCain. Since their bitter contest over the Republican nomination in 2000, they have taken years to make peace. But now McCain's last chance has collided with Bush's legacy.

Hurricane Gustav was "a big blessing," according to a source close to the McCain campaign. Facing a Katrina level wipeout--the landfall in St. Paul of both President Bush and Vice President Cheney--McCain felt trapped. How could he prevent the President and Vice President from appearing at the convention? Only an act of God could intervene. Suddenly, a hurricane whipped up in the Gulf and looked headed for New Orleans. Like a divinely inspired miracle, a storm to blow away Bush and Cheney had been conjured.

The McCain campaign and the Bush White House negotiated terms that unfolded as a script over the past several days, several sources told me. First, Bush announced he must oversee the preparations for dealing with the hurricane. He would not be able to attend the convention. Cheney, too, would drop out. In order that Bush and Cheney not seem to have been humiliated, McCain cancelled the entire proceedings for the first evening.

Almost certainly, Bush had to cancel his planned speech while Gustav loomed. But the sources say he didn't like the idea and felt pushed. Bush is described by sources as "furious" at McCain for being deprived of his last appearance before his party, which nominated him twice, as a sitting president. He believes he is being treated disrespectfully.

Shuttering the convention for a night was probably inevitable given the hurricane, but to provide a cover-up for scratching Bush and Cheney it became absolutely necessary. But once the hurricane passed, Bush asserted his primacy as president and forced his way back on the schedule to deliver a satellite speech to the convention.

McCain is desperately seeking ways to pivot from Bush, whose in-person appearance on the first night of the convention threatened to obliterate his message as a "maverick" and "reformer." Even though McCain himself would not be onstage, Bush and Cheney would have dominated the opening and underlined continuity between their administration and McCain. The cancellation of the first night of the convention is a small price to pay for their absence.

McCain's campaign is perfectly aware of the mortal danger of Bush's embrace. He has needed the president to rally the Republican base. But once he has the nomination his imperative is to project himself as an antidote to what has gone wrong with Republicanism.

McCain's political quandary is paradoxical. Bush has broken all parts of the Republican Party, as I document in my book, The Strange Death of Republican America. McCain's emergence as the party's nominee has been made possible by its crackup, which he must transcend. The primary field fractured the conservatives, none of whom were able to isolate the others and unite the whole movement. None could do what Bush achieved in 2000, running at the same time as the candidate of the party establishment and the conservative movement. McCain historically has represented neither.

McCain's selection of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska reflected his impulse to reject Bush. As I explained in a previous article in the Huffington Post, he really wanted to name Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate, but that option was a political impossibility that would have provoked an open revolt at the convention. Karl Rove tried to manipulate McCain into choosing Mitt Romney, endorsed by almost all members of the Bush family (except the president who had to remain above the fray). Rove organized a campaign against Lieberman and other potential choices. There could be little doubt that Rove was doing Bush's bidding. But McCain, resentful of Rove's maneuvering, outflanked him with Palin.

Bush is said to be dismissive of McCain's pick of Palin, according to the sources. Ironically, he is said to believe that now he will bear no responsibility if McCain loses. The old rivalry, supposedly buried, has come back to life.

 

seeing karl rove and bill o'reilly on tv is funny.

how can bill bash the left and then laugh with rove for calling biden a "blowhard doofus"? and then further make jokes about biden?

bill o'reilly, yet, constantly calls himself an independent. lol

 

Interesting article, although Im sure most conservatives here will consider it just biased reporting that is non-factual.

But is it me, or is the convention seeming like the most boring show on earth so far? I may want me team to win, but I would still like to see a good game. Convention to convention, this is starting out as a first quarter blowout that makes the second half not worth watching.

 

Interesting that Thompson says McCain travels to Iraq not seeking publicity...he says this as he stands if front of giant picture of McCain posing with troops.

 

Solid speech by Fred Thompson so far. Very engaging and energizing. So far the crowd has been pretty ho-hum with Laura Bush and GWB's televised speech. This is the vibe a convention is supposed to have.

 

So now Thompson says that Liberals promote "more of the same"?

Oh, and McCain was a POW.

 

"We need a President that doesn't think the decision of protecting the life of an unborn child is above his pay grade!"

Ouch.

 

The Supreme Court is the ultimate authority in legal issues, not the Executive Branch. He's just pandering; but you'd think as a District Attorney he would know.

 

Amazing speech. AMAZING SPEECH. Perfect selection of a speaker for that message. The story about McCain's struggle in Vietnam was moving. Just a fantastic performance from Thompson.


COUNTRY FIRST

 

did you know mccain was a pow.

anyway, bush said something about the hateful left or something, that was about the only highlight I gleaned from his speech

 

Is there more to John McCain than his POW experiences? I'd honestly really like to know because that's all I ever hear from his campaign. That's all Thompson seemed to fall back on....will agree that he energized the delegates...but outside republican circles was the speech effective?