Whitehouse on the Road: The Republican National Convention, Day 3

Palin 'knocks it out of the park,' a handful of local Republicans share their excitement, and more...

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

Update 12:00 a.m. CST - If Republicans wanted another night of red-meat speeches, they got it in spades.

Between former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, no quarter was given to their Democratic opponents.

Each with their own style, the Republican speakers both praised the candidacy of John McCain and at times mocked the experience of their opponents.

Nothing they said, though, could overshadow what was the most anticipated speech of the convention, from Alaskan Governor and VP candidate Sarah Palin.

Palin did not fall short, tearing her way into her Democratic opposition, she asked the charged audience, "What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Hockey moms wear lipstick."

She then proved her point by going after Sen. Barack Obama on point after point, contrasting McCain's military service to Obama's community service and her experience as a mayor and governor versus the careers of the Obama-Biden ticket.

In short, Palin did not disappoint the Republican faithful in the room.

After finishing her speech, and as her family joined her on stage, McCain made his first appearance on the stage of the Xcel Center, causing the crowd to raise their voices even higher. "Don't you think we made the right choice?" he asked to thunderous applause.

Count House Minority Leader Jason Mumpower among those impressed. Mumpower said, "Everything that Palin said showed that the she is the right person for the job. I am terribly excited, and I know that she is the right person to be vice president of the United States."

Sen. Bob Corker told me, "Like many Tennesseans, the more I see of Sarah Palin, the more I like her. She absolutely knocked it out of the park tonight – exceeding all of the very high expectations set for her."

State Sen. Mark Norris succinctly said, "Palin was poetry in motion. And what people heard was the wisdom of the 'everywoman.'"

Tomorrow night ends the show. McCain will formally accept his party's nomination and then both parties truly embark on their road shows.

I'll be back tomorrow for the final day. Until then.

Update 6:23 p.m. CST - While every here is anxiously awaiting tonight's remarks from vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, I got the opportunity to have a one-on-one chat with libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr.

Barr told me that, as the race continues, he will "be focusing on states where [his] numbers are the strongest." Those states, he told me, are "Tennessee, Georgia, New Hampshire, Colorado, Nevada, and more."

Asked about his post-convention plans, Barr said he will be going "back and forth to Washington trying to raise money. My goal is to get into the debates."

Speaking about the Palin pick for VP, Barr offered that "McCain is still at the top of the ticket, no matter what. And that means big government." He continued saying that "he is still the McCain of the McCain-Feingold bill." For the uninitiated, that bill is one that regulates campaign finance and is particularly despised by pols like Barr.

He then moved back to the subject of Sarah Palin, telling me that her selection does raise questions "because of her lack of experience, and McCain's age."

I closed our conversation asking him how it was to be here with so many former colleagues and party members. To that, he responded, "they are all still good friends." He went on to list some of his "good friends" he had seen, like J.C. Watts and Saxby Chambliss. He finished by noting that "we may have a difference of opinion, but we are all still good friends."

So now it's back to waiting.

I will recap, however, for those of you keeping score at home, the people who WILL talk to you at the Republican National Convention: Presidential candidate Bob Barr, actors Jon Voight and Kevin Farley (brother of the late Chris Farley), who is appearing in an upcoming spoof of Michael Moore documentaries, Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball, and Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker. The people who won't talk to you: John Rich.

I will post again after the Palin speech. Until then...

Update: 3:30 p.m. CST - Right out of the scene in the Coen brothers’ ‘O Brother Where Art Thou,’ I just got snubbed.

I happened by the stage where I saw my fellow Nashvillians Gretchen Wilson, John Rich and Cowboy Troy, on stage rehearsing their spin on the National Anthem. More on that in a second.

After rehearsals finished up, I tried to slide over and ask Rich a couple of questions only to be stopped in my tracks by his publicist, who informed me that they had no time for local media today. Before Rich was shuffled off to interviews with Access Hollywood and the  Tonight Show, I was informed that maybe there would be some time for me tomorrow.

Currently, Rich is on stage with Cowboy Troy, Mo Rocca and a pair of buxom beauties playing some sort of game show. So, what can you do?

Now, back to the anthem. All I need to do here is give you the setup and I’ll let your imagination do the rest. Gretchen Wilson singing lead with John Rich on back-up and Cowboy Troy interjecting excerpts from the Pledge of Allegiance and Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I have a dream’ speech. Should be interesting.

More to come later.

Update 11:45 a.m. CST - I just stepped out of one of the most interesting events I have attended in the last two weeks.

At The National Journal’s daily policy briefing, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report were on stage conversing with Sen. Lamar Alexander and Oklahoma congressman Tom Cole about the current election cycle.

I have to say it made for one of the most forthright and BS-bereft conversations I have seen at these conventions. It was like politics unplugged. Even better was the fact that it was being taped by C-SPAN and broadcast live and will surely be rebroadcast soon. If you get a chance, check it out.

Before the cameras were switched on, however, Matthews noted for those in attendance the differences he has seen these past two weeks working back-to-back conventions. Specifically, he noted the cultural differences between the two parties.

“It's like Haiti and the Dominican Republic; same island, but everything’s different,” he quipped. “And in both cases, one side plays more golf.”

Speaking of the conventions, Matthews also expressed some reservations about Joe Lieberman’s decision to speak here, saying “people don’t like turncoats.” He opined that the Connecticut senator would likely go the way of Zell Miller. Finishing his remarks on the matter, he said simply, “I like loyalty.”

Another interesting point on Lieberman has been the shift evident today in the way he is identified. I noted yesterday that it was interesting that he was continually referred to as a Democrat in the lead up to his speech. Today, however, he has been referred to across the board as an independent. It’s a subtle thing, but just strikes me as an interesting tidbit.

Asked about Fred Thompson’s speech last night, Alexander said he was “glad to see the real Fred Thompson again,” adding that “he’s a winner who showed that again last night.”

On the current election cycle, Alexander pointed out that he is primarily tied up with the senate races but, given the way both Obama and McCain are running, he is confident about his party’s chances in those contests.

One of the strongest quotes came when the subject of the senate races was first broached. Alexander reminded Cook that he was a candidate in one of those, to which Cook replied, “Just barely.” Cook then went on to say, “it terrifies me to think of what you would have to do to lose this election.”

The subject then turned to the presidential race. On that issue, Alexander opined that, since George W. Bush will not be in the White House next term, real political change is coming regardless. And in that vein, he said that by continuing to run against Bush, Democrats are running a 2006 campaign.

Again, if you catch this conversation on C-SPAN, I would highly recommend sitting down for a few minutes.
 

8:30 a.m. CST - At breakfast this morning with the combined Tennessee and Alaska delegations, our featured speakers were U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander and Mike Huckabee.

Both men, as have all the speakers who have stepped to the podium this week, took the opportunity to heap praise on veep nominee Sarah Palin.

Palin, who is scheduled to speak this evening, has the convention whipped up with anticipation as tonight will really be her coming out party to the… er, party.

Anyway, Huckabee, during his remarks once again proved why he did so well in the Republican primary, even winning Tennessee. He praised practically every elected official in the room by name with a story about each one to boot. That is nothing short of impressive.

Turning to the upcoming election, he said it made him proud to be American that an African-American has been picked to lead a ticket “not because of his race, not in spite of his race. People were indifferent to his race.”

With that having been said he moved on to say, however, that McCain was still the better man for the job.

In tow with the former Arkansas governor was another huckabuddy with Tennessee roots: Former head of the Tennessee Republican Party Chip Saltsman, who served as Huckabee’s campaign manager.

After leaving breakfast, I am headed over to the National Journal’s daily policy briefing. Today’s hosts, Hardball’s Chris Matthews and Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report, will be asking questions of our own Lamar Alexander.

Check back for updates.