Tag: RNC Convention

Via The Page: A National Journal poll of Republican "political insiders" finds Mitt Romney is the clear favorite for the GOP nomination -- in 2012. The poll comes with a big hypothetical: if McCain loses the election. Still, looks like Romney has won over the organizers and fundraisers he'll need to start running the day after election day.

How closely did Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican choice for vice president, stick to the facts Wednesday night when she spoke at the Republican National Convention?

To the dismay of Democrats nationwide, Sarah Palin delivered a great speech. A political unknown five days ago, Palin accepted the Republican nomination for vice president by talking about her values and her reputation, and by defining the official image she wants to portray throughout the campaign. The question is will it work?

Four years ago in Boston I staffed Joe Lieberman backstage at the Democratic National Convention. Unfortunately, last night some Republican did. I believed then and still believe today that Lieberman is a good man, and I respect him for doing what he felt was right regardless of the political consequences. He’s dead wrong about John McCain and Barack Obama, but I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of left-wing Democrats for Lieberman’s decision to speak at this year’s Republican convention.

Read more of Jeff's commentaries: • Oh, the tangled webs we weave • DNC protests fall flat • Congratulations Colorado • Palins supports teaching creationism in schools • Who the heck is Sarah Palin?

The John McCain campaign has gone to great lengths to sever its previously friendly (some might say overly-friendly) relations with the press since the surprise announcement Aug. 29 that virtually-unknown Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would be his running mate. To conservatives, the ensuing media firestorm serves as an all-too-convenient dogwhistle to callre-ignite its culture war troops to battlearms against the so-called liberal media thus lowering expectations for the gaffe-prone McCain and the untested Palin.

Former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and close John McCain ally Mike Murphy were caught in an off-air but open mike conversation with MSNBC political analyst Chuck Todd just hours ago criticizing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's lack of experience and the "gimmick" of having a woman on the ticket. Noonan, who carries considerable weight in GOP circles, is clearly heard to say "it's over" with respect to the Republican presidential race. Read the rough transcript below the fold.

Colorado's Attorney General John Suthers, along with Republican National Convention delegates Rep. Kent Lambert, El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink and El Paso County Commissioner Wayne Williams are sending dispatches to the Colorado Springs Gazette on their birds-eye views from the convention floor in St. Paul — including reports of how the swing state of Colorado is proving to be a big hit.

A lot has changed since the tumultuous conventions of 1968. Maverick journalists Dan Rather and Jim Lehrer lament the old days when political conventions were spontaneous and less immune to corporate influence. Both are searching for substance behind the spectacle.

The Department of Homeland Security is providing a boost to local intelligence operations during political conventions, sending in federal reinforcements to state “fusion” centers for on site support and communications with department headquarters in Washington D.C.

John McCain's convention gambit is now a culture war strategy. It depends for its execution on conflict with journalists, and with bloggers (the "angry left," Bush called them last night) along with confusion between and among the press, the blogosphere, and the Democratic party. It revives cultural memory: the resentment narrative after Chicago '68 but with the angry left more distributed. It dispenses with issues and seeks a trial of personalities. It bets big time on backlash.