St Paul, Minn.
Sept. 3, 2008

Home Run! Grand Slam! Olympic Gold!

You name it with any superlative you please; that was Sarah Palin’s speech on the jumpin’ rumblin’ convention floor Wedbesday night as she held convention delegates in the palm of her hand. And I’d bet she kept millions of TV viewers equally on board with her humor and one line zingers (Democratic VP candidate, Joe Biden, just used the same word on a Fox interview as I write this!) interspersed with longer comments on her real-life governing experience.

For us delegates, by the end of the evening we were really wrung out. Then we came back to the hotel and stayed up until 2 a.m. in the lobby watching reruns of her political debut. Early reports indicate her TV rating exceeded the finale of “American Idol”; how appropriate! All in all, with speeches by Mitt Romney, Rudy Giulani, and Mike Huckabee, the crescendo is building for tonight’s acceptance speech by John McCain.

We are finally getting the hang of the complex logistics here in getting to and from our hotels to the Xcel Center in St Paul. Our Hawaii delegation is in the Embassy Suites in Bloomington, about a half hour drive from the site. The security barricades and check points make it tricky to drive as opposed to taking one of the dozens of huge efficient shuttle buses. But driving provides more flexibility to take in pre- and post-convention session special events.

Downtown St Paul looks like an occupied city with an army of riot control police throughout, all dressed in riot pads and helmets. There are demonstrators against everything. One of our delegates asked one what they were demonstrating against and the answer was, “We dunno, they haven’t told us yet!”

So until the wrap up tomorrow, Aloha!

-Jerry Coffee

By Jerry Coffee

Tuesday, Sept. 2:

Just returned from a rousing second evening of our Republican National Convention, an evening which was as lively and exciting as the first night would have normally been had it not been for the decision to respectfully refrain from celebration while some of our countrymen were suffering from the ravages of Hurricane Gustav. But we made up for all that tonight.

President Bush spoke of his high esteem for John McCain in spite of the fact they may not always agree; but then who does always agree with him? And former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, were honored as well.

Laura Bush introduced Cindy McCain who did not take the stage. Then the father of the Bangladeshi Child Cindy brought home with her own adopted daughter spoke to the generous and open hearts of the McCains–hard to deny when that story is simply taken at face value.

Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee gave a biographical summary of John McCain “the man,”concluding that his entire life had been dedicated to the service of his country.

Sen. Joe Leiberman appealed to America’s Democrats and Independents to consider the perilous times in which we live, and the importance of having the depth and wisdom of years of experience.

And a personal highlight was sitting in the VIP box for part of the evening with a couple dozen of my ‘ol jailbird comrades from Vietnam POW days (representing nearly 300 years of prison time), and being honored–along with five Medal of Honor recipients–by several minutes of standing applause by the 24,000 or so delegates.

The tribute was emceed by Orson Swindle, past POW, Hawaii resident, Federal Trade Commisioner and now McCain campaign consultant and speaker.

For the convention delegates the days are chock-a-block with meetings, events, press conferences, interviews, and surrogate speeches in support of McCain, and then the actual convention sessions from around six to ten in the evening. Sleep is at a premium. If tonight’s momentum is any indication, the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul will explode  with enthusiasm and commitment to elect Sen. John McCain after his acceptance speech Thursday night.

Aloha from the Twin Cities of Minnisota.
Jerry Coffee

By Jerry Coffee

Minneapolis, Sept. 1, 2008:

Well the somewhat abbreviated 2008 Republican National Convention was called to order at 2:30 p.m. today. In spite of the fact that, in deference to the Gulf Coast crisis caused by Hurricane Gustav, only official business was conducted today, the spirit of the conventioneers was undaunted.

Your Hawaii delegation was easy to spot with matching red and white aloha shirts and anthuriums twining ’round the “Hawaii” sign post marking our section. The upper perimeter of the Xcel Energy Center arena was decorated with the repeating theme, “COUNTRY FIRST” and indeed, in accordance with Sen. John McCain’s request, that was also the theme of the proceedings; today we took off our “Republican” hats and put on our “America” hats. The four Governors of the effected Gulf states sent video messages of greetings and thanks for our concern and prayers for their safety.

As a “surrogate” speaker in support of Sen. McCain I spoke to the 300+ California delegation during their breakfast session. I followed the remarks of former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and past California Gov. Gray Davis. Then a hectic drive from the delegation’s hotel 20 miles south of Minneapolis all the way to St. Paul (the Twin Cities) to speak to the Nevada/Guam delegations at their luncheon. But the security around the Xcel Center in St Paul was so strict with barricades and anti-demonstrator police squads and ranks of motley (you had to see them) demonstrators themselves I had to probe several different routes to finally get to the delegation’s hotel. I arrived with only 20 minutes to spare and was surprised that Gov. Linda Lingle was also speaking to them. It was a very busy day considering the convention itself was low key.

“Low key,” that is, until the last half hour when our first lady, Laura Bush, made a surprise entrance for some gracious remarks and then a surprise introduction of Cindy McCain our “aspiring” First Lady. The two of them encouraged our commitment to our fellow Americans in need on the gulf coast, describing several vehicles to donate, all set up by the GOP.

Since the next three days will be “played by ear,” depending on Gustav’s toll, we won’t know tomorrow’s schedule until our delegation meeting Tuesday morning.

“Country First”

Aloha!
Jerry Coffee

By Jerry Coffee

Sunday night, Aug. 31

The pre-convention week here in Minneapolis included various committee responsibilities for some of Hawaii’s delegates; Adrienne King served on the Platform Committee, Travis Thompson of Maui and Susan Page contributed to the final draft of the Rules Committee, and Barbara Marumoto and myself arbitrated issues on the Credentials Committee. All the final committee proposals will be introduced for ratification during the first session of the convention Monday.

In accordance with election law, this business must be conducted early in the convention so that all legal requirements for the final nomination of Sen. John McCain on Thursday for the Presidency of the United States will have been fulfilled.

Unfortunately, the threat of Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf of Mexico and the potential havoc which may be wrought upon the people of the Gulf Coast has resulted in shifting priorities. In spite of elaborate convention plans for business as usual, Sen. McCain has recommended that only necessary business be transacted and that scheduled speakers and entertainment be canceled.

He is particularly sensitive to the impropriety of politics as usual and to instead “open our hearts, our sympathy and and our wallets for the people threatened by this monstrous storm. It’s time for us to take off our ‘political hats’ and put on our ‘American hats’ to show America’s unanimous support for our fellow Americans threatened by Gustav.

The impending storm did not, however, dampen the spirits — for now — of the McCain “Friends and Family” event Sunday evening gathering a dozen or more of Sen. McCain’s ‘ol jailbird friends from his POW days; all gathered to support his nomination this week. Since the senator and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, were on the Gulf Coast to encourage residents there, the senator’s 96-year-old mother,Roberta, was the guest of honor. Her lively reparte throughout the evening exemplifies the “Energizer Bunny” genes which keep the senator going with youthful energy and enthusiasm.

More after the first Convention session.

–
Jerry Coffee reporting from the Twin Cities.