Republican National Convention
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
September 4th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Jerry,
You looked great on Tuesday evening. Thank you for your service to our Country. Sarah Palin hit a home run. Keep up the good work.
Aloha,
Keahi
September 4th, 2008 at 10:13 am
The speeches last evening were outstanding. Governor Lingle called the Obama/Biden on their nonsense and the news media on their bias. What Campbell Brown did the other night was vicious, she needs a rabies shot along with her buddies Matthews and Herr Oberrmann. I think the McCain/Palin ticket is a winner, I know it is uphill in Hawaii with all the government unions but the country is a lot smarter than that so I have high hopes for the US.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Great speeches. Loved the tribute to the vets. gov lingle was a hit. “Rudy” was very funny. Gov. Palin was a knockout and I think she can knock out old “lunchbucket” joe biden. Very vibrabt speech and called both Obama and his guy on their nonsense. No experience is Obama not Palin.