GOP convention

Something seems rotten in the city of Rochester. Some GOPers left pretty queasy from their get-together at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, and it wasn't just because the leadership awkwardly tried to seal off the Ron Paul faction from all influence over the party. Something else turned stomachs, and over here at PIM we're concerned that it wasn't just bombastic rhetoric and gridlock.

The water at the Convention Center does not taste right, and the Center posted big signs demanding that attendees could not bring in outside food. The staff was quite polite, but the concession stand at the corner of the vendor's auditorium offered some decidedly questionable burgers and sandwiches. (The coffee is comically expensive, as well.) By the second day of the GOP convention, some on the PIM team were feeling pretty whipped, and honestly it felt a lot like food poisoning. We have heard of at least one attendee who has been sick for a couple days.

There's a long history of convention centers catching disease in one way or another. Legionnaire's Disease was first identified in a major outbreak at a Philadelphia American Legion conference in 1976. While perhaps this was a result of burgers left on a lukewarm serving tray all day, we're advising gastronomical caution for the Democratic Party this year.

Famed presidential advisor and busy Fox News personality Karl Rove wrapped up the GOP convention with a pretty typical, stem-winder speech, touching upon all the classic talking points that are sure to be floated in the fall campaign. Sticking with a generally optimistic tack, Rove focused on U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and advised the Republican delegates to "speak boldly, plainly and clearly," and concluded that they all must speak with undecided voters to achieve a GOP victory in November. America wants to hear "a bold and optimistic agenda for the future," he said.

Rod Tietz, a convention delegate from New Prague, heard Rove speak for the first time. He said Rove outlined the party's opposition to the Democratic candidate Obama.

"I thought he was very energizing and motivating," Tietz said.

Rove warmed up the audience by pointing out that even though he is a small-town Texan, he's also a Norwegian, and he's got some Oles in his family. He dropped in the oft-repeated joke about Norwegians, saying he almost told his wive that he lvoed her; to which she replied, "Don't you dare."

Explaining he was a "geography nut," Rove joked that he was surprised that the party in the state of 10,000 lakes had chosen the only county in the state that doesn't have a natural body of water.

Entering the buzzword phase of the speech, Rove said that the GOP platform was about prosperity, low taxes, pro-growth policies, free enterprise and a minimum of interference from government, while helping people invest their own money rather than letting the government spend it. Small businesses, innovation, competition and free trade will make America successful, he said.

He quickly turned to criticizing Democrats, especially Sen. Obama's presidential candidacy. The Dems want to raise taxes and increase spending by more than $600 billion in the next four years, Rove claimed.

Perhaps significantly, Rove never even mentioned U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. He also never mentioned former-president husband Bill Clinton.

GOP National Committeeman Brian Sullivan made an interesting move this morning: He ran a booth offering free coffee and juice to delegates as they entered the convention hall.

No signs were displayed, the coffee and juice were "compliments of Brian Sullivan."

Such a move usually signals "aspiring candidate." Wouldn't be surprised.

The 2002 GOP endorsement contest between Sullivan and Tim Pawlenty was long, hard, bitter and downright nasty. Most people assumed Sullivan would win. He didn't, but in the ensuing years Sullivan has been gracious about the loss and a terrific defender of Pawlenty in Minnesota public squares like the Almanac couch.

If Sullivan runs for Governor in 2010, he begins the race as a strong front-runner. Such a race assumes that Pawlenty doesn't run for a third term or that he's comfortably ensconsed in Number One Observatory Circle.

I asked Sullivan about the beverage swag. He smiled and noted he's running for reelection as National Committeeman. That's true but he's running unopposed. Sullivan responded, "Well, then I'm just a nice guy."

Nice guy? Yes. Future candidate? Probably.

It's been a tough convention for the legions of Ron Paul supporters, who have mostly gotten outvoted and shut down. However, they did manage to get Barb Davis White from their list elected yesterday. (Tom Conlon and Dan Williams also got elected, despite not being on the official slate.)

How did the GOP establishment effectively blunt the impact of these newcomers yesterday? Ballot design, evidently. On the national delegate ballot, state delegates were selected among 14 choices out of 26 offered, and they had to select a total of 14 in order for their ballot to be accepted. Effectively, this meant that the most anti-establishment delegates had no choice but to vote for several on the official list.

Subsequently, as a Paul supporter bitterly put it, only one of their alternates was on the ballot. There were only 18 choices on that ballot, a harsh situation. Many Paul backers refused to vote altogether.

This was a result of decisions on the nominating committee; the committee also required candidates to appear in Rochester before them, though Gov. Pawlenty and U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman were permitted to phone it in.

Currently, the Paul supporters have just defeated a motion to call the convention to a close. This has been a rare break from generally disappointing results. They're grilling former Rochester House member Fran Bradley over what's happened, and there have been many catcalls from the floor. Many want to address changes to the party constitution.
In a tangentially related development, nearly a dozen protesters have gathered at the convention center entrance to demand a new investigation into the September 11th terrorist attacks. As is widely known, there's quite an overlap among 9/11 protesters and Paul supporters.

Karl Rove is in the building, and on his way in, he asked one tired reporter how he's doing. That'll be the last big event at the convention, it seems.

As candidates and party officials spoke Saturday morning at the Minnesota Republican Party's convention in Rochester, the issue of drilling for oil in the U.S. roused the delegates to their feet.

Ed Matthews, who is challenging DFL U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum in Minnesota's 4th Congressional District, drew a standing ovation at the convention when he called for drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska among other places.

"We will drill in ANWR and the Gulf of Mexico," Matthews said.

Clinton Gerner of St. Paul was one of the delegates who rose to his feet during Matthews speech. After the speech, Gerner said he wants the country to reduce its use of foreign oil.

"Energy prices and the amount of money going out of the country on foreign oil are astronomical," Gerner said.

With gasoline prices rising above $3.80 per gallon at the pump, delegates were enthusiastic as pols talked tough on oil.

But taking oil from the Alaskan wilderness was a thorny issue for U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman. Coleman, whose reelection bid was endorsed by the convention delegates on Friday, pledged during his first Senate campaign in 2002 not to support drilling in ANWR. Environmental groups have closely followed Coleman's committment to his pledge on ANWR.

Despite the popularity of drilling in ANWR among Republican convention delegates, Coleman said he didn't plan to waiver from his pledge.

"I stand by that," said Coleman of his pledge.

Gerner said he hopes Coleman changes his mind in light of the current price of oil.

"When situations change, you have to realize that you have to change with it," Gerner said.

Tim Pawlenty gives a good speech.

And he did so again on the early side of Saturday morning in Rochester to a not-quite-filled convention hall to a half-asleep audience of state Republican Party delegates and officials mostly awakened by the second-term GOP governor’s talk filled with encouragement, hope and optimism.

Introduced as the “shining star” and “saving salvation” of the Republican Party in Minnesota, Pawlenty took the stage, approached the microphone and brandished for the GOP faithful his frequent speech prop, a pen – what Pawlenty calls his veto pen. (I wonder if the pen he raised today is the same pen he actually does sign vetoes with. Is it the same pen I’ve seen him raise in numerous speeches?)

“I’ve brought my friend,” Pawlenty told the crowd, which applauded.

Expressing a hope that the GOP regains the majority in the Legislature, Pawlenty said that “in the meantime, I’ve strapped on the political goalie equipment” in order to stop bad bills. He went on to say that, as folks may have noticed in the newspaper yesterday, he was “proud" to be the single-year record-holder for number of vetoes issued by a Minnesota governor.

But, then, jumping into his hopeful mode, Pawlenty told the delegates and GOP officials, the Republican Party can’t be just “the party that says ‘no.’ … We need to be the party of good ideas. … We have some work to do in that regard.”

Using a tried-and-true GOP approach, Pawlenty urged the party faithful “to go back to the playbook of Ronald Reagan.”

Saying the country is “facing a lot of challenges” and more than a few “bumps in the road,” Pawlenty suggested that the GOP look back to the leadership of Reagan “who was hopeful and optimistic and decent.”

Pawlenty told the crowd that he wanted hope and optimism to be “the tone and tenor of our party.”

The governor invoked his mother, who, he said, used to tell her kids that “gratitude opens the door to more blessings.”

The country may be facing many challenges, he said, but “We are the greatest and most prosperous nation in the history of the world. … Let’s be thankful for what we’ve got.”

Pawlenty then took a few moments to thank and praise Ron Carey, head of the state Republican Party, which Carey obviously appreciated, as on the giant video screen flanking the podium he could be seen apparently wiping away a tear.

The governor then addressed where the party is and where it’s headed. “We are the party of the marketplace … and right now more people choosing the products and services of our competitors.”

Pawlenty challenged the state GOP – and, by extension, Republicans nationally (keep in mind he’s keeping the national scene in mind as an oft-mentioned candidate to become John McCain’s VEEP on the GOP presidential ticket this fall) – to do a better job of getting their core message out to the people – Reagan Democrats, in particular.

“What can we do better? The marketplace is telling us we aren’t doing a good enough job. … We have a higher burden to get our message out.”

Pawlenty invoked his family again, talking about his brothers and sisters, all Reagan Democrats. (He joked how he was the only Republican in his “family of origin.”) Using his siblings as examples of centrist Democrats, Pawlenty said they are exactly the audience Republicans should be targeting.

“We are not doing as good a job of translating our core values to people like my family, and we need to do that.”

Of course, Pawlenty stressed to applause, “No matter what our differences as a party, that’s nothing compared to what will happen if Barack Obama becomes president.”

As rumors swirl around Pawlenty about being on McCain’s VEEP shortlist and the days count down to the national GOP convention, the governor as he closed his relatively brief speech addressed the McCain campaign for president, calling the Arizona senator “my friend.”

Pawlenty repeated a few familiar McCain stories related to his years as a POW in Vietnam and suggested McCain has the best personal story and is the most qualified candidate.

“The best experiences in life are lived. … Don’t listen to the rhetoric – look at the life lived.”

Addressing the concerns many Republicans have about McCain’s conservative credentials, Pawlenty asked the crowd to give the senator a chance.

“As president, [McCain] will win the war on terror, hold the lid on spending and get us a conservative [U.S] Supreme Court – and that’s a pretty good start.”

Pawlenty then thanked the party delegates and officials for their devotion, especially on a beautiful spring morning, and then took off, saying he had to be at a troop deployment in Minneapolis.

Alex Plechash, a delegate from Wayzata and Senate District 33, agreed with Pawlenty that the Republican Party needs to do a better job of reaching out to Reagan Democrats

“I think the governor is right when he says we haven’t done a good job in expressing our message,” Plechash commented on the convention floor. “That’s his challenge to us as a party.”

Former GOP Gov. Al Quie stopped by our booth to chat. He delivered the invocation at the convention this morning. He also delivered his own message to delegates: Lower taxes now means higher taxes somewhere down the line.

Quie is one of my heroes, and not merely a political hero. He went riding yesterday, on a Missouri Fox Trotter. Lest anyone forget, Quie is just a few months shy of his 85th birthday.

Update: Minnesota Lawyer's Mark Cohen details the issue that brought Quie to the convention here.

Did Minnesota play a role in John Roberts' confirmation as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court?

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman thinks so. And apparently so does Roberts.

Coleman told delegates to the state GOP convention Friday afternoon that had he not been elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, Roberts might never have become chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Coleman said that Roberts -- whose nomination as a U.S. district court judge had been held up in Congress -- visited him in his Senate office and thanked him. saying that had he not become the 51st Republican senator, Roberts might never have been elevated to chief justice.

Addressing a convention hall in Rochester that had more than a few empty delegate seats, U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman tried hard Friday to rouse to action a state Republican Party facing tough odds in an election year that most believe strongly favors Democrats.

With huge video screens reflecting back to the crowd Coleman’s image, dominated by preternaturally white teeth, and stressing how he’s spent 32 years in public service, the senator described how much he loves the job he’s had the last six years and wants for six more.

Without naming Al Franken, his probable opponent in this fall’s election, Coleman emphasized his own long public career, and said, “People don’t want an ideologue or a divider,” they want someone who can get things done. Coleman then outlined some of his accomplishments.

He talked about helping farmers around Lake Bronson in northwest Minnesota get help after devastating floods a few years ago.

“The best ideas don’t come from the Capitol in Washington, but from regular people” like the Lake Bronson farmers.

But Coleman saved the biggest moment for Wyatt Rech, 6, of Montgomery, a little boy battling a rare form of childhood cancer – a Wilms tumor on his kidney.

Holding the boy in his arms, Coleman talked about introducing his Conquering Childhood Cancer Bill, which “has a long way to go to become law.”

But he praised Wyatt and his parents for being crusaders in finding ways to cure childhood cancer.

“Thank Wyatt and his family for their passionate public service,” Coleman urged the applauding crowd.

Coleman went on to say that Americans and Minnesotans are looking for “problem-solvers and not angry sloganeers” – another not-so-veiled reference to Franken.

The senator talked about how Republicans need “to re-establish” their bond with the American people. He quoted Winston Churchill, who told the British people, “When you are going through hell, keep going.”

He urged Republicans to “be straight” with the American people. “We’ve violated the fiscal discipline” that is supposed to be the hallmark of Republicans.

Coleman mentioned the war in Iraq. Trying to distance himself a bit from President Bush, Coleman said, almost defensively, to a few catcalls, “We stuck with a flawed strategy for too long … we failed to see the insurgency coming.”

But he then praised the more recent success of Bush’s surge strategy, describing how he took a walk a few months ago in Falluja without body armor.

“Minnesotans want to see our troops brought home safely without sacrificing” gains made in the war on terror, Coleman said.

In the closing part of his speech, Coleman, the former Democrat, urged his now-fellow Republicans to do “a better job” of emphasizing the “core conservative Republican” values of individual rights, free enterprise, no taxes, protecting life “from conception to natural death” and supporting traditional marriage.

Coleman, 58, delivered a message to DFLers: “Keep your hands out of our pockets.” The crowd applauded.

He outlined his “eight-point action plan.” With the help of Republicans, and, presumably, Norm Coleman, the senator said America must:

1. Grow jobs by cutting taxes.
2. Cut wasteful Washington spending.
3. End our addiction to foreign oil. (He got big applause for this one.)
4. Develop a program for providing health care to more Americans … “without bureaucrats coming between doctors and families.”
5. Win the global economic competition.
6. Protect the environment.
7. Secure our borders.
8. Find peace through strength.

Then Coleman closed with his oft-used illusion to the sun rising in America, echoing Ronald Reagan.

“Some may believe that the sun is not rising in America, but not me and not you – we believe that hope and confidence and optimism ” are the DNA of America.

As Coleman’s speech ended and the crowd stood and applauded, the Chicago song “Feeling Stronger Every Day” began playing.

Less than a half-hour after Sen. Norm Coleman finished his speech Friday afternoon, the skies darkened outside and half-inch hail began pummeling the Mayo Civic Center. Loudly.

Even in the depths of the building, the drumming of hail and rain on the building made conversation difficult.

"I hope this isn't an omen," muttered a delegate, standing at the front doors of the civic center watching the deluge.

As U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman ended his speech Friday afternoon, the chorus of Chicago's "Feeling Stronger Every Day" soared through the crowd.

A delegate sitting at the back of the auditorium sang along to the lyrics, then leaned over and addressed former Gov. Al Quie, who listened to Coleman's speech from the back row of the guest section.

"It's a good thing this campaign in 2008 can use this music from the '70s," he said.

Many, many trees are forced to sacrifice their lives in advance of a political convention. Any political convention.

The piles of paper on the Republican convention floor by midday Friday were approaching "inadvertent avalanche" level, and anyone who was looking for entertaining reading material had only to pick up a pile and start paging through it.

Most of the handouts were soliciting votes for would-be Republican national convention delegates and alternates. Some excerpts:

A flyer distributed by Greg OConnor, seeking election as a delegate, included a photo of a beaming OConnor shaking hands with Oliver North. (Rumor has it that OConnor sought a captive audience by pasting copies of the flyer above the urinals in at least one men's room at the civic center, but it could not be independently confirmed because of a slight gender issue.)

Twila Brase, a registered nurse who was seeking a delegate spot, provided a list of qualifications that included positions held within the Republican Party, "legislative successes," "conservative principles" -- and three YouTube videos, all dealing with "baby DNA."

The flyer with the fewest words included a photo of a white-haired gentleman posing beside a car topped with a canoe plastered with John McCain stickers. "Elect McCain president," the flyer advised. "Elect Oliver alternate."

Barb Davis White put herself in distinguished company on her flyer, which included her color mug shot at the top, flanked by black-and-white photos of Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater. (The theme of returning the GOP to Reagan-Goldwater principles was much ballyhooed on Friday.)

Tom Conlon distributed not only a flyer but a four-page tabloid newspaper outlining his qualifications for delegate. His was the only literature that included a candidate's baby picture.

As Minnesota Republicans prepared Friday afternoon to endorse U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's reelection bid, Coleman's detractors were making their presence known outside the convention.

Denise Cardinal, executive director of St. Paul-based Alliance for a Better Minnesota, announced her organization's new blog that attempts to link Coleman's voting record in the Senate to President Bush. The blog, www.bushbuddy.org, aims to "remind Minnesotans of Norm's consistent support for the Bush agenda," Cardinal said.

Volunteers and staffers from the Minnesota DFL Party also made an appearance in front of the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, the site of the GOP convention. They held satirical signs thanking Coleman for supporting special interests. The mock letter was signed "Big oil, big pharma, big banks."

Photo: Bill Klotz

The Republican delegates just spent about 20 minutes voting for 14 slots at the Republican National Convention. This vote is where the Ron Paul campaign has placed the most focus.

Moments ago, speeches from the proposed delegates concluded. Marianne Stebbins, a leader of the state Paul campaign, explained why their people came out today. She says that the party has strayed from its core principles of limited government. They're hoping to recreate the 1964 Goldwater movement, as she put it. Goldwater "won the party back," laying the conservative foundation for decades to come. She also objected to how all their candidates were not going to be allowed to speak.

The party establishment is basically represented by the "Minnesota Conservative Delegate Team" effort, featuring plenty of signs and glossy pamphlets, a group formally put together for the convention but not a part of the party. That slate consists of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Tony Sutton, Diane Johnson, Herry Paar, Brandon Sawalich, Ron Schutz, Michael Brodkorb, U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, Chris Jacobson, Carleton Crawford, Midge Dean, Pat Anderson and House Minority Leader Marty Seifert. The Team also sent out a few anti-Paul mailings to delegates recently.

Former State Auditor Pat Anderson is prominently featured on one of the large Minnesota Conservative Delegate Team banners, which are hung from the ceiling, flanking both ends of the front of the convention center. However, we heard from one of the Paul people that she's also supported by them, as well. According to our source, Anderson was not happy with GOP Party chair Ron Carey's recent emailed statements about their movement, and went to the Paul campaign's in-state leadership with an olive branch.

The counterpart is to the established list is the Conservative Conscience Coalition, who distributed pamphlets on the floor. Their national delegate candidates were GOP-endorsed CD5 congressional candidate Barb Davis White, Marianne Stebbins, Twila Brase, Ken Lucier, Tom Conlon, Rudy Takala, Craig Bishop, Rick Weible, Peter Gerads, Tom Gieble, Greg O'Connor, Tim Kinley, Dave Mathias, and... Pat Anderson. The pamphlet was paid for by the slate, including Anderson.

Initially, we heard that Ron Paul signs were forbidden within the arena, but within about 90 minutes of the convention getting underway, oversized Paul signs got placed alongside the others.

In remarks in the press area, GOP party chairman Ron Carey said that he appreciated the Paul people showing up, but that it was clear they hadn't been able to delay or dramatically alter the convention's course, because they didn't have the numbers. That must have been a relief for Carey, since party conventions in states like Nevada have gone quite differently.

Earlier, from the floor, grassroots Paul delegates raised objections over convention "Rule 7," which specifies that anonymous handouts, such as the ones attacking Paul, cannot be distributed on the floor. However, the Paul faction lacked enough votes to seriously affect the setting of the convention rules, or forcing resolution in their favor.

Whether or not they win national delegates will be determined by the voting which just concluded.

Our Saint Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report/Politics in Minnesota table outside the Taylor Arena, where the actual convention is taking place, happens to be next to the table for the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. The prez of that conservative group, Phil Krinkie, is a former legislator and a columnist for us. Krinkie and his folks, Mark Giga and Sara Linert, are happily passing out – hot off the press, so to speak – their 2008 Legislative Scorecard, “A Guide to Minnesota Lawmakers’ Votes on Taxes and Spending.”

The league has “scored” every legislator based on how they voted in 11 bills in both the House and Senate. Giga, director of outreach, says the average number of winners in the 12 scorecards the group has done is about 10 – this was a pretty tough year. That’s because the votes scored included both bonding bills and the cap-and-trade bill and the hotly contested transportation bill that passed over Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto (according to today’s issue of Capitol Report, this year Pawlenty lodged the most vetoes on record for a governor, or at least since 1939, as far as the state’s records go back on tallying vetoes). Not shockingly, all 8 winners are Republicans. They are Rep. Bruce Anderson, R-Buffalo Township; Rep. Mark Buesgens, R-Jordan; Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano; Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar; Rep. Mark Olson, R-Big Lake; Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie; Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove; and Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen. This is Anderson’s 8th award. And legislators do care about this award – so far, two have come by to see how they did. One, Hann, was a winner (for the 4th time) and pleased to be (notice the photo); the other, Sen. Betsy Wergin, R-Princeton, was not and was a little chagrined not to be. She suggested it was a tough year to score 100 percent.


Sen. David Hann with Taxpayers League's Phil Krinkie