I believe Congressman Marsha Blackburn's speech was second best, even though she was merely acting as Master of Ceremonies for the session and introducing the other speakers. But her delivery was inspired and powerful. I saw a new level of speechifying from Marsha; this effort far exceeded the quality of the other times I've seen her. If she keeps this up she could easily be Senator when Alexander retires.
Here is the text of her speech, although the words cannot possibly convey the real experience:
Welcome to Tennessee, it's great to have you here.You know, someone asked me to sum up my state for y'all, and do it briefly.
And that's when it occurred to me that we Tennesseans really are just a bunch of God-fearin', freedom-lovin', flag-wavin', guitar-pickin', country music-sangin', nascar fans who just believe that if 10% is good enough for God, then it ought to be good enough for the government.
Well, I trust by now you all have checked into your hotels, checked out Beale Street, maybe had a little barbeque -- and now you're ready to be inspired.We'll do our best!
I think between Governor Barbour, J.C. Watts, and Senator McCain -- you're going to walk out of here ready to take on 2006!
I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be here among good, solid conservatives! It's always nice to get out of Washington and get back to the real world.
I'm sure most of my congressional colleagues will agree with me on that.
Up there you're absolutely surrounded by the language of government all the time.
Imagine that for a second. Whew!
Conservatives simply don't appreciate words like entitlement, mandate, and program the way Democrats do.
That's why liberals enjoy being in Washington so much. It's their kind of town.
Ronald Reagan was absolutely right when he said "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
Truer words have rarely been spoken!
That really touches the heart of our philosophy of government though, doesn't it!
Because our view of government is what separates us from liberals.
We think parents know what's best for their kids, not the government.
We believe the person working behind the counter ought to get their paycheck, not the government.
We don't believe government should be promoting the idea that life is a choice.
We don't think encouraging dependency on government spending is a virtue.
And we don't believe our nation’s history as a nation of immigrants is a call to lawlessness. Seal our borders and secure our ports.
You'll never hear us talk about America's military as if it's a distasteful necessity.
We've always known it's a positive force for freedom -- both ours and others.
Everything conservatives do -- our beliefs and our dreams for this country -- are meant to get government off your back and out of your wallet.
I know the main stream media thinks that's overly simplistic.
You see the Washington press corps thinks we oversimplify things, that we're naive.
But freedom, and that's what this is about, isn't a complicated value.
Freedom IS simple.
You know it when you see it -- and we can certainly feel the absence of freedom.
When an American sends their son or daughter to school only to be told prayer is prohibited. We've all lost a bit of our freedom.
When a taxpayer simply gives in to yet another tax increase because they think it's inevitable. We all lost a bit of what our Founders' fought for.
When a small business fails to survive the first generation because America's tax policies and our regulations make it impossible to go on, we're all hurt.
And that's why our Party exists -- to fight the forces whittling away at the freedom that is our birthright.
President Bush and this Congress spend every day working to downsize this government, this enormous government that is a MONUMENT to the Democrats' control of Washington.
It's what a liberal Congress created over 40 years of adding on, and never cutting back.
So when Republicans in Congress talk about our Security Agenda -- When we talk about Economic Security, National Security, Retirement Security, and Moral Security -- we're also talking about government that lives within its means.
And tonight we have three speakers joining us who truly get it.
They understand that our Party's strength is it's willingness to say NO to more spending, to more programs.
And few have been a more vocal advocate for responsible spending than Senator John McCain.
What can I possibly say about Senator McCain -- the story of his life is beyond what even Hollywood could conceive of.
He came from a military family, he fought for his country. And he suffered for his country. He knows the price of freedom firsthand.
Senator McCain has served in the halls of Congress as one of America's most respected and in some cases feared Senators -- I'm told that he's absolutely frightening if you're a member of Congress with your eye on a particular pork barrel spending project!
John and Cindy McCain built a life of honesty and integrity in public service that is an example to every American considering a run for public office. They are a true team.
I have to admit that watching John McCain enter a room is about as close to watching a rock star jump up on stage as you come across in politics.
And tonight, joining Senator McCain tonight is another Republican star.
Former Member of Congress, J.C. Watts, and more importantly as my husband likes to remind me J.C. is the former star quarterback at the University of Oklahoma.
Not only did J.C. call plays on the field, he did so in the House as Republican Conference Chairman from 1998 to 2002 -- the fourth highest ranking member of the House leadership.
J.C. knows how to speak to our hopes. He's passionate about our beliefs, and it shows.
And fortunately for us, J.C. has kept up a high profile speaking out on behalf of our Party and working with the White House to advance American causes abroad.
I know we're all thankful for the years of service J.C. and his wife Frankie have given the Republican Party.
Our first speaker though is Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, who is doing a fantastic job in his state.
And I have expert eyewitness testimony to that -- my mom and dad are his constituents!
Governor Barbour has truly been a GOP hero. He worked in the Reagan White House, he led the Republican National Committee as Chairman when we took back the Congress in 1994, and he has shown that not only can he help others get elected -- he can get himself elected!
Haley is not only rebuilding his state, he led the effort to curtail lawsuit abuse and Mississippi passed a Tort Reform bill.
He put his effort into pro-life legislation and that too has passed.
He is showing Republicans across the country that our issues are winning issues.
That's leadership.
We all appreciate the work Haley and his wife Marsha have been doing on behalf of our Party for so many years.
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, Blackburn, Marsha Blackburn, Congressman Blackburn, Congresswoman Blackburn, Tennessee.
Notes from the speech by Senator Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader from Tennessee:
Mitch McConnell came back out to introduce Frist. He was incredibly complementary of Frist, almost over-the-top. Talked about how he had been a highly-successful, cutting edge heart surgeon, literally holding people's lives in his hands. Then he ran for Senate and in a short time has risen to the top leadership position. He has been at the top of his field in two unrelated professions. Noted that only one person in history became the leader of his Senate colleagues in a shorter time, Lyndon B. Johnson, "and you know where he ended up!"
Frist came out and said that he got involved in politics because he listened to the problems that his patients told him about.
Washington had become a 4-year town focusing on the next election rather than a 20-year town focusing on the next generation!The role of government is to enhance opportunity, not stand in the way.
Judicial nominations: Every nominee deserves a fair up or down vote. He made it clear that he would use the nuclear option on a specific date and now Roberts and Alito are sitting on the highest court in the land. We are one step closer to keeping activist judges from redefining marriage. By the end of Bush's second term, 1 of every 3 federal judges will have been appointed by Bush.
Listed some economic gains stats (minority home ownership is at an all time high, 3 years of record growth, etc.) and said that they will make the tax cuts permanent. Promised that this May the Death Tax will end.
The Republican Party is the party of lower spending. Now that the challenges are over it is time to balance the budget. Called for a line item veto so that there would be no more hidden earmarks and no more Bridges to Nowhere.
We must reform Medicare first — it well go bankrupt fifteen years sooner than Social Security.
They are the Party of No.
They want to be on your backs, on your land and in your wallets. Now they want to be in your doctors office, too. The solution is not Hillary care but an account you can take with you no matter where you go.
He finished up with a story about a boy named Tommy that lost his father during a heroic act, whose mother was forced to take in borders to make ends meet, who was taken under the wing by a doctor, who dreamed of becoming a doctor, who worked his way through medical school and ended up impacting the healthcare of millions. Tommy was Bill's father.
Some comments on the speech: Mitch McConnell was obviously chosen to MC this session because of the build-up that he gave Frist. It was to fire up the crowd and Mitch did a pretty good job, even if it was more than a little obvious.
Frist's speech was flat, nearly uninspired. The crowd was all warmed up and Frist failed to capitalize. At one point he made a dramatic pause in expectation of furious applause from the crowd, which didn't materialize even though it had been packed with Frist fans. The story about his father was well told, he even choked up at the appropriate spot. But anyone who has attended a Frist rally before has heard it. It may play well on the campaign trail outside of Tennessee, but it was a rerun here.
If he doesn't deliver on his promises to make the tax cuts permanent, reduce spending and, this May, eliminate the death tax then he will look very, very bad. But the bottom line, I don't think Frist has the charisma to mount a successful pesidential campaign. On the other hand, I didn't think Bush would play well outside of the midwest and deep south.
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, Frist, Bill Frist, Senator Frist, Tennessee.
Notes from the speech by Representative Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, from Illinois:
Complemented the job that Senator Frist has done.
History will show that Bush provided leadership in trying times.
He is focused on 2006. He will not be satisfied with hanging on to the majority, we must grow the majority.
The other side of aisle talks about a dependent society and "that's a fight I'm willing to fight every day!"
The ''Eastern press" [ed: heh]talks down talks down the economy in spite of how well it is doing.
People ask him what the toughest thing he ever did was. He used to be a teacher, and said the toughest thing he ever tried was teaching economics to 15 year old kids — until he came to Congress and tried to teach some members of Congress the basics of economics.
They cut the capital gains tax to encourage investing in the economy. They helped families by eliminating the marriage penalty and increasing child tax credit.
Said that he and Hillary have a basic difference of philosophy. Told a story about trying to work with her on Hillarycare to illustrate this. Said that people can make decisions for themselves and spend money better than the government.
He said that they were going to make the tax cuts permanent this year. Said that we can actually change how the IRS operates.
Talked about Reagan. Said he confronted our enemy and when he started using the phrase "Evil Empire" everyone called stupid and a cowboy.
Said that we can make a difference, and that more people walk in freedom because of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, Hastert, Dennis Hastert, Representative Hastert, Tennessee.
Notes from the speech by Senator Mitch McConnell, Majority Whip, from Kentucky:
There are only 4 Democrat Senators from the South, and that is 4 too many.
Pointed out where Hillary wants to give ex-cons the vote. Joked that this is so Clinton cronies can vote for her in the next election.
Noted that A&E is going to make a movie about Hillary and they have approached Sharon Stone to play the lead. When he found out, Bill volunteered to play himself.
Went over the economic challenges since 9/11 and noted that the economy is strong. Said that the president had liberated Afghanistan and Iraq and now 33 million people have gone from tyranny to freedom. And most importantly, we haven't been attacked.
George W. Bush is one of the great presidents of our history.[standing ovation]
The Supreme Court nominations:
Will you ever forget the image of Ted Kennedy reading questions one by one to Sam Alito and John Roberts? It was no contest!Talked about stopping the judicial filibuster and how judges like Owens and Brown were approved. Noted that when Alito and Roberts came up for a vote the Democrats couldn't mount a filibuster.
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, McConnell, Mitch McConnell, Senator McConnell, Tennessee.
Nancy French, who said she writes political humor for a living and organized the Romney volunteer effort in Tennessee, told reporters that she and other volunteers had spent three weeks preparing for the Memphis event. “If we had twice that, we could have taken the whole thing,” an exuberant French told reporters.I met Nancy at the convention a few hours ago. I found her to be delightful, sincere and very very pumped about Mitt. And that was before the straw poll results were announced.Asked if she – like Romney – was a Mormon, French said, “No, I’m a Presbyterian. Everybody keeps coming over to me and saying, ‘Way to go, Sister French,’ and I’m – like – ‘thanks.’ I feel like I don’t know what to say.”
She said the Romney campaign had not called her to work on the Memphis event and that she and her husband had organized their own pro-Romney volunteer effort.
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, Mitt Romney, Straw Poll, Hotline, Hotline Straw Poll, Blogs, Tennessee.
Consider this: a Yankee governor from the state that saddled America with Ted Kennedy, with little name recognition, comes to the South and Midwest and wowed everyone to the point where he took second in a straw poll. Further, he bested popular candidates that have high name recognition in the South and Midwest: Arizona Sen. John McCain and Virginia Sen. George Allen.
Impressive.
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, Mitt Romney, Straw Poll, Hotline, Hotline Straw Poll, Tennessee.
| Position | Candidate | Percentage |
| 1 | Bill Frist | 36.9 |
| 2 | Mitt Romney | 14.4 |
| 3 | George Allen | 10.3 |
| 3 | George Bush (write in) | 10.3 |
| 5 | John McCain | 4.6 |
| 6 | Mike Huckabee | 3.8 |
| 7 | Other write ins | 3.0 |
| 8 | George Pataki | 2.7 |
| 9 | Condi Rice (write in) | 2.2 |
| 10 | Sam Brownback | 1.5 |
| 11 | Rudy Giulliani | 1.1 |
| 12 | Newt Gengrich | 0.9 |
| 13 | Chuck Hagel | 0.2 |
A McCain spokesman came into the press room and issued this statement:
We are gratified at the result of a lot of hard work. The leader is focused on '06 and our party is focused on a strong, positive vision for '08.A few observations:
— Eric Ueland, McCain Chief of Staff
Update: The Hotline has released some interesting statistics. Among them, 82% of Frist's votes came from Tennessee delegates with only 97 votes of his 526 votes coming from other states. And while he took 58% of the Tennessee vote, that only shows that he plays well in his home state. Unless my math is very bad, he only took 17% of the 569 non-Tennessee votes. This is the Senate Majority Leader's standing among the party faithful. In one fell swoop the Frist landslide victory is made virtually meaningless, but don't expect the press to mention it.
Update: Mitt Romney also took second in the 2nd choice of Frist voters.
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, Bill Frist, Mitt Romney, George Allen, George W. Bush, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, George Pataki, Condi Rice, Sam Brownback, Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, Chuck Hagel, Straw Poll, Hotline, Hotline Straw Poll, Tennessee.
Acknowledged the debt that Texas owes the hosting state (Tennessee) by saying that there wouldn't be a Texas without Tennessee.
Talked about Reagan and said that we cannot say that all is well with the Republican Party.
Now that we have built a Republican majority, we must build a conservative majority.We must return to our Ronald Reagan roots of controlling spending. It's easy to raise taxes. The editorial boards will call you ''courageous". When talking about cuts, the people who take the money get all the ink, the people who struggle to pay taxes are forgotten.
We must control the border.
We must control entitlements or they will grow until they stifle the economy.
Medicaid will bankrupt every state in the nation. Entitlement reform must be at the top of the agenda .
We must protect our borders. Drug runners and terrorists see the Texas border as an opportunity.
If you are an OTM (other than Mexican) picked up by the border patrol, you are dropped off 100 to 150 miles inland, given a piece of paper with a court date on it and told that you are to show up to so that we can decide whether to deport you or not.
When they do that, they should play the soundtrack from the Southwest commercial: Ding! You are free to more about the country!There should be performance pay for teachers. If you reward excellence the same as mediocrity then mediocrity becomes the standard.
Must give parents choices (vouchers):
Our children deserve better. It's not about getting more money in our education; it's about getting better education for our money — and that is what choice is all about.Ended with:
We need to reclaim our ground and let the Republican Revolution begin again!
The Republican Revolution began in the South. We made more and more gains until we took Congress in 1994 and the White House in 2000, and Republicans have made a difference. Mentioned the war and the economy.
We started winning when we got with the people.Health care must be made affordable and available the Republican way, not with "Hillary Care".
Supports education reform. Said that he has discovered that if we get people an education, they become a Republican.
We can secure our borders.
If we can do those 3 things (health care, education, border security) in the next 6 months then we can take the Senate and House in 2006.
Ended with:
As for me, I'm voting with George W. Bush all to way to 2008!
I was late so I missed the first couple of speakers. Just after I got there Sen. Brownback started speaking and I jotted down some notes:
Talked about Reagan's concept of ''American Exceptionalism". (Why is it that almost every speaker invokes Reagan?)
Said that the party believed in the separation of Church and State but not the removal of Church from State.
The core battle of our time today is to protect the dignity of every person, no matter what their age or station.
He was the second speaker so far to quote Bono, saying "Where you live should not dictate whether they live."
Marriage is one man and one woman. Many marriages end in divorce and too many children are born out of wedlock. There is nothing wrong with being a single parent but it is harder to do it on your own. Talked about the ''crises of marriage''.
We should support the commitment to marriage instead of giving additional benefits only if they are single.
Africa is a center of great suffering. We must help, but in a way that builds dignity and not build dependency. And there has been far too much waste in the aid.
Uncontrolled spending in Washington must be stopped. He is sponsoring a bill that alters the system (sorry, didn't get the details).
He supports the flat tax. He knows that we can't get rid of the current system so he recommends putting them both in place and let the taxpayer choose which one to pay under.
Republicans are the Party of Life. He told a story about a Chinese woman who chose to have a baby rather than submit to pressure to get a state abortion and because of that his daughter will have her 8th birthday tomorrow.
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Southern Republican Leadership Conference,
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Brownback,
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Tennessee.
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I'm far too tired to make a meaningful post of what was said and by whom, so I will only point you to my pics at flickr and say that Maverick McCain unbelievably supportive of George W. Bush. Captain's Quarters has an excellent (and, I believe, correct) analysis of why McCain has suddenly become a Bush cheerleader.
Oh yeah, and I just wanted to say, "J.C. Watts for President!!!"
What a speaker!
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, Tennessee.
I can't imagine having to do this for a living — but I will admit that I would love to give it a try.
Sen. Frist spent quite a while pressing palms in the exhibition area after doing a radio interview ("radio row" is in the exhibit hall just as the bloggers are).What was quite cool is that he came over to talk to the bloggers and encouraged us to ask questions. He was quite personable and didn't rush us — he must have spent 10 minutes or more with the four of us (Mick from Mainstreet Journal, Rob from VOLuntarily Conservative and Adam from Tennessee Politics Blog).
Not being a journalist, this was my first opportunity to toss a question at a political figure in a professional capacity. And this wasn't just any politician; the Senate Majority Leader dictates what legislation can come for a vote and what dies. He is arguably the most powerful man in the world. Yet strangly enough, I didn't quite gibber like Dean on crack.
It was noisy so I couldn't catch all that went on, but Mick started with a question about Frist's blogging activity. The Senator responded with a very reasoned answer about blogging changing political communication and conversation (I'm sure Mick will do a better job at reporting his answer — I was still a little awestruck).
Mick then jumped in with a question about the Patriot Act and the inclusion of a crackdown on domestic methamphetine production. The Senator talked about how it is a growing problem that is "ravaging a generation". He admitted that the legislation could have been passed as a separate bill but that it needed to pass. [As Rob noted later, we always complain when Dems stick unrelated legislation onto bills so why should we do it too?]
During his answer he mentioned the Dubai situation, so I asked him what he thought about Dubai Ports World selling their American control to an American company soley because they were American. I don't think that the Senator heard the implied critisism in the question (there was a lot of background noise) and replied that he had encouraged DPW to do so.
I followed up by asking if foreign ownership of port operations was going to be reviewed at other ports, given that the majority are operated by foreign interests, including China. The Senator admitted ignorance of the issue, saying he couldn't respond because he didn't have the background.
Gee, Senator, if foreign ownership of port operations is a concern because an Arab ally is involved, shouldn't it also be a concern if a hostile near-superpower is involved? I was more than a little disappointed with his answer.
He then moved down the table and talked to Rob and Adam. I admit to not having caught any of that conversation.
I wish that I had had a recording device so I could more accurately reflect the verbiage as well as the tone of his answers (which were much longer than the distilled version that I have pulled from my memory). Even if I didn't like all of his answers, talking to the Senator was a very pleasurable experience and his staff was unbelievably nice.
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Bill Frist, Frist, Senator Frist, Memphis, Tennessee.
After the obligatory opening prayer, pledge of allegiance and singing of the national anthem (by a country star that I'm sure some people would know, but I don't), Senator Lamar Alexander from Tennessee kicked things off by playing the piano and then was joined by the unknown singer (sorry, I'm more of a Metallica guy).
This was intended to fire up the crowd and to be truthful, Lamar is pretty good on the ivories.
Fortunately, he was an even better speaker (pictured at left). He did the usual rah-rah party stuff, made some decent jokes, and acted as MC, introducing each speaker.
RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman was next. Excellent speech (even though he was preaching to the choir) about how important this time in history really is and how important the next election will be. Judges, taxes, war on terror, homeland security — he probably hit all the talking points (read the text here). And had the flattest delivery in the history of political speechifying. He should have had a roaring crowd on their feet with his rhetoric, but didn't.
But the AP proves its clairvoyance again: RCP Blog reports that they ran the story of Mehlman's speech before the session began.
Next up was Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Impressive. Very impressive.
I don't really know a lot about Romney, other than he is a Republican governor of (as he put it) "the bluest state in the nation", so I had no real expectations. He was animated, entertaining, and down-to-earth yet commanding.
He talked about a program in his state that paid for a hotel for people rather than turning him away from a homeless shelter. He figured that the word had gotten around as it was costing the state $20 million a year. He instituted one change: that person would be accepted into the shelter and the person that had been there the longest would be sent to the hotel. The hotel bill for the homeless has dropped to zero. Clever.
He talked about how we are no longer leading the world in turning out engineers and the like, and how this was affecting outsourcing and American jobs. Best quote:
I don't want America to become the France of the 21st century.Also clever.
He ended with a story about an Olympian medal winner carrying the flag that flew over the WTC on 9/11. It was such a touching story that I don't see how he told it with tearing up (probably because he's told it a thousand times, but it choked me up a little).
Next up was Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman. Again, I didn't know anything about him except that he used to be a Democrat. Again, impressive speaker. Very personable and almost folksy. Lots of references to his Jewish heritage. Amazingly, his accent was almost JFK at times. Weird.
He claimed that the Democrat party had left him, just as it is leaving the majority of Democrats. He said it was very appropriate that the Clinton presidency overlapped the show Seinfeld. A presidency about nothing and a show about nothing
I loved it when he called for Kofi Annan to resign, saying that the real "blood for oil" was the "Oil for Food" program.
He had a stirring section about how the Republican Party is the party of reform and transformation. Tax reform, education reform, Medicare reform, Social Security reform, and the party that believes in transforming tyrannies to democracies.
Senator David Vitter from Louisiana and Beverly Davis, president of the National Federation of Republican Women, finished up the speaking program. Again, great content, flat delivery.
The session ended with a screening of a new ad called Find the Leader. The press says that the ad is on the GOP website but I haven't been able to find it (except for the text).
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, Tennessee.
There was too much information to even try and take meaningful notes (I gave up after a couple of minutes) so I went up after to see if I could get a copy of the presentation. They were, understandably, surrounded by people asking question.
When I finally got to ask one of them she took one look at my badge (the "media" one was showing), coldly informed me that this was a "closed event" (delegates only, no media allowed), immediately took three steps away and started talking to someone else.
I flipped my badge and got the attention of another of the presenters. She had heard the exchange and (much more kindly) told me that she couldn't give the material to anyone in the media. I smiled and told her I wasn't the "real" media, just a blogger, and received a sincere laugh in return. I promised that I wouldn't publish their secrets on the internet so she took my card and promised to send it if they got permission to mail it out to the attendees.
This was my first experience at being treated poorly because of my job. It was almost as if I was the enemy and reminded me of another experience I had about ten years ago.
I was doing yard work in my front yard and watched as two black women worked their way up the street going door to door. When they got to my house they stopped and pleasently asked if they could talk to me about Jesus (they were either Mormon or Baptists, I don't remember which). Not being in the mood for being converted that particular afternoon, a sudden inspiration moved me to say, "No thank you. I'm Jewish." (I'm not, although I might be if I didn't have to learn Hebrew. That's hard.)
The woman actually took a step away from me, leaned back to literally look down her nose at me and, with the most contempt that I've ever heard in four words, said, "Oh. You're a Jew."
I was stunned. And insulted to my core, even though it wasn't true. Never had I seen such hatred evoked so quickly. As she walked away I felt like yelling, "Oh yeah! Take your two hundred years of oppression and shove it! Two thousand years of hatred, baby. Stuff that in your pipe and smoke it!" (Actually my first instinct was only part of that and it got filled out later in my imagination, but you have to admit that it would have been cool.)
Anyway, I have the distinct feeling that I'll never see that PowerPoint presentation.
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, Tennessee.
This will be my first event as a "credentialed blogger". It's nice to be early enough into something that I still get excited about such things.
Downtown Memphis is a mess of construction and I don't look forward to finding parking (I paid $10 for the privilege of parking for about an hour today). But the volunteers working the conference are the friendliest, nicest people you could ask for and willingly go out of their way to help you.
After picking up my packet and passes I got the lay of the land and found the blogger's table in the exhibit hall. I also found "radio row" where the pros will be working from. I have no idea where Sean Hannity and Chris Matthews will be setting up shop.
While there I spotted Mick (aka Fishkite) who will be representing Main Street Journal (so he's a legitimate journalist now, which is pretty cool — I just love a local-blogger-makes-the-big-time story). Mick has an interview with Sen. Frist in the morning so look for that posting tomorrow.
According to Mick, rumor has it that there will be 12 bloggers at the conference. Those that I know about are:
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, Tennessee.
I was going to take a look at what the media is saying about the conference but Fishkite writing for Mainstreet Journal has an excellent roundup. And Americans for Dr. Rice are "gearing up"
Technorati Tags: Southern Republican Leadership Conference, SRLC, Political Events.
Every four years the political parties gather at their national conventions. In 2004 the Republicans came together to nominate George Dubya for the presidency. In 2008 they will do it again to nominate the next Republican presidential candidate. There is wall-to-wall coverage and everybody who's anybody is there.Every two years there are smaller, regional conventions. But this year is special: the Southern states and the Midwest states are combining so 26 states will be represented at the 2006 Southern Republican Leadership Conference held in Memphis.
About 2,000 attendees are expected. For comparisons sake, the largest SRLC to date was in Biloxi, Mississippi in '98 and had a little more than 1,600 in attendance. The one two years ago was in Miami and only drew about 600.
The 2006 convention starts on Friday so it's T minus 2 days and counting. Here's what the LA Times has to say:
On Thursday, the Republican race will gain new prominence when more than 1,500 GOP activists gather in Memphis, Tenn., for three days of politicking and speeches. A highlight will be appearances by several of the party's top presidential hopefuls, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona, an early front-runner for the Republican nod.Note that the "meaningless" straw poll in '98 picked George Dubya even though earlier events like this had him trailing significantly and even though he was not in attendance. But no matter how you slice it, this poll will be important for a few reasons.There will also be a straw poll of delegates to the Southern and Midwestern Leadership Conference, which is likely to draw wide notice as a test of strength and a gauge of early voter sentiments — even if similar straw polls have proved meaningless in the past.
First, McCain is campaigning hard and earnestly courting Bush donors. It is expected that he will have a strong showing in the straw poll after speaking at the conference (he is on the schedule). After all, he took a strong second at CPAC and he wasn't even there. If he fails to impress the party faithful of half the states (including some of the reddest) then he'll have to rethink his message.
Second, Giuliani isn't even going to be there. If he does well in the poll, he may be encouraged to run (he took third at CPAC).
Third, this is Bill Frist's home state and Tennesseans should be well represented. If Frist can't show well here after speaking (he is also on the schedule, although for late Saturday afternoon, well after the poll begins) then he should also rethink some things. He was fifth at CPAC with a dismal 6%.
Fourth, what if Condi does well? She wasn't even invited to speak but Americans for Rice will be manning a booth and may even be running commercials on Fox News in the Memphis market. She garnered 10% of the vote at the CPAC, taking fourth place well ahead of Frist. Not bad for a non-candidate.
Ah well, I'll be posting things as time and resources allow. I'll have my camera but I'll need an electrical outlet because my laptop battery gives very limited life. Hopefully this won't be a problem because I've received an email confirmation that I am a credentialed blogger for the convention. The blogger table is next to the media table and rumor has it that Sean Hannity will be there. Maybe I'll be able to get a pic of him, too.
As of this date, confirmed speakers are:
Technorati Tags: SRLC, Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Political Conventions, Republican Politics, Memphis, Tennessee.
