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Tennessee: GOP convention opens somberly

By: Dave Flessner
(Contact)

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Zach Wamp

Local delegates to the Republican national convention opened a scaled-back gathering in St. Paul, Minn., Monda y with prayers and fundraising for victims of Hurricane Gustav.

But as the storm weakened Monday on the Gulf Coast, most Tennessee and Georgia Republicans said they are ready to spend the next three days rallying behind the ticket of Arizona Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — even though most of the delegates from the two states previously preferred former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee or former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson.

Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Robin Smith, of Hixson, appealed to the 55 delegates and 52 alternates in the Tennessee delegation on Monday to contribute to Save the Children, a relief organization that helps children around the globe hurt by hurricanes and other natural disasters. During an interview from the convention floor, Mrs. Smith said Monday’s hurricane set the most somber and businesslike tone of any convention she has ever seen.

“But I’m confident our delegates are excited and ready to work for this ticket,” she said. “There were other candidates and a favorite son from Tennessee who got a lot of votes in our (February) primary election, and there was a little delay by some in the embracing of John McCain. But that has righted itself, and we are now united as a party.”

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., who addressed the Tennessee delegation Monday, said most Republican leaders recognize that Sen. McCain offers the best chances for the GOP in an election year in which President George Bush and the Republican brand are viewed less favorably than many Democrats.

“Pragmatically, I think our delegation recognizes that John McCain is probably the only candidate we could have nominated in a year when the political wind is in our face,” he said. “The mood is real upbeat, and I think the selection of Sarah Palin as our vice presidential nominee has created tremendous excitement. But there certainly has been a chill over the process because of Hurricane Gustav.”

The hurricane kept President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney from addressing the convention as originally scheduled Monday night, although first lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, wife of Sen. McCain, did briefly address the convention appealing for funds for those on the Gulf Coast affected by Gustav.

The convention also approved a platform that avoided the Iraq War, as over 8,000 anti-war protesters marched on the convention.

Delegates had scarcely settled into their seats when it was disclosed a lawyer had been hired to represent the Alaska governor in an investigation of her firing of the state’s public safety commissioner. Another disclosure was personal, not political — the pregnancy of her 17-year-old unmarried daughter. That became one of the major news stories of the day.

Chattanooga attorney Chris Lanier, a delegate pledged to Gov. Huckabee, said most delegates still strongly support President Bush and wanted to hear him speak.

“But we understand the president needs to be doing what he can to ensure that we protect lives and offer help to these hurricane victims,” he said. “That’s more important than attending the convention.”

Aleq Boyle, an alternate/stand-in delegate from Chickamauga, Ga., who ran as a delegate pledged to Fred Thompson, said Republicans may benefit from an unpopular president not addressing the GOP gathering.

Mr. Boyle said he still is concerned that this election will be the first in more than a half century without anyone from the South on either major party’s ticket. That could drive more voters — possibly including himself — to former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, a Georgia Republican turned Libertarian Party presidential candidate, Mr. Boyle said.

“As a Southerner, I am deeply disappointed that both parties have overlooked the strongest voting block in the nation,” he said. “I like what I am hearing about Sarah Palin, but I think someone from the South should have been on the ticket, and I think that absence is going to help Libertarian Bob Barr get a lot more support.”

Mr. Boyle said he may end up voting for Mr. Barr, who is in St. Paul this week trying to court votes from disaffected Republicans.

Rep. Wamp said the selection of Gov. Palin “has energized the base” of the Republican Party and shown Sen. McCain as a maverick and reformer.

“This is now the strangest election cycle, I think, in 80 years, and it keeps getting stranger,” Rep. Wamp said.

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