Francis: Alternate : Oregon

Politics and playgrounds have a great deal in common. In fact, I suspect if children had more money and more freedom, the school playground would look a lot like our political conventions and political campaigns. The playground was where I chipped a tooth. That's also where I got most of my bloody noses and injuries playing capture the flag and prison dodge ball. It's not a place where people play fair. Everything I need to know about real politics I have already learned on the rough-and-tumble playgrounds of my youth. My recent participation in the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis - St. Paul . well, that was just a refresher course in playground rules.

In many ways, the Republican National Convention reminded me of the old days in elementary school. It's just that the bullies had more money and fancier titles at the convention. The game was the same. The game was capture the flag. There was a bit of yelling. There was a fair amount of name calling. There was a black-hat wearing team . fielded by the Republican National Committee .that decided only the McCain flag should be seen on this bit of American turf. All other flags had to be captured. A "black-hat squad," as described by "The Washington Times," was responsible for political order at the convention. They descended on a group-photo opportunity in the lobby of the Xcel Energy Center. It wasn't a protest scene. It was a peaceful and friendly group photo of elected Republican delegates . many of whom were wearing white hats. The black-hat-white-hat symbolism isn't lost on me. I trust it isn't lost on you.

By the time the dust settled, the guys in black hats had "confiscated" a privately owned Revolutionary War flag replica. The design is called the Fort Moultrie flag. The original has historical significance as the first American revolutionary flag flown in the southern states. The commemorative flag, festooned with convention autographs, once belonged to Jeff Austin, a Republican delegate from the great state of North Carolina. Austin hopes to get his flag back from the Republican National Committee. He also hopes to see more liberty in evidence at future conventions. "I guess patriotic symbolism is not fashionable anymore, especially when it's independent-minded people expressing their view," Austin said. "I guess a group photo with a Revolutionary War flag is way too radical for the likes of the Republican National Committee."

Mark and Claire: Delegates: Idaho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-ZI0vui1OE

Youtube was limiting what we could say, and even labeled the booth "Why I nominate McCain" the next day. Look for Lori Shewmaker's video, too. I will pull no punches, if there are misunderstandings to be cleared I hope they will be cleared publicly. Things happened that I am quite upset about, and I will simply put all I saw on the table.

Sunday:

Our first official function as delegates was to attend a reception for all delegates and alternates. There was an open bar and many tables of finger-foods. We were admitted to "Civic Fest" at no charge also. We do not know who footed the bill. At that point, I knew all of us had spent a great deal of time and money to get there, and felt we deserved a little party for our efforts. I had some food, a couple of drinks, and enjoyed the displays. I tried to chat up a few people, but the delegates would only be friendly if I discussed which first lady wore the tackiest dress or some such inane topic. The people guarding the displays were more interested in politics, so I chatted with them mostly. It seems Minnesota is mostly Democrats who are as disgusted as I am. A few other Ron Paul supporters were located but nothing of much consequence was accomplished.

We went to the reception for Ron Paul delegates and alternates next. There was a much more modest bar that was paid for by the C4L or donors, not any multi-national corporation. I screwed up my courage and walked right up to Dr. Paul and confessed I was the trouble-maker from Idaho. I was fully prepared to be chastised, told to settle my happy ass down, what have you. He smiled ever so sweetly and said "Well, that's nice." He then shook my hand and we had a photo snapped, where his smile is about as big as mine. Hmmmm.... maybe the good doctor can appreciate a bit of rabble rousing...? The rest of the evening was a delight. Spending time in a room packed full of people who "get it" was uplifting in a way that defies description.

Monday:

We were invited to breakfast by the BNSF Railroad. We got on the shuttle bus, and arrived at the station where we were greeted at 10:00 AM by an open bar and live band. I have no objection to alcohol, and when camping I will spice my coffee with a splash of Bailey's, but I really believed I was going to perform a sacred service to my fellow Americans that afternoon, and starting the day with an open bar seemed inappropriate to me. There was food; the finger foods that corporations can get away with and not be crossing any legal lines for bribery. After 30 or 40 minutes we actually managed to find some of it and ate enough cold breakfast burrito to sustain life for the morning. We did chat with a few people at last, but found the Montana delegation we were dining with to be quite hostile if they caught a whiff of "Ron Paul" on your breath. As Ron Paul delegates, we were opening the conversation with it, trying to show them the face of middle aged, articulate people with conservative values and no tin hat... We did enjoy seeing our delegation behave with dignity. They were kind to us, and we did not see anyone hanging at the bar at 10:00 AM that we knew, although we sat inside and were not watching it, either. One of the Idaho McCain delegates sang the state song a Capella, a brave and talented woman!

Hurricane Gustav caused the McCain campaign to change the plans. To be clear, this "Convention" was completely controlled by the McCain campaign, the RNC simply rubber stamped it. Our first session was shortened by about five hours and all we did was "business." We were bussed around back so we never saw any protesters, but we saw MANY heavily armed police. 3500 we later learned, enough that each delegate could have had and armed escort, but that is not good fear-mongering. The committees issued their reports and when the credentials committee report was voted on I objected. My tiny little "No" could barely be heard, but I was not going to let the travesty in Nevada go without an objection. My husband's "No" was much less timid and a few heads jerked around to look at him, but they did smile. When the vote for the platform came up we were again going to voice our token objection but we were not given the chance. The Chair asked for the "Nays" then slammed the gavel as he asked. I am guessing Mark's "No" carried further than I realized. Here, as the actual business of the Convention was being carried out, not a bite of food not a drop of water was offered to us. At one point, we saw carts begin to get wheeled about with bottles of water, so Mark grabbed one as it went by. The woman turned, snatched it out of his hand and told him it was going to one of the media suites. Eventually we did manage to procure a bottle of water and a bag of potato chips. Every attempt to talk politics is shut down; we realize even a sympathetic person would be a fool to admit it here.

We went to the concert. As with pretty much every time we got in the car, we got lost. Mark and I are usually a precision team, I navigate, he drives, we never get lost. But between having the river wind all through the cities and Mark and me chatting more than driving navigating... We took the scenic route everywhere, OK? Can we leave it at that? We arrived as Aimee Allen was singing, bummer to miss some of that. However, we did get to hear both her revolution songs, and the anthem twice. She simply rocks the Kazbah. As did the good doctor. He was on FIRE, if you have not seen the video go find it. I am sure someone has posted it. It was an incredible evening, the first time I ever got to chant "END THE FED" and have it REVERBERATE (in an open stadium!) there were so many chanting. Ralph Smead and Maurice Clements were there, bless their hearts. These elderly gentleman have amazing stamina, especially when Liberty and their dear friend Dr. Paul needs them. It was truly an honor to spend time with these fine Idaho Patriots!

Tuesday:

We were scheduled to have breakfast courtesy of ATT, but we have no stomach for it. Mark has realized we are already being courted by the lobbyists, and we decide we will eat on our damned credit card rather than let ATT or any other corporation buy us breakfast. Brandon and Lori were depending on us for transportation, but they will have to tell their own stories. It seemed to me they agreed and came and went with us of their own free will. We slept in, we were still exhausted from the drive. We had discovered a screw in the tire and been driving on faith for a day and a half, we decided to use the morning to fix that. OK... two new tires and a round of games with the credit card people later we are now running late as hell for the Rally for the Republic. After a lovely scenic drive there... we had the most amazing time of the entire event. Jesse Ventura proved to me what I have suspected all along. If Dr. Paul is not a closet "truther," he is the only person in this movement who is not. The place went WILD. It is SO comforting to know that for all the "we have to not talk about that" crap we have tolerated that you all are really out there, and you KNOW what I know. Mark and I picked four "pet" alternates; we had given our delegate credentials to Nate and Melissa for the night. A rumor went around the floor that our credentials would be taken if we skipped the RNC, so I called Shirley. Through a message reply, she assured us we were fine. However, the rumor cleared the rally of most of the delegates and so the entire audience was invited to come down and find a seat. Every minute of this was on C-Span, I hear. Go watch. Aimee Allen and Dr. Paul were like the two paddles of the defibrillator getting the heart of the Constitution beating again. It was the historic event of my lifetime I suspect, but time will tell.

Wednesday:

Enough playing "their way." We have been instructed over and over to be mellow at the RNC, it is McCain's party, let it go. We are asked to build relationships, but I do not WANT relationships with the people who are in control of this party, I want them replaced. The kind, good people I want to replace them with are NOT going to discuss any form of dissent at the RNC, so we decide to go where the dissenters have gathered. There is a MSNBC stage set up, and protesters have gathered there. We go talk to them and tell them they have to get involved, democrats too. We tell them our national level is lost to us, we must begin at the bottom and start again. NOW we are getting somewhere. I am making friends left, right and center. A few want to talk Obama / McCain, but we refuse. "It is International banking cartel versus the humans," I say and I laugh, and they laugh and agree. Lori Shewmaker found something even deeper in her soul that day I do believe; that tiny lady is a little freedom fairy! We talked to the cops as much as the protesters, and said things like "police state" and "excessive force" and many of them showed genuine understanding. They would not speak to Mark unless I approached first, victims of fearmongering themselves I suppose. The time came for us to take the Convention floor again. We were stuck changing clothes in the car, but a girl gets pretty good at that stunt in the mountains of Idaho. I can put on a full neoprene wetsuit discreetly, a skirt and blouse is easy. Walking in allowed us to interact with the police, and we thanked them and ribbed them about being overdressed. I would confess to being a Ron Paul person and assure them they would not need there billy clubs. And I would always point to the protesters and say I was glad they were there too, because we have to change this nation and that is how peaceful change happens. Walking through some back hallway, we come upon a group of giggling girls posing with Karl Rove. I get about ten feet away, and in my voice hoarse from protest I growl "People are waking up, Karl!" One of the girls looked at me with wide eyes, and hand clasped over her mouth. I hope she learned that she does not need to be afraid to speak. I spun on my heels and walked away without looking back, truly half expecting to be tazed any moment! But with my dear husband covering my back, I knew I was also well protected.

Mark and I reach to floor and find each chair has a sign (something we are forbidden from bringing in) and instructions. It tells us how to wave our sign and what to chant. Our state chairman finds us and tells us the Idaho vote will be recorded as 26 delegates for John McCain. Our 6 Ron Paul bound delegates will not be mentioned at all, we have completely wasted our entire trip. We had very low expectations, but to be robbed of our tiny little vote at the last minute was despicable, and I have lost whatever shred of respect I may have had for our state Chairman. The candidate who announced it, Jim Risch, LIED on National television to promote an illusion of party unity. I will not support ANY candidate involved in that charade, Phil Hart included. We later were told that the breakfast we had skipped that morning was not a corporate one, but an unannounced MEETING of Idaho's delegation. Our fellow Ron Paul delegates agreed to that decision without so much as making a phone call to ask our opinion. So, there we stood, all dressed up and ready to be muzzled, Lew Moore approached as Norm indicated two McCain supporters who wanted our credentials, and Lew said it was the right thing to do. We gave them to them and we left. We went back to Red Wing and had dinner and watched a ball game. We chatted up the waiter and learned that NO one can serve local ground beef now. All restaurants must buy their meat from government approved meat factories. When we got to a hotel room, we at last succumbed to curiosity and turned on the coronation. I urged my companions to give Sarah a chance as her speech was being highlighted on the news. Thirty seconds of warmongering later I heard all I needed to know. To watch the press, especially Bill Kristol, fawn over her, has cemented my opinion.

Thursday:

Peace march today! As we drive around looking for it, we pass a line of at least twenty SUVs filled with police. Mark rolls down the window and flashes a peace sign, we all follow his lead. Nearly every car flashed a peace sing back, it was so amazing! We had "Ron Paul" stickers on all four sides, they knew who we were. Then near the end one guy flashed the Mason hand sign – very creepy. We approach the protesters with our credentials displayed this time; no more hiding. We know who will listen to our message and we take our message to them. I use a sharpie to put a peace sign on my red scarf, Lori and I brandish it like a sign. We grab our credentials and introduce ourselves to the people gathered at the capitol, preparing to march. "Republican delegates for peace" we say, and we say it a thousand times over and over as we march with these people. We proudly marched with Code Pink, Vets for Peace, even another Ron Paul "stealth" alternate flashed a credential from his pocket at us. We were interviewed over and over; the message that there were people inside the party fighting for peace was a message of hope these people never expected. And when we told them "YOU have to get in and clean up your party, because it is NOT Democrat or Republican" they knew we spoke the truth. We hope we made many fine future ADVERSARIES that day! It would be my great honor to sit across the aisle from these people, if they were to replace Nancy Pelosi and her ilk.

Our last night, it is Lori and Brandon's turn on the floor. Brandon wears his "Ron Paul Revolution" sweatshirt, I am so proud to know this brave young man. He takes a tie, just in case, and it has "NO WAR" and a peace sign on it. Lori takes the scarf, I rip a bag and make a small "TROOPS HOME NOW" sign. I put a peace sign on my chest and back in sharpie. If I am getting tazed, I am going out big. Thankfully, no one got to see my peace signs!

We went to the third floor and walked the halls outside the suites where the powerful people get snockered. We hand out "PSST" cards by smiling and saying "A quick message for our Conservative friends" and most people take them. I hope a seed or two was planted, or at least a neo-con or two was unnerved. We started to leave with another couple of disgusted Ron Paul supporters, but decide to drink their free booze at least and go to the basement. We have a couple of drinks and watch the king get crowned, although apparently it is the queen we are all to hail. (I'll hail her if someone else can cover the locusts and pestilence, OK?) At last the game is over, we head upstairs into the sea of revellers. Mark starts saying the truth, every to everyone. "Tax and Bomb is a bad policy" "Vote McBama, the only corporate choice" and even a round of "Vote with your pecker, Palin is cute." The "9-11 was an inside job" was the real shocker, but no one stopped him. I watched as Alanna, sporting her "I (heart) Palin" pin gave an interview I did not think represented Idaho Ron Paul supporters, so I whipped out my sign and asked them to interview me, too. Somewhere there is video of Mark and I sporting a "Troops home now" sign in the RNC giving an interview. If you find it, let me know! After the interview, I held the sign and continued to deride "Tax and Bomb" economics. At last, a woman snatched the sign from my hand, and THAT is when a cop escorted us out. She asked Mark to come with her, actually, and Mark said we were just leaving and it worked. I find it interesting that when I had my personal property stolen the cop came after me...

So, there is my report to you, the voters I tried to represent. Please feel free to grade my efforts, but know that we did the best we could at every moment. There was constant pressure from Drew Ivers and Lew Moore NOT to make trouble at the RNC, or I would have been SCREAMING. I hope you all will find my efforts satisfactory. If I recall more "good stuff" I will add it. I want to say that Brandon and Lori, who stepped up at the last minute to fill holes left in our delegation, are two of the finest Patriots in Idaho. It was an honor to spend time with them, and I know these two will leave an indelible mark on history! Look for video of us at the peace protest, we had more cameras in our face than we could count. Claire and Mark

UPDATE: Our state chair has offered to write a letter to the RNC, as Mark and I are the only "aggrieved" people. We sent a plea out to the RP voters asking them to write him, that seems to have gone no where. Are we are really the only people who don't like what happened? Are any of the supporters you know upset with the RNC, or just with us for not doing what they think they would have done had they been there?sked us to follow Lew and Drew?

Claire

Elaine Smith: Delegate: Oregon

I was an elected delegate to the Republican National Convention from my state. At my expense I went to Minneapolis/St. Paul Minnesota to vote for the candidate I was 'bound' to represent. What I experienced at the RNC has only caused my alarm to escalate! I found there is no such thing as 'free speech' at a convention, or even an honest voting process!

No signs for other candidates were allowed, but we were given McCain signs to wave, told when and how to wave them, given a cue card of 'chants' and told when to chant, when to stand, when to clap, when to sit down, etc.!

Delegates bound to other candidates were pressured to change their vote for an appearance of 'party unity'. Those who didn't change their vote, choosing instead to vote for the candidate they were elected to represent, found that their votes WERE NOT included in the final tally! Some State Party Chairmen refused to announce votes from delegates other than McCain delegates. Our state chairman DID announce our votes, but the RNC Secretary did not repeat our votes, and they were not shown on the screen. Some Chairmen tried to announce the 'other' votes, and found their mikes were cut off so they weren't heard.

My conclusion is that I spent my time and money to travel halfway across the country to film an elaborate, scripted 'commercial' for a candidate I wasn't representing.

Since the convention, articles have emerged confirming that the GOP convention organizers installed special eavesdropping microphones and cameras in order to monitor conversations between delegates of the 'other' candidates.

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3721.shtml

The Washington Times reported on the presence of "Black Hat" squads on the convention floor that tracked 'other' candidate supporters.

"'Black hats' keep lookout for troublemakers" (Washington Times, September 5, 2008) (This was ME, a patriotic, older U.S. citizen they were spying upon and tailing, as if I was a criminal!)

Is this the America we know and love? Does the Republican Party (or the Democrat Party) still stand for individual liberty and the Constitution? I think not!!

Tragedy and Hope is a book written by a man in support of the "New World Order" One of his observations in the book:

"The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can 'throw the rascals out' at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy."

Carroll Quigley – Author of Tragedy & Hope

We need to somehow really 'throw the rascals out' and only elect candidates who will not abuse the Rule of Law and will enforce constitutional restraint on Executive Powers.

Elaine Smith

Kevin Patrick: Alternate: West Virginia

I was pleased and honored when I ran in Monongalia county as a Delegate to the WVGOP State Convention in February, and was elected by the Citizens of that county. So you can imagine how I felt when I found out I would be attending the National Convention as an Alternate Delegate, part of the West Virginia Delegation.

I remembered reading about Conventions in the past, where several candidates would attend, the crowd was a riot of politics, philosophy, and good will to our Nation; and hope, we must not forget hope. I wanted to be a part of something similar, sharing my love for Liberty with other Delegates.

I went to the RNC with a few simple goals. 1.) To further the cause of Liberty, 2.) To represent those people in Monongalia county who voted me to the State Convention, 3.) To spread the message of freedom, responsibility, humble foreign policy, and peace, 4.) To make a good showing for Congressman Dr. Ron Paul.

I was proud to be a West Virginian there, as I am everywhere. I was proud to meet so many other lovers of Liberty, especially those from Alaska and Texas. In few other places had I felt such a feeling of camaraderie, brotherhood, and the sharing of a common cause.

The WVGOP treated us incredibly fairly, even up until the announcing of votes at the RNC where our party chair, Dr. Doug McKinney and gubernatorial candidate Russ Weeks announced, "2 votes: Ron Paul, and 28 votes: John McCain." I was proud to be one of the two. I was also dismayed to hear the chair repeat, "30 votes, John McCain," as she did not recognize our votes.

However, this was the end of the issues we faced at the RNC, but it was not the beginning.

Many Ron Paul Delegates were followed by McCain 'staffers' who wore ear pieces and wrist mics. When we entered the Convention we heard things like, "They're back..." as they spoke into the their sleeves. Before you write this off as paranoid conspiracy theory nonsense, you might ask yourself, what did we do to deserve such treatment?

I would like to share a selection:

"The McCain campaign and the RNC were unnecessarily nervous about the presence of Ron Paul delegates at the XCel Energy Center, and sometimes that fact was reflected in unwarranted actions, such as someone yanking away a banner proclaiming the word "Liberty" being held by a handful of Paul delegates outside the building. In fact, while the Paul delegates demonstrated little, if any, support for McCain throughout the convention -- mostly sitting quietly on their hands while the rest of the crowd erupted around them -- they caused no problems and were respectful and polite, including the Paul delegates from West Virginia. The Ron Paul movement has brought thousands of young people into the political process -- shouldn't the GOP find ways to welcome them rather than alienate them?"

(http://www.getelephantwars.com/republicangazette.html)

Ironic, as four years ago McCain supporters were trying to sneak signs and banners into the Convention, while above we were simply posing for a photo outside. The RNC was more of a coronation ceremony, with little to no interaction on the Delegates' part worth mentioning. Without serving on Committees, the average Delegate has little to do with the goings on at the Convention. Unless you live in one of the handful of States, like West Virginia, who had Delegates who spoke out in favor of those whom they represented.

I would like to see the RNC return to the old style of Convention, where the Nominee was not known beforehand, where the Delegates debated, and shared thoughts, and did more than cheer lead for the presumptive nominee. I would like to see campaigns, who even though on private property and have the accompanying rights, respected the rights of free speech of those in attendance; the right to hold a flag of Liberty, for example.

More so, I would like to see the Republican Party returned to the ideas of small government, low taxes, individual liberty, and a non-interventionist foreign policy. With so many Liberty-loving people in this country, and in this State I am proud to call home: we will surely do that.

But we will not stop there, we will see our message of Liberty emblazoned across party lines, it will hang on the hearts of all Americans, like it once did. We will once again have a government subservient to its people, and not the other way around; a government, in both Charleston and Washington, of which West Virginians can be proud.

Montani Semper Liberi

Pat Armstrong: Alternate: North Carolina

This was my first time for doing the delegate process so it was all new to me. The county convention was preceeded by the precinct convention. None of the precincts had enough people to warrant any voting, so we all filed into the auditorium for the county convention. Mecklenburg county has three districts. The largest is the 9th, then the 12th and then just a sliver of the 8th District. All but three of our meetup group were seated in the 9th district. My husband and I and a fellow we didn't know sat in the 12th District section. No one we knew was in the 8th District (at that time.) The business of the day consisted of nothing but platform and resolution issues and elections to the 9th District Convention. Nothing was done or said about either the 8th or the 12th, we were ignored. No one from our group was elected at the county convention for the 9th District convention.

The 12th District convention took place a few weeks later, my husband decided to go drag racing rather than go to the convention and the other fellow decided not to go either. I met two other RP supporters about a half hour before the convention started, for the first time, to go over strategy. We decided that Thomas, whose mother had been active in GOP affairs for years, should attempt to be a delegate, since many of the people there may remember his mother. Our major concern was a memo that had announced that any potential delegate or alternate was required to have attended at least one other meeting in the 12th District to be qualified for the position. None of us had ever attended any meetings in the 12th District.

When we walked into the convention, we were all pretty much shocked at the number of people in the room and even more so when all of the "extra" people were asked to clear the room for the business at hand. There were only about 30 people there who could vote. We three were 10% of the convention. When Thomas stood up, immediately after two people stood up and nominated themselves--a couple) he asked for either a point of order or a clarification (he'll have to clarify that for me) on whether you had to have been to another meeting, to our amazement, everyone talked at once and pretty much said, if you want to go, you can go. No one asked who he supported at the time. A gentleman to my left moved to close the nominations, I seconded and the three were voted on and accepted with no dissenting votes. When the floor was opened for alternates, I nominated myself. The same gentleman moved to close the nominations when two others stood up, and a second was heard. No dissenting votes. It was then mentioned that we needed to declare who we were going to support, Thomas and I both said Ron Paul and a fellow in the front voiced a small objection, not formally. The 12th District Chair assured everyone that the NC rules for "apportionment" would assure that there would be a majority of McCain delegates and that there would be a few RP delegates anyway because of the apportionment, so it wasn't a big deal. We were all voted on again and all approved with no dissenting votes.

I found out later that there were four other RP supporters there, two college students, a young lady and the gentleman who closed the floor for nominations. So we ended up with 7 RP supporters out of 30 people at the convention. Luckily we didn't need to have overwhelming numbers to get elected. Thomas was the only declared for Ron Paul delegate from NC. We had a few that were declared for McCain also, but Thomas was the only one that was openly for Ron Paul.

In my next installement, I'll talk about the road to the state convention and possible add some information to the front end of this missive about me and the road to the county convention.