Final Word (We Hope): No Palin

Posted Sep 5, 2008 by William March

Updated Sep 5, 2008 at 12:30 AM

After some confusion, it’s become clear that Sarah Palin will not be in Tampa Monday.

At least tentative plans were made for a Palin Florida tour early next week—Sen. Mel Martinez said he’d been asked to save the day on his schedule. But then he was told it was off.

Local McCain campaign officials leaked word of the visit early this week, but then backed off. None of them could say whether it was because of hurricanes or a schedule change, but they denied claims by Democrats it was because Clinton is coming to Tampa Monday.

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Did Palin Just Upstage McCain?

Posted Sep 4, 2008 by Billy House

Updated Sep 4, 2008 at 10:54 PM

Did Sarah Palin and her husband upstage John and Cindy McCain at the end of McCain’s speech just now?

There’s no question the Alaska governor left her presidential running mate standing awkwardly on the podium waiting for her, after the McCains took a sort of victory walk onto the convention floor amid the falling ballons annd music ,and then returned to the stage.

Trouble was, Palin and here hubby did the same walk after after the McCains did - only they seemed to savor the exercise a bit more. They certainly took a lot longer to finish it, shaking hands and talking to delegates, and seeming to love every minute of it.

As a result, the McCain’s were left waiting on the podium for Palin, and waited, and waited, and then—finally—gave up and went backstage without her.

I’d sure like to have been a fly on the wall when McCain or his aides greeted her back there.

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Drill, Baby, Drill

Posted Sep 4, 2008 by William March

Updated Sep 5, 2008 at 09:47 AM

The “Drill, baby, drill” chant just broke out on the floor of the convention again as McCain was speaking about increasing offshore drilling. That chant originated last night when Michael Steele, one of the few prominent black GOP politicians on the national scene and head of the conservative GOPAC political action committee founded by Newt Gingrich, used it in his speech.

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Protesters Interrupt McCain

Posted Sep 4, 2008 by William March

Updated Sep 4, 2008 at 09:41 PM

Several times so far in John McCain’s speech, protesters have shouted out from various parts of the hall. The effect has been to interrupt his speech because the crowd begins chanting “USA, USA,” in effect drowning out McCain, each time it happens.

“Please don’t be diverted by the crowd noise (ground noise?) and static,” he said during the last interruption. “Americans wsant us to stop yelling at each other.”

It’s tough to tell from our seats in the press gallery who the protesters are or what they’re yelling, but some protesters from the Code Pink anti-war organization were removed from the hall earlier.

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Nelson To Give Energy Speech: Innovate, Baby, Innovate

Posted Sep 4, 2008 by William March

Updated Sep 4, 2008 at 08:34 PM

With Republicans chanting, “Drill, baby, drill” at their convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson will give a speech Friday, billed as a major speech on energy, advocating a different path.

Nelson will say the real answer to high gas prices is closing a loophole that exempted oil speculators from regulation, plus higher mileage standards, “alternative fuels, like ethanol, from things we don’t eat,” plus “solar, wind and thermal energy, and safer nuclear power.”

Nelson will repeat the arguments he has made previously against expanded Gulf drilling—that already-leased areas are going unused; that it would interfere with the last unfettered pilot’s military training range in the Gulf.

“The U.S. has only three percent of the world’s oil reserves, while it uses nearly one-fourth of the world’s supply,” an advance text says. “That means we cannot drill our way out of this problem.”

 

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