Race42008 at the RNC

16 Responses to “Race42008 at the RNC”

1. MetroRepublican Says:
   August 25th, 2008 at 12:00 pm

   Woo hoo! Congrats!

2. Gary Matthew Miller Says:
   August 25th, 2008 at 12:04 pm

   Aron is going to be in town? Awesome!

   Aron, I bet you lunch and a beer at the Happy Gnome that it’s Pawlenty. Shake?

3. RayinNH Says:
   August 25th, 2008 at 12:06 pm

   Wish I could have been there as well. What a great opportunity for you all.

   Keep me in mind for 2016.

4. Aron Goldman Says:
   August 25th, 2008 at 12:13 pm

   Gary,

   You’ve got a deal, but I’ll gladly buy you a beer even if it’s not Pawlenty.

5. Gary Matthew Miller Says:
   August 25th, 2008 at 12:19 pm

   On that we can agree. Looking forward to meeting you!

6. nate Says:
   August 25th, 2008 at 12:22 pm

   Ooh, can I do a blog post from Denver Kavon?

7. Kavon W. Nikrad Says:
   August 25th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

   Nate #6,

   Sure! Please email it to me a kavon_w_nikrad@yahoo.com.

8. dotan Says:
   August 25th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

   Stay away from the state fair, gentlemen. There’s lots to guile the hearts of innocents beneath those glittering pavilions of vice and villainy. Stick to the clubs and bars where it’s safe. The city has extended their hours just for you. If any of you gets a chance to touch Gov. Romney’s hair please report back news of its texture and tensile strength. I imagine that its made of some space age plastic but who knows?

9. nate Says:
   August 25th, 2008 at 1:00 pm

   #7

   ok, my target is 2810 Speer Blvd, home of Romney and Rudy this week

10. Kavon W. Nikrad Says:
    August 25th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

    That sounds awesome Nate.

11. Win M. Says:
    August 25th, 2008 at 1:21 pm

    #8 - That line about Romney’s hair was classic.

12. Aron Goldman Says:
    August 25th, 2008 at 1:23 pm

    GOP opens ‘war room’ at Democratic convention

    The GOP effort includes a “war room” and media center less than a mile from the convention hall and making top Republicans such as Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney available for press conferences and satellite interviews to television stations across the country, especially in swing states.

    The GOP theme is “Not Ready ‘08″ with the tagline of, “A Mile High, an Inch Deep.” Clearly, the war room is aimed at whacking Obama at every turn. The message is that Obama is a celebrity not qualified for the White House.

    Minnesota GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s is scheduled to visit Denver on Thursday — before that night’s main event — to highlight the fact that the GOP convention is right around the corner.

    It remains to be seen how effective the GOP effort will be. A tour for television crews Sunday afternoon attracted just a handful of journalists, though all three broadcast networks came through at some point in the day. About a dozen print reporters took a look as well.

    But a key target is local media in battleground states. That’s what the satellite truck in the parking lot is for: to allow for local stations in states such as Michigan and Ohio to interview top-name Republicans such as Giuliani and Romney.

    Giuliani will appear on Wednesday, when Democrats will focus on national security. It’s Romney’s day on Tuesday, when Democrats will talk about domestic issues and the economy.

    Other GOP surrogates for McCain include Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia and Carly Fiorina, former top executive at Hewlett-Packard Co. and a McCain campaign adviser.

13. Aron Goldman Says:
    August 25th, 2008 at 1:29 pm

    Anxious Party Hopes to Show Strong Obama

    Democrats gathering here for their nominating convention are significantly more nervous about Senator Barack Obama’s prospects this fall than they were a month ago, and are urging him to use the next four days to address weaknesses in his candidacy and lingering party divisions from the primary fight.

    Mr. Obama’s aides said they had learned from what they described as the mistake of the 2004 Democratic convention — when aides to Senator John Kerry’s campaign sought to forbid convention speakers from going after President Bush — and would use their time to draw contrasts with Senator John McCain, particularly on the economy and his opposition to abortion rights.

    Democrats arriving here said they remained confident that Mr. Obama would leave Denver at the end of the week in a strong position to defeat Mr. McCain. But many Democrats made it clear that a convention they had once anticipated would be a breezy celebration of Mr. Obama had turned into a more sober and consequential event.

    This reflected a summer that they said demonstrated Mr. Obama’s vulnerabilities and Mr. McCain’s resilience, and the signs of lingering divisions between some supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mr. Obama.

    “Back in June and July, I truly thought he was going to blow McCain out of the water and carry 30 or 40 states,” said Donald Fowler, a former national Democratic chairman who supported Mrs. Clinton in the primary. “What has happened is that Republicans — McCain specifically — have really twisted his great charisma, this electric personality, to discredit his ability, his experience, his capacity, his judgment. I fear they are about to do to him what they did to Gore.”

    Discussing the days ahead, Mr. Fowler continued: “Obama has got to do some things that will shore up his ability to lead — not just to charm, but to lead. They’ve got to give credibility to his understanding of foreign policy, his ability to deal with tough people and tough questions, and his ability to be more explicit and convincing on his health care policies and energy policies.”

    Dennis McDonald, the Democratic chairman of Montana, a state that Mr. Obama is trying to win from Republicans, said this was a critical opening for Mr. Obama after a month in which polls suggested the race was tightening and events in Russia and Georgia put a new spotlight on foreign affairs, creating an opening that Mr. McCain seized.

    “Normally I might say these conventions are not so important, but I don’t think that’s the case this year,” Mr. McDonald said. “There seems to be a sense of urgency. We have had a couple of weeks that were not so good.”

    There are some things that may be beyond the control of the Obama campaign. Most pressingly, Democrats said they were worried that the tensions between supporters of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama from the contest that just ended two months ago would spill into public view after her name is entered into nomination, particularly after Mr. Obama bypassed Mrs. Clinton in choosing Mr. Biden.

    “I have a lot of doubts that this convention is going to be as persuasive as it should be because they’ve got this damn thing with Hillary,” Mr. Fowler said. “I love Hillary. I was for her. But this is the worst political decision I could imagine. This is supposed to be an Obama celebration. You’re going to get the nomination of someone who came very close to winning and you’re going to get a lot of people in there cheering and hollering and some people booing.”

    

14. Chris L. Says:
    August 25th, 2008 at 2:54 pm

    I look forward to reading your coverage. Btw, post some pics of yourselves among the happenings. It would nice to associate some faces with the stars of this site.

15. KnightHawk Says:
    August 25th, 2008 at 4:37 pm

    Have a great time while you’re there, looking forward to the coverage.

16. Kavon W. Nikrad Says:
    August 25th, 2008 at 5:35 pm

    Chris L. #14,

    “Friend” me on Facebook and you can peruse my photo albums all you like.