Minneapolis
While Democrats prepare for night three in Denver, Republicans kicked off their pre-convention week in Minnesota yesterday. And with the recent polling and the media spending the first half of the Democratic convention debating whether Obama can win over Clinton supporters, the activists and delegates here are increasingly enthusiastic.
The convention will take place at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. Construction workers are busy transforming the sports/concert venue into a political convention hall. The floor of the Xcel Center--home of the Minnesota Wild hockey team--is a sea of new, red industrial carpet covering the ice rink. Workers are assembling chairs, building a podium, and running miles of cable. It looks like Extreme Home Makeover-Political Edition.
About 10 miles west, at the Minneapolis Convention Center, Republican delegates and party officials will finish drafting the GOP platform today. I sat through the deliberations yesterday and today and had a chance to talk to some of the participants.
The platform is being billed as the most grassroots-driven document in convention history, receiving over 10,000 ideas and comments through the first-ever online input process. But despite the contributions, the document is only about half the length of the 2004 platform. It's divided into six major themes: 1. Economy, 2. National Security, 3. Spending and Government Reform, 4. Energy and the Environment, 5. Crime and American Values, and 6. Healthcare and Education. While the drafting and amending process has been rather smooth, delegates did conduct spirited debate over immigration, stem cell research, and global climate change. All of these issues, however, were resolved to the satisfaction of those involved, including the McCain campaign. There will be no minority reports or substitutes offered on the floor next week.
A convention veteran told me this: "The McCain campaign did a very smart thing. They let the delegates work their will and didn't try to impose a heavy hand and just say no to every little change in the platform. The document will be something the party and the candidate can strongly support."
The lack of platform fireworks is a welcome development.
"I've been to every convention since 1980," a seasoned former congressional aide told me. "There have been many times where delegates caused a lot of trouble and it looked like the party was divided. This time they feel we can win--despite all the negatives--and we're very unified. That's why this platform process is moving ahead so smoothly."
Another platform staffer said, "The parliamentarian seems really bored. We like it that way."
