Montclair Delegates Tout Condi Rice's Speech

This morning, Reince Priebus, chairman of the National Republican Party, spoke to the New Jersey delegation. He praised New Jersey and the strides that we have made helping the national ticket. He stated that there was a really positive feeling for Christie, not only in New Jersey, but nationwide.

He commented that the people were looking for authentic leaders, those who actually do what they say that they are going to do, that their leadership in office is the same as their promises during the campaign.  

Last night was another thrilling evening for the two delegates from Montclair.

We arrived a bit late because of traffic and extremely tight security. There were very few protestors, most of them for Ron Paul. The Ron Paul supporters I talked to were pretty upset. They feel somewhat let down. I asked them if they didn’t think that Mitt Romney was closer to their ideals than President Obama, but they pretty much did not waver from their position that it should be Ron Paul or no one.

Other than the few very peaceful Ron Paul supporters, we saw no protesters, but we saw literally thousands of security people. There were boats patrolling the channel outside the forum. There was every conceivable weapon and vehicle in sight.

We saw Rick Santorum on the way in, but did not stop to shake his hand; too many people.

Inside, we heard from John McCain and it is amazing how last year’s star is this year’s has been. His talk was very supportive and the biggest applause came when he was given happy birthday wishes and thanked for his years of service to the country. All considered him a great man whose time has come and gone.

There was a small demonstration behind us, but we never found out what it was about. It ended very quickly.

Down on the floor most of the delegates were milling around talking with each other. I can only assume the TV commentators were commenting.  All the talks were very good, but did not generate big news.

Suzy and I decided to take a walk through the forum. It really wasn't much different than going to a sporting event. The players were all on the floor.  The game was meet, greet and politic. The subs, ie. alternates, were in the ringside seats waiting for a chance to get in the game. The players had blue tags and the subs had red tags which were switched as needed.

The next level had the corporate suites for the big money donors just as in a sporting event. If you did not have the right invite, you did not get in. 

On the top level, the nosebleed section, were all the others. It was pretty packed and all seats were filled except those right behind the speakers.

We reentered to hear Mike Huckabee speak. He gave a good talk representing the more conservative wing.

And then things changed!

Condoleezza Rice was announced and got a massive standing ovation. The general mood was: What a lady! She is tremendous. All thought she should have a slot in the new administration; some even were advocating for her as the first woman president.

In person, she was really well spoken and I hope Romney uses her if elected.

Governor Susana Martinez gave a very good talk and would have been a real star if not sandwiched in between Rice and Ryan.

Then came Paul Ryan. He laid out the Republican strategy against Obama in exquisite detail. He is good. He is smart. He did a spectacular job outlining the conservative position. His attacks on Obama’s policies were concise, logical, and convincing to those at the convention. Will he be convincing to the nation as a whole is still to be determined.

The question was asked earlier on what the delegation thought about Ryan’s selection. There appears to be no question that the Republican base is supporting Ryan 100%

I predict that even the liberal media will tell us he did an excellent job explaining his position, even though they may disagree with his points.  

Then we had a long walk back to the car and a few hours of rest before the start of the next day.

We will report on Romney speech tonight.