Cole speaks to Oklahoma’s national GOP delegation
MINNEAPOLIS – U.S. Rep. Tom Cole calls it the “best speech I never gave.”
Cole, R-Moore, had been scheduled to address the Republican National Convention’s opening session Monday night, but presumptive Republican presidential nominee U.S. Sen. John McCain asked that political speeches be omitted and to focus attention on Gulf Coast residents that were affected by Hurricane Gustav.
Cole, who joined President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney as those being bumped from Monday’s speaking list, said he didn’t mind not having the chance to address the delegates and much of the country.
Convention organizers today announced that several Republican figures would speak at tonight’s session, but that the political rhetoric would be toned down. Cole said he doesn’t know if he will be added as a speaker before the convention concludes Thursday night.
“I may have gotten lucky,: Cole said in an interview today after speaking to members of Oklahoma’s delegation to the Republican National Convention in nearby St. Paul, Minn. “If they decide to put me back on, that’s great. But I am so pleased that John McCain did the right thing. He literally gave up a political advantage.”
Cole also told the delegation that Republicans could have a “fabulous year in Oklahoma” in November’s elections. He said Republicans could increase their 57 to 44 majority they had the past two sessions in the state House of Representatives and could take control of the state Senate for the first time in Oklahoma’s 101-year-old history.
“You give (Senate Republican leader) Glenn Coffee the majority and they will make things happen for you,” Cole said. “If you control the Legislature, you run the state.”
A Republican-controlled Legislature will force Democratic Gov. Brad Henry to decide whether to work with GOP legislators on such Republican-favored issues as workers’ compensation and lawsuit reform or veto proposals to “and “be the last stand of the old Democratic guard.”
The delegation also heard from Ronald Kessler, chief Washington correspondent for Newsmax, a conservative Web site and magazine, and an author of several books, including ones on President Bush and another on first lady Laura Bush. His most recent book is “The Terrorist Watch.”
Kessler said the Bush administration deserves credit for there not being another terrorist attack in the U.S. since 9/11. He also said Democratic nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama lacks experience, saying Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, nabbed to be the Republican vice presidential nominee, has faced more executive challenges and has succeeded in getting property taxes cut when she was mayor and helping pass ethics reforms as governor.
“When it comes to changes, Sarah Palin has done it, and Barack Obama has mainly changed his mind,” Kessler said.
Gustav apparently won’t be calling
MINNEAPOLIS – Kevin Calvey may not have to leave the Republican National Convention early.
Calvey, a former Republican state House representative from Del City, said Monday he again could be activated to go to New Orleans for the second time in three years to help restore order after a hurricane struck the Crescent City area.
Calvey, a captain in the Oklahoma National Guard’s 45th Infantry Brigade and an attorney, went to New Orleans in 2003 to help with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Assigned to the Army’s judge advocate general’s office, Calvey was among more than 2,000 Oklahomans who were deployed to New Orleans.
With Hurricane Gustav losing steam as it struck New Orleans, it appears Calvey, who returned to Oklahoma in January after a year of duty in Baghdad, won’t be activated and he and his wife, Toni, can continue to attend the convention as guests.
Calvey said New Orleans and the state of Louisiana as well as the federal government were much more prepared for Hurricane Gustav, compared with three years ago when chaos reigned. Nearly everyone was evacuated from the area well in advance of the approaching storm, negating the possibility of rooftop rescues that went on for days to get people out of swirling floodwaters.
“You’ve got a better governor now and the mayor, (Ray) Nagin, he was totally out of his league three years ago … but now just from seeing him on TV, he appears more competent, ” said Calvey, who met Nagin during his deployment to New Orleans. “I believe he seems to be learning some lessons. Clearly the federal response is much improved and the people of New Orleans did the smart thing and evacuated.”
The situation seems to be “much less dire” than it was three years ago, Calvey said.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
Sandbagged on the way to the RNC
ST PAUL, MINN. – So that was a sandbag that a law officer threw off the bus next to ours as we waited in line to get to the Republican National Convention.
A law officer climbed on the roof of the bus next to us Monday afternoon and threw off what looked like a sandbag, but none of the officers around would confirm it.
It was only after I left the Xcel Energy Center about 8 p.m. Monday that I heard from some police officers about the chaos that occurred outside while delegates inside were busy with opening the first day of the Republican National Convention.
A sheriff’s deputy from the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department, in Illinois south of Chicago, told me that nearly 60 people had been arrested during what he described as a small riot a few blocks from the security perimeter around the convention center.
The deputy, one of more than 50 from his department – one of dozens of agencies brought in here to help with security – said some disorderly folks smashed windows and threw park benches in the downtown area. The activity was a contrast to a quiet, albeit smaller, anti-war, anti-Bush administration protest Sunday near the convention center.
Some people Monday also threw sandbag “bombs” from highway overpasses near the convention center on buses bringing delegates to the convention. One of those sandbags apparently landed on the bus next to ours, and that’s what the law officer had climbed on top of the bus to remove.
Our bus was checked by law officers. The luggage compartment was opened, and a bomb-sniffing dog was nearby. After being stopped for several minutes, our bus was cleared and we went on our way oblivious to any disorderly activities that had occurred or would soon erupt.
The riots occurred while a crowd of about 5,000 protesters marched peacefully outside the convention’s site, law officers and reporters said.
Published reports said protest organizers were hoping for 50,000 from nearly 100 groups across the country to show up for Monday’s march to protest the war in Iraq and the administration of President Bush, a Republican, for spending money on the war instead of on domestic needs. They marched from the state Capitol more than a mile away to the convention center.
Afterwards, a rally and music were held several blocks away from the convention center. Several unmarked vans of police officers and police on motorcycles and bicycles were seen rushing to the area about 8 p.m. CNN later reported about 300 people were seen conducting what appeared to be a sit-in at a parking lot, but no further confrontations or trouble apparently occurred.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau.
At the Republican National Convention
ST. PAUL, MINN. – Oklahoma’s Republican delegation, after going through a checkpoint with bomb-sniffing dogs and officers that searched vehicles, made it to today’s opening session of the Republican National Convention.
Most of the delegates rode in buses, but some took taxis.
Most of today’s session will deal with committee reports, dealing with the party’s platform - or its goals and beliefs, credentials - to determine the qualification of delegates, and rules.
The session is expected to end about 5:30 today. The party’s presumed presidential nominee, John McCain, asked that today’s session be cut back from seven to 2 ½ hours because of the feared damage that would be inflicted on the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Gustav.
Our bus was stopped for several minutes about a block from the Xcel Energy Center in order for law enforcement officials to clear the vehicle.
Getting into the convention was orderly. Plenty of metal detectors were in place so that the average process to get in after emptying pockets and putting items through a metal detector took less than 10 minutes.
Delegates walking into the Xcel Energy Center were greeted by dozens of well-wishers from the Twin Cities, welcoming them to Minnesota. Oklahoma delegates felt at home with today’s weather, in the upper 80s, but cooler weather is expected tomorrow.
The Oklahoma delegation arrived early to the convention. Most members were in their seats on the red-carpeted floor by 2 p.m.
Tuesday’s schedule still appears to be up in the air. Some Oklahoma delegates heard there may be a blood drive after this evening’s session for Hurricane Gustav victims, but nothing’s been announced.
About two dozen Oklahoma delegates volunteered today to help St. Paul’s Salvation Army chapter by packing food items at its building a couple blocks away from the Xcel Energy Center after today’s session is over.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
A Twin Cities welcome
MINNEAPOLIS – Delegates from Oklahoma and the other states were officially welcomed to the Twin Cities last night at a reception at the Minneapolis Convention Center in downtown Minneapolis.
Oklahoma’s 81-member delegation, made up of 41 delegates, 38 alternates and several guests, is staying in Minneapolis while they are attending the Republican National Convention in nearby downtown St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center.
Alternate delegate Jerry Buchanan from Tulsa said he spoke with several members of the delegation from Alaska, which is seated next to Oklahoma at the convention; they told him that they were not only excited to share their governor with the country, but are looking forward for the rest of the country to see how strong, decisive and what a true leader Sarah Palin is.
Many of the delegates went to the showing of former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 2007 documentary, “Rediscovering God in America,” which explores religious faith’s role in American politics throughout the country’s history, at a nearby theater. Buchanan said he got the chance to meet Gingrich, who spoke fondly of his visits to Oklahoma.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
GOP convention hanging in the air
ST PAUL, MINN., – Will these balloons drop on presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain?
That’s the big question here, as Republicans this afternoon will hold the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Xcel Energy Center.
Today’s program has been scaled back. President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were the scheduled headliners, but both aren’t coming so they can better track Hurricane Gustav as it hits land along the Gulf Coast.
The GOP convention’s program was supposed to last seven hours, but now will run only from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Oklahoma time. The program will be limited to official opening business. In other words, no political speeches: That means U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, won’t speak tonight.
Convention organizers say it’s possible some of the speakers could be rescheduled, but if Gustav causes extensive damage in New Orleans or in other areas of the Gulf Coast, the convention could be further revised. It’s possible Tuesday night’s session could be devoted to raising money or seeking supplies and blood for the devastated areas.
And it’s possible McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona, may feel compelled to go to the damaged areas instead of being here Thursday night to accept his party’s nomination as president to close out the convention.
In the meantime, the balloons remain fastened to the ceiling of the Xcel Energy Center.
- Michael McNutt, Capitol Bureau
