My Experience at the Republican National Convention: Day 4

Day 4: We Were Born Free, We Want to Stay Free

On Wednesday morning I woke up in Treasure Island. I didn’t get much sleep. We had got back to our hotel around 2am the night before and I had to be up around 7am to get out the door and up the road to Innisbrook, the resort where the Florida delegates were staying. I had hoped to make the “Fresh from Florida” breakfast that Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam had put together for the Florida delegation, but the traffic getting up there was too much. To “punish” Florida for going “early” the Republican National Committee put the Florida delegation at the hotel furthest from the convention site – that meant at least an hour drive, with no traffic. From Treasure Island, it took me at least an hour and it wasn’t easy.

But the main reason I drove up there was because I was invited to a private breakfast in a large hotel suite with Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and about 20 or so grassroots leaders from around the state. This was a really neat meeting and I commend Jeff Atwater for holding it. He is a real listener and that’s most of what he did. He also invited in Ted Yoho, who just two weeks earlier had beat out longtime incumbent Congressman Cliff Stearns for the Republican nomination. It is very likely Mr. Yoho will be elected to Congress on November 6 as he is in a very safe Republican district.

I was able to meet Mr. Yoho and his wife at the meeting and I was also very impressed. He is a strong conservative who has never held elected office. He said the main reason he entered the race is that he was tired of complaining about Congress and decided he’d make a run. His profession? He’s a veterinarian. He represents a good chunk of north central Florida, in an area that stretches between Ocala and Jacksonville.  I also have to give a shout out to my friend Karin Hoffman for organizing this meeting. Without her, I wouldn’t have been there. She knows how to bring us together towards action.

After this meeting, I joined the Florida delegates for a lunch up in Tarpon Springs, not far from Innisbrook. At that lunch, I learned that Tarpon Springs has the highest per capita number of Greeks than any other city in America. We heard from the Mayor of Tarpon Springs, who told us in Greek, “We built it!” (You’ll have to go look that one up). We also heard from pollster Frank Luntz who gave a speech about what words work in conveying a message. He told us we need to stop talking about the 8.3% unemployment rate. That’s a statistic. Instead, we need to be talking about the 24 million Americans who are out of work. Those are real people.

I was glad to make this lunch as I was able to catch up with some of my good conservative friends here in Florida, including Christian Camara and Len Collins, and my housemate Dan Dawson! After lunch, I headed out of there, checked out the hospitality suite for the delegates back at Innisbrook, and then headed towards south Tampa to prepare for the second of two James Madison Institute (JMI) events we were holding in Tampa this week.

This event was a wine tasting reception held at a really neat venue called Cru Cellars from 4pm-6pm. They put together a great event for us, even featuring a wine they called “Romney Red.” We made clear to all of our guests that JMI was non-partisan but thanked the wine bar for their gesture.

Our guest speakers included Florida Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll, Congressman Steve Southerland, and Florida CFO Jeff Atwater.  All spoke about the importance of limited government and free markets. While the event went on for about two hours and change, each of our speakers addressed the crowd with about five minutes worth of remarks. The rest of the time our members and guests got the opportunity to meet and mingle with some of Florida’s most respected elected officials along with all of the JMI staff we had on hand – I think there were about eight of us there on staff and about another 60 guests!

It was a spectacular event and I only knew that because we had a number of people come up and tell us they enjoyed it and that we had picked out some really great venues this week. We sure did and I was grateful it all turned out so well, thanks in large part to our great staff, our generous members, and the availability our elected leaders gave us.

After this event, we grabbed something to eat (me and Joe hit Chipotle, of course) and then headed back over to the convention. On this night, we saw some spectacular speakers including former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, and Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan. I thought they all delivered great speeches.

I think the most impressive speech of the convention had to be by former Secretary of State Rice. She was the only one who did not use a TelePrompTer. She did have notes in front of her and she clearly was turning pages on television. I think when she was done just about everyone in the hall thought she should be President. Her speech was uber-Americana. She not only made the case for why America is an exceptional nation above all the rest in history but why it is important for the entire world that America remain so.

As I write this blog two weeks later, America is facing a dark day where violent protesters are targeting our embassy in Cairo and where a terrorist group just killed our Ambassador in Libya. But Condoleeza Rice’s words from two weeks ago ring truer today: “Where does America stand? You see when the friends or foes alike don’t know the answer to that question, unambiguously and clearly, the world is likely to be a more dangerous and chaotic place.” Her answer? “Since World War II, the United States has had an answer to that question.  We stand for free peoples and free markets.  We will defend and support them. We will sustain a balance of power that favors freedom.”

And then the evening ended with Paul Ryan making the case for why tough decisions must be made. We no longer have the time to kick them down the road. He laid out why the Obama Administration’s new health care law is bankrupting Medicare and ultimately our nation. Paul Ryan is the man with the plan. He had lots of great lines, but a speech full of incredible substance, and a fresh face that is very welcoming to a party that tends to choose aging candidates.

My two favorite lines from Paul Ryan’s speech included one aimed at young adults and their parents: “College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life.”

And then there was this: “None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers – a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us.”

Well said. I don’t want an adventureless life where everything is planned by the government. Individual liberty is risky, but risk breeds opportunity, and the entire thing is truly an adventure. After the convention ended, the adventure for the night was only beginning.

I had two tickets to the Kid Rock concert taking place down the street from the convention. Thanks to JMI board member Fred Leonhardt who had so generously given me the two extra tickets he had. I went to that show with my colleague Amar Ali. With nearly 2,000 people under a big tent, we rocked out for about two hours, listening to some classic Kid Rock tunes. We were also provided with free sandwiches, thanks to a corporate sponsor, Jimmy John’s. And there was also free drinks, but I had had enough alcohol this week that I just stuck with water for the night.

Kid Rock, himself a Republican, thanked us all for what we were doing and for being so involved in our country’s future. He also added a little rap riff into one of his songs: “Some people say Obama is lying, that’s why I’m voting Romney and Ryan!” We all screamed and cheered. He then ended his concert with his tune “Born Free.” Indeed, we were born free into a life full of adventure, not into one where everything is planned by the government. It would be nearly 3am before we would get back to our hotel in Treasure Island. But what an adventurous day it was.