My Experience at the Republican National Convention: Day One

Day 1: Arriving in Tampa Amid the Gathering Storm

This past week had to be up there with one of the most amazing life experiences I’ve had. But it all started with anxiety as Tropical Storm (and later Hurricane) Isaac threatened the Tampa Bay area to such a degree that organizers canceled the opening day’s festivities and had to move many parts of the schedule around to squeeze a 4-day convention into just 3 days.  For us, our journey began on Sunday, as I left Tallahassee with my James Madison Institute (JMI) colleague Joe Russo.

Two of our other staff members, Amar Ali and Scott Sholl were already down there. They were covering the Ron Paul rally being held Sunday afternoon. Several other colleagues, including our President, Bob McClure, would join us during the rest of the week. While our organization is non-partisan, we knew many free-market advocates would be in town for the GOP Convention and we had two events planned, a lunch for Tuesday and a wine tasting reception for Wednesday. Our general plan around that was to hit as many receptions, policy forums, and other unique opportunities to network and spread the message about JMI’s initiatives. And there were plenty to choose from!

Joe and I traveled down on the “scenic route” of US 19. We made a lunch stop at a barbeque joint in Chiefland only to run into our friend Christian Camara who had been traveling down (on his birthday!) with Molly Wilson, the wife of legendary Florida political consultant Rick Wilson. I wrote all about Christian’s birthday celebration in Tampa here.

Once Joe and I arrived into Tampa, our first stop was downtown to pick up guest tickets to the convention, thanks to my good friend Debbie Cox-Roush, who had secured us some. While traversing the streets of downtown Tampa, things already looked different. The rain was falling (from the very outer bands of Tropical Storm Isaac) and the calvary was out and in force – streets were closed, perimeter walls and fences were up, and the police and military presence gave one that eery feeling that we were under martial law. They were preparing for threats by protesters, anarchists, and terrorists. Fortunately, this convention would see no terrorism and surprisingly, very minimal protest presence.

We finally made our way from downtown to Treasure Island – a good 45-minute drive. Since the convention was bringing so many delegates and guests from every single state (and reporters from around the world) to the Tampa Bay area – people were spread out across the region, as far as more than an hour drive north, where the Florida delegates were staying in Innisbrook to an hour south in Sarasota, where we heard musician Kid Rock was staying. Many people were spread everywhere in between. We were out at the Crystal Palms Beach resort in Treasure Island. We had a couple of nice condos with our own bedrooms and bathrooms. Despite the drive, it wasn’t a bad place to set up shop for five nights. I even fully unpacked and put my stuff in drawers and in the closets.

As soon as we arrived at Treasure Island, I was trying to find out information on the welcome reception being held for delegates and guests at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg (only 20 minute drive from our location). While searching for it, I read that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie would be addressing the New Jersey delegation at a hotel just up the road from us at 6:00 P.M. We looked at our watches: it was 5:30 PM. We got dressed fast and headed over there. We showed our convention pass at the security gate to that hotel and they let us in. Then we walked right into the reception, just as Governor Christie began to speak.

His speech was hilarious, making fun of the press release he was sure the Democrats back in his home state would be writing before they even heard his speech, slated for later that week. He seemed cool and down to earth. After his impromptu address to his delegation, he walked around the room shaking hands. There were probably 250 or so people in the room. For whatever reason, Joe Russo and I lucked out again and we were able to walk right up to the Governor and shake his hand, as well as snag a picture with him. He was very friendly for those few moments we met him.

We were probably in that room for 30 minutes – a most effective use of our time, I have to say! From there, we drove over to the Tropicana Field for the GOP Convention Welcome Reception. We found parking on a side street and hoped our convention passes (for the next day) would get us into the Welcome Reception. They did not. But just as we were walking up to security, so were two other gentlemen (one who I knew by name, we had traded emails before). They had extra passes to the welcome reception and they were happy to give them to us. Talk about being at the right place at the right time – already three times in one day (meeting Christian at the rest stop, seeing Governor Christie at the hotel up the street, and now getting these welcome reception passes).

The welcome reception was amazing. It was held inside Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team plays. The lights were mostly dimmed as they had musicians performing, including country music star Rodney Akins and people speaking, as probably 10,000 of us or so were on the field enjoying the many buffet tables of free food and open bars, with no wait. What a welcome! We ran into so many people – I saw old friends from around the country who I hadn’t seen in years; I saw many of my Florida friends from Tallahassee and around the state. And we met new people from as far as Hawaii, Arizona, and as close as Georgia. What a neat event! I even was able to meet Miss Tampa (she’s a hottie and a Republican) as well as Republican National Committee Chairman, Reince Priebus. I told him, “Thanks for all you’ve been doing in Wisconsin with Governor Scott Walker!”

After the official welcome reception, we took ourselves just down the street to the “Full Lid” party which was co-hosted by Peter Schorsch, Rick Wilson, and Brian Hughes and featured a “who’s who” of political consultants, lobbyists, reporters, and other politicos from Florida’s public policy arena. The place was packed and I saw so many new friends and was able to meet so many others – including legendary opposition research strategist Roger Stone. Yes, Roger Stone.

This was day one. Word on the street was that the hurricane wasn’t going to hit but that we would be getting a lot or rain. There would be no convention on Monday, but that wouldn’t stop most of the parties, receptions, and policy exchanges held by outside groups surrounding the convention to occur. As we departed the Full Lid party to head back to our hotel around 2:00 AM, the rain was pouring down. But we had had an amazing experience. But now it was time for the real fun to begin.