My Experience at the Republican National Convention: Day 5

Day 5: We Own This Country

After a late night on Wednesday, me and two of my colleagues Joe and Amar got up and left Treasure Island for a lunch put on by the Libre Initiative in the Tampa Westside area. It was a very professional event focused on public policy from the view of conservatives in the Hispanic community. With an emphasis on economic freedom, issues ranged from the challenges facing immigrants, small business owners, entrepreneurs, with issues from job creation to health care. One of the panelists was Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart of Miami. I spoke with him at the conclusion of the event.

There was definitely a large “Hispanic presence” at the convention and the many events surround it and this was one of them. Later in the day, we attended a private reception co-hosted by SunPac: Florida Hispanic Outreach, led by Jeb Bush Jr. and David Cardenas. They teamed up with the State Government Leadership Association (SGLA) to host Condoleeza Rice. This may have been the best event I attended all week. At the very least, the 20-minute speech on school choice by former Secretary of State Rice was impressive. I was standing about 10 feet away from her in a room with about 150 people as she delivered this policy level speech without any notes. I had hoped to meet her but she didn’t stay for any meet and greets.

After this event, Amar and I got dinner at the Sheraton Riverwalk and then we met up with Joe at the convention. That night we heard from a number of great speakers. This was, after all, the “big night” of the convention. At the end of this night, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney would be officially accepting the Republican nomination for President and give his speech.

When we walked in shortly after 8:00 PM, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. My favorite line from him was when he said President Obama needs to stop blaming his brother. “Mr. President – It is time to stop blaming your predecessor for your failed economic policies,” he said. “You were dealt a tough hand, but your policies have not worked.” Someone needed to say it and Jeb was the best person to do so.

The big surprise of the evening came from the “surprise” speaker Clint Eastwood. He gave a very strange, yet hilarious, presentation. He had a stage hand bring out an empty chair and he proceeded to have a “conversation” with an “invisible Obama.” While this was slightly strange and off the cuff, I think it resonated with lines like: “We own this country.” He continued, “We — we own it. It is not you owning it, and not politicians owning it. Politicians are employees of ours.” He also said, “When somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go.”

While parts of the speech by this 82-year old Hollywood actor may have seemed a little bizarre at times, this speech was not for the politicos. This was for the every day mom and dad sitting on the couch at home listening to Dirty Harry poke fun at the President’s failed policies and remind America we can do better.

Following Clint Eastwood, the night shifted back to Florida when U.S. Senator Marco Rubio gave a moving speech to introduce Governor Romney. Senator Rubio began with telling his own family’s story to discuss why America is great and why we cannot allow big government policies to cripple the opportunities for every American. The first lines of his speech (which were not on the TelePrompTer) reminded the nation that just a few hundred miles from where we were in Tampa, there was a country, Cuba, where the people were not free.

As I sat listening to Senator Rubio speak, in particular about his father’s immigration story and the hard work and hard life he lived so his kids could have greater opportunities, something struck me. I wondered that when Rubio’s parents were making the journey from Cuba to the United States if they could have ever imagined this night, their son, introducing possibly the next President of the United States of America in front of the entire nation watching. That is what is so great about America. The things that seem impossible – or not even worth thinking about – could be possible.

Then Rubio introduced Romney, who came up on the stage by first going through parts of the audience shaking hands to thunderous applause. I thought Governor Romney delivered perhaps the best speech of his career. That probably isn’t saying much for him, but he solidly hit on many different points and I thought the entire night and the entire convention was capped off with much success.

After Romney’s speech was over, his family as well as Paul Ryan and his family joined together on stage and the balloons fell. It was spectacular to witness that. And then where we were, we also ran into former Florida Marlin Gary Sheffield who was there to see his wife sing as the balloons dropped. Joe and I being big Marlins fans were able to say hello to him and even ask for a picture.

After the convention officially ended, the festivities did not. We headed back over to Liberty Plaza for a concert by Journey. Yes, Journey. They played all the hits and even though they’ve got a new front man, they didn’t sound any different. Once again, we were in the same spot as I saw Kid Rock at the night before – so that mean free sandwiches from Jimmy John’s and more free drinks. Most people were done with “working” the convention, so I got to catch up with lots of folks at the concert, including my house mate Dan Dawson, who was finally able to have some fun after all the hard work.

The convention week was a lot of work and very exhausting. But this kind of work was fun – we did some major outreach, met lots of folks from many states and with many organizations, and hopefully we’ll see some results from all this in November. The future of our country is at stake and we need to remind our elected officials that it is not them that own this country. We the People own this country. And as long as we do, our doors will be open to people like Marco Rubio’s family and all those who want to pursue the American Dream.