RNC updates

Most importantly, I am nervous to see the continuing weather reports regarding Gustav. The levels keep increasing, and I know some of my friends here from Texas are nervous about what will happen come tomorrow. The category has dropped to a 3, but they are anticipating another rise overnight. A state of emergency has taken affect, including emergency evacuations. Hopefully people will be leaving the areas and surrounding areas willingly. I really hope that it doesn’t hit, especially some areas who have already had trouble with Katrina. They are still recovering from Katrina and Gustav would certainly not be helpful in their stay. I am also interested to see how the RNC will be impacted by Gustav. In about one hour, so 4 p.m. EST, McCain should be making an announcement to see how the RNC is going to be impacted by Gustav. We cannot be celebrating in the time of crisis for the United States. Unfortunately, if it is postponed… I don’t see things going well for any of us here. I know that we all have plane flights and other commitments, eg school, that we need to get back to. Senator McCain has come out and stated that he is thinking about postponing or delaying the RNC.

And the VP nominee is…

I have no doubt in my mind that you have no already heard about Sarah Palin: the new Republican VP nominee. So the story broke this morning at around 9:30 here in Minneapolis; Aaron received a text message from NBC. We saw McCain and Palin speak on CNN at the uni. What an interesting choice…

Let me explain basics of just what I think. She is a new person to politics in general, she has had two years as the governor of Alaska. Yes, that’s right… Alaska. But she has many things going for her. Noted as the most popular governor, in just two years she has fought corruption in Alaska. She is a mother of five, which I’m sure you heard as well. She worked her way up the ranks. From basketball coach to PTA all the way up to the governor. I know governing is no easy thing, but it’s hard to say how it is to govern a state with a population of less than 700,000 people. What does that mean for Palin? Palin also has a son shipping off to Iraq, so she is invested in the Iraq war as well. She is a working mother, really starting at the bottom and working her way up the ranks.

This was a political move. There were several other Republicans up for the VP spot as well. By the morning, we knew about Ohio and Minnesota being out. And then there was speculation about a plane from Anchorage coming in 10 p.m. last night. But then there were rumors that Palin was still back in Alaska. Hmm, interesting. Media wanted to break it first. Sarah Palin is a woman. Clearly. She is also a conservative, which McCain did need to go back to. By choosing Palin as a running mate, McCain was hoping it would give enough of a pull to just have him win. 

At the very least, McCain managed to shake up the VP process. She is the youngest, at 44 years old. She is inexperienced in national politics, but the Republicans make the case that she has had executive experience, something Obama does not. Everyone keeps asking the question as to if she’ll get the Clinton supporters. I don’t think its so much about that. I think its more about those women in the middle, who don’t necessarily vote towards either major party. I think its about those people, the more independent voting women. At the same time, if those Clinton supporters decide to go for neither candidate, then they could potentially stay at home. That will also be beneficial to McCain as well. I don’t think that all of a sudden women everywhere will go… ooh look, let’s go vote for her. At the same time, it’ll be an interesting thing to see as it develops. I think there is a case to make for her as a woman… in the sense that she worked her way up on her own. Whether or not you like Hillary Clinton aside, she did have that national exposure as the First Lady under the Clinton administration. I have heard women argue that we actually wouldn’t want her as the first female President because she wasn’t a women’s woman. That they didn’t want the first women President to also have already been the first Lady. 

However, Sarah Palin is a relative unknown. And I think, any way you spin it… she lacks experience. The McCain campaign took a huge chunk of the experience debate off the table. She is also the governor. of Alaska. It doesn’t say much. She is also dealing with a controversy, though nothing is connecting her at this time. 

Regardless, I think it was obviously a nonconventional choice. It was a shocking choice. But either way, in one announcement… the McCain’s campaigns have been able to completely shift the focus away from Obama and his amazing acceptance speech. Some people actually thought the McCain crew was going to announce Thursday night, but he McCain crew repeated that it was OBama’s night. What an interesting story, and I look forward to seeing the VP debate, and how she deals with the the vetting as well.

Recap of day one:

Today we got the opportunity to meet our faculty leaders. An interesting diversity of who they thinking have a shot to be chosen as the McCain VP nominee. Former Congressman Mickey Edwards started off by kind of reminding us that the Cogress is clearly going to play a huge role as well. I mean, everyone is so focused on McCain and Obama that people forget. I think it is valid as well, because many view the President as the head of state, or at the very least the biggest public figure and executive branch member in America. Although, I think people forget to recognize the President does need the approval of the Congress for many things. I think whoever wins the Presidency will have to deal with the Congress, especially after all the additional Presidential powers added during the Bush administration. With all the controversy of the immense increase of power in the Presidential powers during the Bush administration, people should want the Congress to check on the next President. I hope this happens as well if Obama is elected, even though he is a Democratic and there is a Democratic majority in Congress. I feel that every political analyst and everyone in between in talking about the VP position, especially with the recent announcement of Joe Biden for the Democratic nominee. Clearly people think the role itself is significant, 20% of people who have held the VP position have continued on to becoming President. Obviously, the Presidential nominees need to pick a VP who can answer the weakness of the President, Obama with foreign policy and McCain with economics. I think McCain really needs to find someone that conservatives can trust and everyone can trust to get them back towards a balanced budget. It’ll be interesting to see whether McCain uses strategy towards economics or winning specific states or even just to enter his VP candidate with a splash. There has been talk for two potential female VPs, so it would be a very interesting race.

 

A quick note of an overall recap…

It was our first official day at the Washington Center. Unfortunately, I don’t have as much time as I would like. I actually didn’t realize I wouldn’t have much time for my blog today. Today was the first day of our seminars. It was nice because we got the chance to learn more about the faculty leaders, they introduced themselves more in detail. And we had other speakers as well, including the Honorable Mickey Edwards who discussed the importance of the Congressional leaders even in the Presidential process. I agree, because I feel that in most people focus so much on the Presidential election that they forget about Congress and the checks and balances that they have on the President. And also, what Congressional powers are specifically for Congress. Especially with a Democratic-majority for the Republicans. And as well if the Democrats don’t win the Presidential election… what will it say about the party itself. It was interesting as well.

Anyway, I will have to write about today and tomorrow when I actually have time tomorrow. It is two in the morning here and I am so tired. We are writing journal entries as well about our experiences here, so hopefully I have a lot to write about and think about for the future. 

The DNC started today, which I’m sure some of you know. Its really interesting here because my mix of friends are Democrats and Republicans. The people on the metro here must think we are so strange… we talked about politics the whole way to the Mall of America and back. We went there today, it was my first time there… and it was nice, but we only saw a small segment of it. Hopefully we’ll be back again. There is this like mini amusement park in the middle of the mall. About eleven of us went I think and I am sure we were pretty loud with our discussions on the metro . The people in the metro here is really quiet, which is really interesting. I think its fun that there are debates going on amongst people who are at the RNC as well. It’s nice to debate both sides. I guess we’ll see how the DNC progresses as well, especially after the Clintons speak tuesday and wednesday. I actually wish I could talk more about Biden and how I feel that he is the VP for Obama, but hopefully tomorrow. Afterwards the guys came over and we just sat and hung out. After today, I think it’ll be a really fun two weeks. I am learning about other people and the continuing learning of other people’s views is probably the best thing I’ve experienced so far.

On a side note, I’m actually learning loads about England and Northern Ireland as well. I absolutely love it and I’m so excited to go to England, although its not for a long while. It’s actually really amazing, and my roommate and I, as well as our other friends, are having very interesting discussions on religion. I hope to continue to learn about more as time goes on. 

That’s all tonight. As I said, updates tomorrow with more details on the seminars themselves. 
Good night~!

And we are here…

2 planes and a couple hours later, we are in Minneapolis. No complaints here though, our plan rides were really smooth and pain free. Some people here were in planes for HOURS and HOURS and jet-lagged even.  Although we haven’t even done anything yet, I am really grateful already for the chance to come here. Thanks Temple, the Vice Provost, Ruth, Dr. Kolodny~! I know I will have an experience of a lifetime, regardless of what I do. I have already met amazing people, and I love it because my roommate is not a staunch Republican either, so it’ll be great . I’m not staunch anything, as you will soon learn . We actually already had a debate after dinner regarding foreign policy, since we do have people here from other countries as well… and not everyone here is Republicans. Like me, they are here to learn. We had our orientation today and got our room keys & mates for the next two weeks. I was one of the winners of the ice breaker game~! haha I won an American scarf, which is sweet. I haven’t had much of a chance to explore Minneapolis (who knows if I will), but I am excited of what is going to happen in the days ahead. For some strange reason, I am really exhausted… I started getting tired at 8:30 p.m. here haha. Oops. Full day ahead, so hopefully some more interesting updates for you guys soon! My roommate seems awesome, I don’t want to give too much information about her for security reasons but I think it’ll be such a fun time these next days. 

Good night~!

Testing…

Testing… new blog site.

Hopefully I’ll use this website to write about my goings-on during the convention.
 

All I know so far:

  fieldwork placement: Boston Globe
 

Obviously, I know the convention is at Minneapolis and we are going to be staying in hotels while we are there. I’m interested to meet my roommate for the next two weeks and know what exactly what we are going to do on a day-to-day basis.