Not hardly!
Well, the boats are a bit smaller. Amenities are rather lacking by comparison. And you might drown.
But the scenery can't be beat, and the company is usually good!
-ccm
Posted on 11/15/2004 9:32:12 PM PST by nerdgirl
Sorry to post a vanity...but I haven't found ANY other Freepers yet on the National Review cruise here in the Caribbean...any of you have friends or family present? If so drop me a line, I'd love to meet them. As for the cruise itself, it's been quite fun - there are around 400 mostly rabid Republicans here, plus several of the staff & contributors of National Review and a few other notables like Ed Gillespie, Dick Morris, Michelle Malkin, & Stephen Moore.
Today they gave seminars on how Bush won, and thoughts on who the Repub. candidate might be for 2008. Dick Morris thinks the "only human being in this country" who can beat Hillary - in his view already locked into the nomination - is Condi Rice. Something about how the combination of the single women vote, Hispanic vote, & the black vote - plus strong Republican support would make Condi unbeatable. I don't know if I agree with that entirely, but hey I'm not quite the expert on political campaigns & their viability that Dick is.
Stephen Moore of Club for Growth was AWESOME. Among other things he talked about the need for a flat tax, how the way to actually get the thing passed is to offer taxpayers a choice: either use the existing system, expemptions & all, or the flat tax. All on the panel agreed it was a great idea, Dick calling it "the best idea I've heard in 10 years".
Ramesh Ponnuru is hilarious. Something about the guy's voice combined with his biting sense of humor.
Rich Lowry looks even younger in person. He's also got the entertainly sarcastic sense of humor that you've seen him use to drive people like Susan Estrich to the edge.
Ed Gillespie is a lot more impressive speaking in person than on TV. At first I thought "that guy looks like a clueless dufus" - we're talking he walked into the cruise departure gate in Ft. Lauderdale wearing this big jacket w/ RNC written all over it...he gave an articulate & downright energizing play by play about how the RNC and Karl Rove pulled off the big win. Bottom line? Boots on the ground, all reporting back to precincts & districts, who reported on up the chain to Karl himself. Ed described it to me in our really brief conversation as "like Amay" in structure - everybody overseeing the people below them, with more people below that. They ran one tight, disciplined ship, with over 15 million people being directly contacted about voting on the actual election day by somebody connected with the RNC or Bush/Cheney in one form or another.
Michelle Malkin - well it was a bit of a disappointment as she comes across as this really strong conservative woman on TV - but she was seasick today, so kept her participation in the panel to a bare minimum. It came off that maybe she just didn't have anything to say, when I know that couldn't be the case.
Jonah Goldberg should be showing up tomorrow - but Dick may be leaving, which would be a bummer as I've hoped to meet him, and short of rushing the podium between one of the seminars, there just hasn't been an opportunity yet.
Sounds like a blast.
What's the scoop on the Specter chairmanship? And are there any conservatives there who are wondering why W is still pushing this illegal alien amnesty BS?
Please keep posting! I have never heard of a "National Review Cruise" before now.
How often do they have this cruise?
On a personal note I'm taking my 1st cruise to the Grand Cayman/Cozumel/Key West Jan. 1st.
Great report, I'd love to get updates as they are convenient to you. I was particularly interested in the "boots on the ground" information as I was a pair of those boots. If Gillespie is around for the whole trip I'd love to know where we might voice ideas about the organization they had in Michigan.
Anyway, have a great time. I hope to read more.
Gillespie had to field a question about Specter today. He dodged it & said that the RNC, as a policy, supports incumbents, period. I forgot to mention that Pat Toomey is here too - I never heard of the guy before, but I guess I'm not that focused on individual guys like that.
I'm sure the Specter issue will be raised again - I'll let you know what they say. As for the illegal alien thing - only Dick Morris touched on that today, basically giving support to Bush - and kind of surprising the audience by asking for a show of hands of people who haven't employed an illegal...(or something like that) - most of the audience kind of acted like they would NEVER do that - which is just bs. Then a few people talked about the need to enforce the law, etc. Can't remember if it was panelists or the audience though.
Sounds like loads of fun. Keep us updated.
Wow! What a fabulous opportunity! Definitely keep posting! All of us in flyover country can live vicariously through you for a week!
Enjoyed your story. You absolutely have to let us know if you spot Michelle Malkin in the swim-up bar or the limbo contest.
I read that as Grand Canyon!!
A cruise to the Grand Canyon? That'll be a first!
thanks for the replies! Great to hear some freeper voices - as the people I've asked about being freepers have just gone "what's a freeper?" Um yeah, that would be some of the people doing the RESEARCH that ends up in articles on sites like NRO - lol.
I'd like the admin to take my name off the top of this too...hope they do that as I wouldn't want to have to filter anything for you!
I'll be back tomorrow after the hike on St. Thomas - I'll try to answer any questions then - and bring up any of your questions w/ the "pundits" if I get a chance.
You are on the exact same cruise as the FReepers took last May, only ours was a lot cheaper d/t 'just us' speaking. We had a blast.
Thanks for posting and keep us updated. Hope Michelle feels better, seasickness sucks.
MKM
>>Enjoyed your story. You absolutely have to let us know if you spot Michelle Malkin in the swim-up bar or the limbo contest<
LOL
Hey I am a female...I do not care about Michelle doing the in the pool or doing the limbo.
Wait on second thought I would not mind hearing about Michelle.
Because I certainly do not want to hear about any of the men mentioned above in their swimsuits.
*shudders*
Yeah, Ed Gillespie in a shameless French bikini brief is probably not what you dream about at night!! As for the Michelle stuff -- it's late, I'm tired, and probably shouldn't be posting. (But I'd still like to hear about it.)
Have you been advertising FR?? =o)
Somebody give her drugs.. Hey they are out of US water, right??
Just for fun I'll tell the true story of a friend of mine, recovering alcoholic, who went on a cruise a few years ago. About half-way through, hanging around day after day with folks licquoring up, he thought he might have made a mistake. My friend craved an AA meeting, but how to find other AAers on the cruise? He arranged to make an announcement over the ship's public address system. But he was careful to maintain his anonymity. Most recovering alcoholics know that Bill Wilson (1896-1971) was the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. My friend simply invited anyone who was a friend of Bill Wilson to meet at a certain place at a certain time.
At the appointed time and place, just one man stepped forward. "I'm Bill Wilson," he said.
You lucky duck! Sounds like a great cruise. Lighten up on poor Michelle. She should have gotten a Transderm Scop patch for seasickness. (Of course it is contraindicated in pregnancy...Hmmmm)
Not hardly!
Well, the boats are a bit smaller. Amenities are rather lacking by comparison. And you might drown.
But the scenery can't be beat, and the company is usually good!
-ccm
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