Posted on 09/04/2004 1:13:51 PM PDT by Hillary's Lovely Legs
Greetings from a delegate to the GOP convention in New York.
I had a busy week. And I am so glad to be home. I need the next three days to recover from the last 5.
This was an incredibly successful convention, and my hats off to the people of New York and all of their public safety workers. The police were everywhere and just terrific.
Here is my diary and observations:
I arrived at my hotel on Sunday afternoon. My hotel held the delegations of Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Michigan. We had to show ID to get into the hotel. Security was tight.
Sunday night I went on a cruise for my delegation on a yacht that sailed around the southern end of Manhattan, Statue of Liberty, and Staten Island. The food was great, the weather was fantastic, and everyone had a fantastic time. Some drank too much, but the booze was free.
Here is a photo of the Statue of Liberty on my cameraphone from the boat.
On Monday I had to give a speech to the Republican Women of Congress. It was there that I met Rick Lazio. I went up to him and told him what I did to Hillary last summer at her book signing. He laughed, put his arm around me and said “ You are my new best friend” and asked me to sit with him at lunch. He and I had a great time and had our picture taken together. He gave me his card and some wealthy donor contacts in Michigan, and we will be speaking on Tuesday about a campaign and fundraising strategy.
I have a great speach, I am pretty proud of it. It had the audience rolling with laughter. Too many speeches were boring and I wanted to shake things up.
After the luncheon I had my photo taken with other congresspeople, one of which was Katherine Harris.
My photos are being processed, with the holiday weekend it will be a couple of days before I am able to publish them.
After the luncheon I went to the W Stands for Woman meeting at the Waldorf.
It was another fantastic event with the twins, Barbara Bush, Doro Bush, the female cabinet members, and Angie Harmon, who is beyond gorgeous. After the speeches by the Bushes I went to a meeting of Iraqi and Afghan women who were liberated by our country. It was very moving to hear their stories. We must fight tyranny, fight terrorism, and liberate the oppressed.
I then went to a party at Mickey Mantel’s Sport’s Bar and got a baseball signed by former Tiger announcer Ernie Harwell. Then on to the convention.
Security was very tight. Protestors everywhere. All the streets were closed off for our buses. When we got close to the Garden we had to go through a checkpoint that was like going through a communist checkpoint. They looked under the buses with mirrors and we were stopped about every 100 feet.
When we got to the Garden we were in a huge crowd. It took me over an hour and a half to get to my seat. I arrived at 9:00, just as Ron Silver had entered the stage. I thought that his speech was magnificent. He was one of my top 3 speeches.
Ron Silver
I left early to go to another party, the private Travis Tritt Concert. It was sponsored by General Motors and they had all sorts of cool concept cars. They also had a 67 GTO that all the men were wild for. I even had some old guy tell me all bout the back seat. Don’t ask.
The concert started and I was eventually pushed right up against the stage. Here is a photo with my cameraphone.. I will have better photos later with my camera.
Near the end of the concert the drummers drumstick flew out of his hand and hit me in the head. I kept the drumstick and the drummer and Travis Tritt autographed it for me.
Here is the drumstick
After the party I met up with some friends who want to play cards on a boat. We were on the boat, and around 3am it started moving. I asked where we were going and they said that we were going out to watch the sunrise. No sleep for me that night.
Tuesday was another busy day of parties and convention. I think that Tuesday was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s speech. It was amazing. Another of my top 3. I was also interviewed by Japanese Television and Triumph the Insulting dog that night.
Picture of Arnold
Wednesday was shopping in Chinatown and off to see some diamond designers. Have I mentioned that I love New York.
Wednesday I missed the bus and had to take a cab with a couple other delegates. The cab had to drop us off 10 blocks from the Garden.We were told to hide our credentials so we wouldn’t be harassed on the street. I put mine under my sweater.
I was suffering from a terrible upper respiratory infection and was unable to talk or breathe. I told my other passengers that I was unable to walk quickly due to my lack of breath. They walked very quickly and left me at a stoplight. They were now a block and a half away and I had to walk by myself. I made it past several protestor but I did pretty well not getting harassed.
Then I walked past a man in a suit. He was late 20's early 30's. He saw me alone after running the gauntlet of some smelly protestors and said “ Hey, I support Bush, I am one of you”. So I said “ oh it’s so nice to see a friendly face, thank you”. He then gave me some literature that said “Support Bush”. When I started to read it I realized that it was all against Bush and I said “ Hey, this is anti-Bush. If you are going to be a protestor just be honest and tell me. I would respect you more. You didn’t have to lie to me.”
It was then that he gave me a bum rush and slammed me into a building. He then started swearing at me. That’s what the protestors do, they start swearing and calling us blank-suckers. Nice, huh?
I was unable to breathe so I just started coughing on him to try to speak. A passerby saw the situation and pulled the guy off of me and gave me a bottle of water. The cops were there in seconds and grabbed the protestor and escorted me into the Garden and to my seat.
Wednesday was the night of Zell Miller. Wow, wasn’t that amazing!!! It’s also the night that I met Don King. We had our photo taken together and he endorsed my campaign. I thought that it was pretty funny. I can’t wait to see that picture.
Tribute to Reagan
After the convention was the big party thrown by John McCain. Unfortunately our cab driver took to Times Square which was crawling with protestors and told us to walk a block west. After a couple of blocks of walking I noticed that the addresses were wrong and spoke to some cops. We were actually going the wrong way and needed to go about 9 blocks east. I wish I had that cabbie number. I would give his company a piece of my mind.
The McCain party was fabulous. Darrell Hannah and Joe Piscipo was there. I was able to meet McCain, Guilianni and Henry Kissinger. The food was the best of the convention.
Thursday morning all hell broke loose. A congressman heard about me being attacked and told my state chairman. Next thing I know the RNC Communications director is at my breakfast table and wanted to talk to me. Since I am a federal candidate and my nametag was visable, the attack on me in now a federal offence. The RNC wanted to publicize the dirty tricks that the protestors were up to and that they attacked a federal candidate and lone woman on the street.
Thursday the protestors were doing an all out attack. The buses were being stopped and the streets were lined with scumbags giving us the finger, foul signs, and screaming obscenities. It took forever to get into the Garden again.
The evening was great and the president hit it out of the park. I met Stephen Baldwin that night and had my picture taken with him. I also took photos of Carl Rove, Ken Melman, and David Gregory.
What was pretty scary was that a woman in my delegation was offered $10,000 for her credential by a man in New Jersey. The idiot was going to write her a check. The Secret Service and FBI took away my friend for questioning and she was really shaken up.
During my trip I made a point of shaking every police officer’s hand and telling them how safe I felt and how much we appreciate them. They ALL, yes ALL said that they were voting for Bush.
When I was in the diamond district I spoke to Jewish jewelers. They are ALL voting for Bush.
There is huge Bush support. We did it right, we stressed the importance of the war on terror and did not ignore that we were attacked.
9-11 should be in the front of our minds. We lost our fellow Americans. Let us never forget.
I want to thank the President and the Republican Party for holding this event in my hometown, my father's hometown, my grandfather's and great grandfather's birthplace.
Just over 1,000 days ago, 2,605 of my neighbors were murdered at the World Trade Center -- men, women and children -- as they began their day on a brilliantly clear New York autumn morning, less than four miles from where I am now standing.
We will never forgive. Never forget. Never excuse!
At the end of World War II, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander of the South Pacific, said:
"It is my earnest hope - indeed the hope of all mankind - that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past, a world found upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance and justice."
The hope he expressed then remains relevant today.
We are again engaged in a war that will define the future of humankind. Responding to attacks on our soil, America has led a coalition of countries against extremists who want to destroy our way of life and our values.
This is a war we did not seek.
This is a war waged against us.
This is a war to which we had to respond.
History shows that we are not imperialists . . .
but we are fighters for freedom and democracy.
Even though I am a well-recognized liberal on many issues confronting our society today, I find it ironic that many human rights advocates and outspoken members of my own entertainment community are often on the front lines to protest repression, for which I applaud them
but they are usually the first ones to oppose any use of force to take care of these horrors that they catalogue repeatedly.
Under the unwavering leadership of President Bush, the cause of freedom and democracy is being advanced by the courageous men and women serving in our Armed Services.
The President is doing exactly the right thing.
That is why we need this President at this time!
I am grateful for the chance to speak tonight to express my support for our Commander-in-Chief, for our brave troops, and for the vital cause which they have undertaken.
General Dwight Eisenhower's statement of 60 years ago is true today . . .
"United in this determination and with unshakable faith in the cause for which we fight, we will, with God's help, go forward to our greatest victory."
Thank you.
It still feels like yesterday to me!
This is a great report and those are great pictures. I am jealous and I hate you. :^)
I hope you pressed charges.
What was pretty scary was that a woman in my delegation was offered $10,000 for her credential by a man in New Jersey. The idiot was going to write her a check. The Secret Service and FBI took away my friend for questioning and she was really shaken up.
The check would have bounced. Should have demanded cash.
Um, I think you were about 20 blocks off if you were shopping for diamonds in Chinatown. :) The 'diamonds' they sell down there certainly don't come with a certificate of authenticity.
That wasn't nice :-(
If I were there, I would have carried you.
I didn't look at diamonds in Chinatown!!! Anything in Chinatown is plastic.
I went to Danielle B. on 57th, then up to Graff, Van Cleef, Tiffanies, Cartier, and Winston.
Ok, well, I was only quoting you. :) Glad to hear you did it the right way. You can get some great deals there.
Great report, cant wait to see more pictures when they are ready.
Sorry to hear about the protestors, but I am not surprised. I miss living a bus ride from NYC, and glad you had a great time dispite the smelly pinkos there.
Woo Hoo! Awesome report. Glad you were able to make so many contacts during the convention. I hope the twit who dared rough you up is met with his due soon. He will be. :) It's Karma. :)
Good luck to you on your venture!
Should have had him write out the check then went to the nearest policemen and gave it to him!
I am so sorry to hear some scum actually attacked you. That is disgusting. I am glad you are alright and that other people helped you. What cowardice to attack a woman.
I hope they throw the book at him and he can have plenty of time to reconsider things as he rots in jail.
Thanks so much! I loved the pics that BWB posted while you were at the convention!
Does anyone know where I can find the RNC videos used during the convention? I loved the one before Bush's speech and did watch it again at the Cspan website. The one I would like to see again is the "home movies" one when the twins were small. Was that one aired on Thursday night, too?
Thanks for the report, HLL! AWESOME!! I am interested in seeing the other pics when you post them. If it isnt too much trouble, I'd be grateful for a ping! BTW thanks for running for office. May God bless you and guide you in your campaign.
Hey dl...werent you an alternate delegate? Have you written up a report yet?
During the concert, Travis said " Here is something you will never see again, Willie Nelson endorsing president Bush".
He then did an impersonation of Nelson singing 'Mama don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys'.
Thank you, HLL, you are breath-takingly talented. I checked out your website, too. Honestly, your work is outstanding. Thank you for bringing the convention (and GOP) to me in a way that was simply exceptional.
Anne (aka N. Beaujon)
Excellent and facinating report! Can you tell us what people were saying after the President's speech? What was the reaction of the delegates?
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