Posted on 08/09/2004 7:57:23 PM PDT by conservative in nyc
hen the curtain goes up on the Republican National Convention on Aug. 30, the supporting cast will include gospel- and country-music performers, elaborate videos, and celebrities doing what they can to help market President Bush's ideas and vision for America, one of the convention's organizers said yesterday.
But the convention will present not only politicians and celebrities on each of its four days. People from around the country have been invited to offer an invocation or benediction or to make some other short statement, said Frank Breeden, the convention's director of entertainment, who called this aspect of the program "Preachers and Patriots."
The Republicans are hoping that their convention, in New York, can help give their candidate the significant bounce in the polls that eluded the Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry, after the convention in Boston. And so the party hired Mr. Breeden, a former president of the Gospel Music Association renowned in the Christian music industry, to help produce a show that carefully weaves the party's political message with a mix of music, star power and patriotic symbolism.
Republicans have generally been tight-lipped about convention details, but in an interview, Mr. Breeden gave some clues about what to expect. He said he has worked since November to help recruit celebrities to perform, give press interviews, attend parties or be otherwise visible at Madison Square Garden.
The goal, Mr. Breeden said, is to help market the party's political ideas.
"Entertainment plays more of a prominent role in marketing messages today than ever before," Mr. Breeden said in a telephone interview. And he said that the convention organizers wanted to employ those tools in selling their political philosophy: "Just like Cadillac uses Led Zeppelin to market its ideas."
From the very moment Republican officials chose New York City as the site of their convention for the first time in the party's history, convention organizers said they were trying to create a singular event. Some of the highlights are expected to be speeches from California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and from former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York.
Mr. Breeden said that the list of entertainers was complete and would be released soon by the public relations arm of the Committee on Arrangements, which is actually organizing the event. But he said that in addition to employing celebrities, the convention would rely heavily on videos to help makes its case.
"We have taken several different story points and used media to enhance them and communicate the message," Mr. Breeden said, using the language of convention organizers.
With networks cutting back on their coverage, Mr. Breeden said that organizers had their work cut out for them.
"Television is very competitive; convention television is even more competitive,'' Mr. Breeden said. "It is diminished coverage and even harder to get viewers to tune in. We have to think like television, use a large pallet of creative ideas to convey the message."
Mr. Breeden, who lives in Tennessee, has been spending weekdays in Manhattan helping pull together the convention, which is scheduled to run from Aug. 30 through Sept. 2. During his tenure at the head of the Christian music industry trade group, Mr. Breeden was credited with helping to expand the reach and sales of Christian music.
He said yesterday that he expected the convention to be heavy with gospel, country and Broadway music, and with patriotic music. He said there would be several renditions of the national anthem as well. And he said there would be a stage band made up entirely of some of the most sought-after studio musicians in New York City. Everyone is being paid union wages, he said.
Mr. Breeden said that during his months of work on the convention, he had run up against some obstacles that were surprising and others that he had expected.
After a career in the entertainment industry, Mr. Breeden said he knew well that many of the most outspoken performers do not support the Bush administration. "For whatever reason, on the Democratic side of things, the celebrities who have an affinity with that party tend to be more activist-oriented and tend to get headlines," he said.
Recently Bruce Springsteen and some other high-profile musicians announced a national tour to help defeat President Bush.
Mr. Breeden described some challenges in trying to find celebrities for the G.O.P. event. He said that on many occasions he found there were entertainers who supported the president, or Republican ideas, but who felt their careers would be hurt if they made that support public. Mr. Breeden identified the actor Ron Silver as someone who expressed that opinion to him, although Mr. Silver said that was not exactly the case.
"I have no direct evidence that my position on the war or my political leanings have hurt me in any way,'' Mr. Silver said, expressing support for the intervention in Iraq and saying, "Certainly the expression of my political viewpoint is unpopular."
He said that Mr. Breeden had informally asked him if he would be interested in some role at the convention, but that while he supported the president for re-election because of his foreign-policy position, he did not support his "social agenda."
"It depends on the nature of the involvement," Mr. Silver said. "If they said, 'We'd like you to talk about 9/11, from the lofty perch of history,' I'd be happy to do that."
Finally, Mr. Breeden said he found himself competing with the many parties that are being held by politicians, elected officials, lobbyists and corporations. Many have booked performers who might otherwise have appeared at the convention. He said he heard there were as many as 400 parties organized for convention week.
"This is a fascinating job," he said.
For those of you playing at home: .....
%%%
ROTFLMHO!
...Lawrence Welk Special...
+++++++
LOL! You're dating yourself. Do you realize how many people here probably have no idea of who he was?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.