Okay, one more:

The guy in the funny hat is John Ruberry, aka Marathon Pundit (a real character, him). Picture by Backyard Conservative Anne Leary, a Rice Lake expatriate. They're both Chicago-area.

Wherever I went at the convention, I handed out business cards and described myself as "the smallest blogger at the convention."

It's funny, see, because I'm tall.

Might also have been true, from a traffic-wise point of view. Anyway, I'm sticking with it until somebody proves me wrong. Another funny thing: I thought I was being really clever bringing business cards. Ha! A blogger with business cards!

Yeah. Everybody had business cards.

I'd thought about doing a post just about the different bloggers I met at the convention. Problem being, there were so many, and I'd hate to leave somebody out.

And yet, I press on.

Let's see: there was Skye, from Philadelphia, who blogs at Midnight Blue. She's a self-described conservative Democrat who thinks she can drive traffic to her site by posting beefcake photos.

She's also a photographer who took a bunch of great pictures at the convention.

There were Derek Brigham (who looks like Tom Arnold) and Matt Abe, both of whom blog at True North, a Minnesota-based blog (UPDATE - their membership includes Ed Morrissey, Col. Joe Repya, and King Banaian, all of whom I was priveleged to meet in St. Paul).

Matt also blogs at North Star Liberty.

Shay Riley, from Chicago, who writes at Booker Rising.

Dr. Bill Smith, from Arkansas, who had a lot of advice for me on blog marketing, and who blogs at the ARRA News Service.

The Mad Irishman, Sheridan Folger, a real Irishman who lives in New Hampshire.

Michael Bates, from Tulsa, who blogs at BatesLine and kinda looks like French Stewart.

Stix, of Stix Blog.

Eric Golub, aka The Tygrrrr Express.

Katherine Morrison, who blogs at PurplePeopleVote and Blogs4McCain. She's from New Hampshire.

Fausta, originally from Puerto Rico and now from New Jersey, who blogs at the aptly named Fausta's Blog.

I also briefly met A-list bloggers Ed Morrissey, Ed Driscoll, Mary Katherine Ham, and Jim Hoft, of Gateway Pundit.

Man, I just know I'm forgetting somebody. There were a number of guys from News Busters, Redstate, and Americans for Tax Reform. Joshua Trevino.

Oh, there was Danny Glover - the conservative blogger, not liberal actor - who has a project called Eyeblast.tv. It's kinda like Youtube, but for conservatives. Check it out.

Anyway, I'm going to add a lot of these to a new "non-Badger" section of our blogroll. And to my list of rss feeds. I don't know how I'm going to keep up with my rss feeds.

One more bunch of pictures

Can you stand just a couple more post on the convention? I've got a bunch of pictures I meant to post but never got around to.

Bipartisan segues:




This guy was handing out copies of the Onion outside the convention hall:


I never did get over to see this church:


This is Ben Masel, the guy who used to organize Weed Fest near Baraboo. Ran into him on Tuesday.


He was standing outside one of the exits Tuesday, yelling "funeral's over, time to bring out the food!" Yeah, I don't get it, either. He told me this story about his time at the DNC in Denver:



He finished up, saying: "You're messing with my cash flow!"

The convention floor:


This shot I took from the 22nd floor of the Crown Royale Hotel, where the blogger brunches were held:


This was in front of another hotel:


Floor shot from behind the Wisconsin delegation:


Henry Kissinger!


That's George Engelbach, "Abraham Lincoln Enthusiast," from Missouri. I'd met him earlier in the convention and taken some pictures, but they turned out too dark.


Texans were a big attraction on the floor.


The only Code Pinkster who was taller than me.


I swear to God it was this big.


Okay, so I was walking around with a couple of friends - Linda Hansen, from Prairie du Chein, and Doug Haag, from Milwaukee - and suddenly Linda reaches forward and grabs somebody's shoulder. Turns out it was Rich Galen, a former press secretary for Newt Gingrich and Dan Quayle, current in-demand pundit. Also one of my favorite writers. He's the one in the glasses:


Hot Air's Ed Morrissey, at Babani's restaurant:

McCain

The first three quarters of Sen. John McCain’s speech at the RNC tonight was underwhelming. Nondescript. There was almost nothing to it.

In fact, I found more to dislike about it than to like. We knew McCain was no conservative dream candidate to begin with, and at times he sounded like it.

School choice, for example. McCain spoke strongly in favor of it tonight.

Conservatives love that, because conservatives figure that they’re our kids, not the school district’s kids. So the decisions ought to rest more with us than with them.

But wait: education is a subject that conservatives decided long ago should be left to the states. The further right along the political scale you go, the greater the desire to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education entirely.

So how’s that going to work? How’s the federal government going to enact school choice when our side – the side that wants school choice – doesn’t want the feds mucking around in it?

That’s one example, and there are others. McCain crept close to sounding like a Democrat at times: to sounding like he wants to fix our problems for us. And here I went and wrote two days ago:

Captain Leslie Smith (U.S. Army, retired, who lost a leg and the sight in one eye to a blood disorder):

“…the most liberating day of my life came when I stopped saying...'Why me?' And started saying, 'Why not me?'"

NOTE: Okay, so that particular quote isn’t unusual – kinda boilerplate, actually. A common anecdote told by people who have overcome some kind of adversity. I include it only to compare it to what we heard, over and over again, at the Democratic National Convention.

There, it was: things are so bad, we’re in such a bad spot, can’t somebody help us?

At the RNC, it’s: let’s do this.

We can, we will, vs. can’t someone? Won’t someone?

But, okay, we knew McCain wasn’t the conservative dream candidate to begin with. He’s got his moderate-liberal streaks, and stands by them. That’s why he gets the “maverick” label. That’s why, ironically enough, conservatives like him today. Because we’re sick of watching even Republicans belly up to the trough, because that’s just how things are done.

Even so, I figured, maybe I was being too sensitive. Conservatives are, sometimes.

But I wasn’t wrong that the speech was…boring. Very few zingers. Very few standout lines – oh, sure, the crowd stood and applauded plenty of times, but that’s a hyped-up bunch of good Republicans who came to St. Paul to cheer.

But then McCain began telling us his story. His four-star grandfather, his father who left to fight WWII when McCain was 5; his time as a prisoner of war and the way that experience turned him from a callow young man into someone who understands that there’s something bigger than him. That there’s something more important than him, and his own desires.

It occurred to me then: they’re going to run this race on McCain’s story. They don’t want him to sling around a bunch of zingy one-liners. They want everyone to know his story.

As several speakers here have said over the last few days, being a prisoner of war doesn’t qualify you for the Presidency. But, man, surviving that says something about you. Something that garners respect.

As the speech finished up, as McCain continued to talk about service, as the ovation around him began with the words “fight with me” and grew louder and more raucous with every line and every repetition, it occurred to me that this was why the speech started slow, and stayed slow. McCain’s not known as a speechifyer. Not a guy who grabs and audience and hangs on. So they gave him one crescendo, right at the end, that repeated over and over the images of McCain that the campaign wants us to have: fight, stand up, serve.

Now, I’m a pundit, and like any pundit I want always to be the smartest guy in the room. Thus, maybe I’m over-thinking. I’m in the bubble, too, surrounded by Republicans and conservatives. Thus, maybe my objectivity is off.

Nah. My objectivity was never that great to begin with.

This speech isn’t one that’ll go down in history, because history remembers things written down. Reading it, it wasn’t much. But seeing it…

…I think this was a great speech.

Look who I ran into!

That's top blogosphere'o'cheese blogger Owen Robinson standing next to me (he's the...ah, nah, I won't say it). We watched McCain's speech together, during which time I developed a serious case of camera envy.

We missed Cindy McCain's speech, mostly because we had important stuff to talk about.

Two out of four ain't bad, I guess. I never did find Christian Schneider or Brendan Henak.

The Code Pinksters

By now you've likely heard that two members of the anti-war group Code Pink infiltrated the Republican National Convention during John McCain's speech.

They entered right below where I was sitting (Owen was there, too, and may have gotten video). They held up banners which were quickly taken away. Security responded quickly. One left with little resistance, the other with quite a bit more.

I have two thoughts: one, that's gutsy. Sure, I dislike their position intensely. Yes, I know that all they want is to be on the news complaining about police brutality. And maybe to file a lawsuit and get some free money.

Still, that took guts.

Two: where'd they get the passes? I can't think of any way that wouldn't require them to act dishonestly.

It was funny the way I began noticing everything of the color pink on the floor afterward. You, lady with the hat trimmed with the bright pink boa: you look suspicious to me.

The best line

The best line in Sen. John McCain's speech tonight:

I will make them famous. You will know their names. You will know their names.

The "them" and "their" refer to Congressmen and Senators who pack a spending bill with pork.

Oddly, this line doesn't appear in the prepared text. Could he have ad-libbed it?

J.B. Van Hollen

I learned from my mistakes when interviewing Wisconsin A.G. Van Hollen. No repetition of the shadowy faces and iffy audio: no sir!

Of course, for some reason I didn’t use my tripod, so the video gets a little wobbly sometimes. But at least it wasn’t the same mistake!

On to A.G.J.B. First off, he thinks Republicans can take Wisconsin this year:



Now, watch this. I ask him a question about him and his job, and he turns his answer into a pro-McCain statement:



That was a nice little bit of ju-jitsu there. Finally, a long-winded question about ACORN and whether they’re going to steal an election here in Wisconsin:



I asked him about his future political plans, and he said that while he never closes the door, he’s planning to run for re-election as the A.G. in 2010.

By the way: Van Hollen has been doing some convention-blogging of his own. Pretty good blogging, too, with pics from the floor and video and some guest bloggers from among the delegates and other Wisconsin political folks. Here's the link. Tell 'em you came from the BBA.

Rep. Paul Ryan

Okay. As I've mentioned several times now in an annoyingly name-dropping manner, I had a chance to sit down with Rep. Paul Ryan earlier today in Minneapolis. Video was taken. I have a few short caveats before going to the tape:

One, I picked a rotten spot for lighting, so it's kinda dark.

Two, Michael Steele was speaking nearby, so you can hear laughter and applause sometimes. I thought about just letting you think they were applauding me and the Congressman, but the timing is off.

And three, I'm pretty much just tossing softballs, which I freely admit up front.

Thus, onward. Regarding the convention and Election ’08:



Ryan said he thinks Republicans have a good chance to pick up seats in the House this year. Regaining the majority is unlikely in the extreme, but picking up seats is in play:

He also thinks John Gard has a better chance this year than he did in ’06.



If Obama wins the presidency, Pelosi remains speaker, and Harry Reid gains a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate: “we will leapfrog Europe down the road in European style stagnation and socialism.”



Finally, Ryan doesn’t expect any of his agenda to pass next session (obviously), but:



Here’s a link to the Roadmap for America’s Future website. This page links to a lot of statistical information.

And this pdf includes a summary of the proposal, plus numbers and charts that even a Democrat can understand. Or…well, maybe not. If they understood, it would’ve passed already.

A screw-up

Amazing that I don't use that headline more often, isn't it?

Something went wrong with my video of Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. Batteries ran out or something, and I wasn't paying attention to the little red light. So I haven't got any video.

And I was this close to getting him to declare his candidacy for Governor in '10. It would've been a BBA scoop!

Okay, so I'm exaggerating. Plus, I was also recording audio, so stay tuned: I'm gonna attempt a podcast.

Video on Rep. Ryan and A.G. Van Hollen coming soon.

Tonight's protests

There's a very, very large police presence outside the Xcel Center tonight. I haven't seen this many cops since the protests on Day 1, and I haven't seen the riot gear since then, either. It's all out tonight.

I'm hearing (from a couple of the hospitality staff) that employees from surrounding businesses were asked to go home early. Police must be expecting it to hit the fan.

I'll be staying inside - sorry, no pictures of a tear-gassed Lance gracing the internet anytime soon.

Hey, Joe Gibbs is speaking tonight.

Hey, so is Brian Clay. That's the guy who won the Olympic Decathlon this year.

Trace Adkins is singing the national anthem.

Cindy McCain speaks just before 9 p.m., then John sometime after 9. Balloons scheduled to drop right around 10 p.m.

A Vicki McKenna Sighting

Sort of, anyway. You'll have to read on to get the explanation.

I didn’t get a chance to post this yesterday, so before I lose track of time again: I got shanghaied into attending a blogger luncheon at a Kurdish restaurant called Babani's yesterday (yes, they twisted my arm; yes, that’s both a brunch and a lunch in the same day; no, I didn’t feel hungry again until about 10 pm).

Ed Morrissey of HotAir was the host (I also met blogger Ed Driscoll there). But the real treat (other than the food) was this:


The gentleman on the right is Rodwan Nacshebandi, the restaurateur, who with his family emigrated from Mosul to Turkey in 1989, and from there to the U.S. a few years later. The gentleman on the left is Lt. Col. Joe Repya, who introduced Mr. Nacshebandi to us and told us his story. They only recently were able to return to Mosul to visit relatives they hadn't seen in two decades.

Madison-area readers might recognize Col. Repya’s name: he is a frequent guest on the Vicki McKenna show. Hey, Vicki, he says hi!

They served us a “sampling” of Kurdish foods:


Yeah. If that’s a “sampling,” I’d hate to see a full course. Does it look good? Because it was. The tamale-looking things are rice and sauce wrapped in…cabbage, I think. Not sure. The best part was the brown half-circle you see: kind of a pirogi, cut in half, with meat inside and a spicy red sauce.

Just incredible food. Yeah, I ate the whole thing.

The restaurant is called Babani’s, located at 544 St. Peter Street. If you’re ever in St. Paul, do yourself a favor and go.

An update on Lance's whereabouts...

...because I know you've all been waiting by your computers for me to post.

I’m at the Marriott hotel in Minneapolis this morning, where the Wisconsin and New York delegations are staying. Yes, I understand there’s been some jawing about Brett Favre.

Anyway, I got the chance to interview Rep. Paul Ryan, County Exec Scott Walker, and D.A. A.G. JB Van Hollen, and also briefly got to meet former Maryland Lt. Gov. and current GOPAC chair Michael Steele.

Video and/or audio will be coming up later today. I’m experimenting with all my toys.

For now:


That's Michael Steele, me, and Scott Walker. Little harder for me to use my "he's the short one" line with these guys.

Palin

I caught a few headlines here and there earlier today, suggesting that tonight could be a "make or break" moment for Gov. Sarah Palin.

I don't know if that was really the case. A flub wouldn't be good. Neither would a flat and boring speech. But...deadly? Very little can kill off a political effort that has talent, energy, and money behind it.

Anyway, her speech wasn't a flub. I kinda doubt the Xcel Center crowd would've allowed it to be. The cheering upon her introduction and entrance was deafening. It was almost physically forceful.

(NOTE - it was even more so after McCain's surprise entrance following Palin's speech.)

Palin had already been out on stage earlier today, getting used to the setting. I hope somebody thought to prepare her for the noise, too. And for the flash bulbs. They were going on and on and on like strobe lights.

If they didn't, she still handled it. She introduced her family (no mention of the daughter's pregnancy). She lauded John McCain. She talked small-town hard work and values, took shots at the Obama/Biden ticket, and had a half-dozen or so good applause lines (not nearly as many as Rudy Giuliani, but whaddayagonna do? It's Rudy).

I'd have liked to hear some version of the "18 million cracks in the glass ceiling" line again. Maybe another kudos to Clinton and Ferraro, maybe making some contrast between their experience and Obama's.

But anyway. It was a good speech. Not a great speech. But a pressure speech, and she handled it. So. Did she "make or break?" Prediction: according to the pundits, she did both.

Here's the text.

Standout Quotes from the RNC, Day 3

This'll be a slightly abbreviated version, since I missed Steele's, Romney's, and Huckabee's speeches.

Yeah, I know. Bad blogger. Gimme a break. I was schmoozing.

Anyway. I caught Rudy.

Mayor Rudy Giuliani (on Obama's lack of experience):

His rise is remarkable in its own right - it's the kind of thing that could happen only in America.

Giuliani (again on Obama's experience):

We agree with Joe Biden.

The Xcel Center audience (chanting):

Drill, baby, drill! Drill, baby, drill!

Giuliani (on Obama struggling to form an opinion on the Russia-Georgia fighting):

Later, after discussing it with his 300 foreign policy advisors, he changed his position and suggested that the "the UN Security Council," could find a solution. Apparently, none of his 300 advisors told him that Russia has a veto on any UN action. Finally Obama put out a statement that looked ... well, it looked a lot like John McCain's.

Here's some free advice: Sen. Obama, next time just call John McCain.

Gov. Sarah Palin:

And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.

Xcel Center crowd (chanting and pointing at the MSNBC booth, in response to a Palin comment about liberal media):

NBC! NBC!

Palin:

...this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate.

Palin:

Harry Reid (loud, lengthy booing), the Majority Leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee.

He said, quote, "I can't stand John McCain." Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we've chosen the right man. Clearly what the Majority Leader was driving at is that he can't stand up to John McCain.

Remind me again: why do I find it hard to believe the 9/11 Truthers have a clue?

Check this out

They've got a live feed from way up top in the Xcel Center and other shots - including back stage interviews - at www.ustream.tv/rnc. So if you're going to be someplace with a good internet connection but no TV, you can still watch.

Ha! You're not getting out of it that easy!

Did you know St. Paul was Charles Schulz's home?

You know, Charles Schultz, the guy who drew Peanuts? There's statues all over the place. These are inside the Xcel center:






They take their hockey pretty seriously here.

These are in a park nearby:






In the same park: there's no name on this statue, but I'm guessing it's Schulz.


And these are in front of a couple different restaraunts:




In other news, I need a more efficient way to post pictures.

Some highlights of tonight's lineup

Don't wait up, it's gonna be a late one. Programming starts at 6 tonight. Here are some of the highlights:

8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

• Speaker: GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele
  
• Speaker: Former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.)
  
• Speaker: Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Ark.)

9 p.m. to 10 p.m.

• Speaker: Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (N.Y.)
  
• Speaker: Gov. Linda Lingle (Hawaii)
  
• Video: Sarah Palin
  
• Speaker: Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin

10 p.m. to Conclusion

• Roll Call

The roll call is the part where every state takes forever telling us how great they are before they cast their votes for the nominee.

Prediction: New Jersey will not yield the floor to Illinois. Illinois will not yield the floor to New York. New York will not move to stop the voting and nominate McCain by acclimation.

But the New York delegation will mention Brett Favre during their speech.

UPDATE - I'm already getting excerpts of some of the speeches in my Inbox. According to this, Mike Huckabee is going to say:

"I'm not a Republican because I grew up rich, but because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life poor, waiting for the government to rescue me."

I'm not entirely sure I was supposed to tell you that, so: shhhhh.

California Rep. optimistic about Wisconsin's 8th District

Wisconsin conservatives might recognize the name Rep, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and not because of Tailgunner Joe: McCarthy was one of the Weekly Standard’s “Young Guns of the GOP” last year, along with Eric Cantor and our own Paul Ryan.



McCarthy spoke to bloggers at a brunch ealier today about the upcoming elections and where the GOP can have success, and he included Wisconsin’s 8th district:



Later, he referred to Gard as a “rock star.”

Also at the brunch, Frank Luntz, a big-deal pollster (if reaction around the room was any indication) spoke about the Biden/Palin Veep matchup:



The voice you heard asking about social conservatives was Mary Katherine Ham, formerly of Townhall, soon, she told us, to be with the Weekly Standard. There were several Newsbusters, New Media Strategies, and Redstate folks in attendance, too.

Newsbusters has a longer and better video of Luntz here.