By the time you read this, the Democrats will have concluded their partisan partying down in Charlotte, having learned what Tampa now knows about the pro’s and con’s of hosting a national political convention. At press time, Charlotte was already getting a more positive spin than Tampa ever did — they’ve got street fairs, public transit, bigger protests, what fun!
But before Tampa Bay’s extraordinarily weird week fades from memory, here’s part two of our RNC diary, excerpted from our online coverage on The Daily Loaf and cltampa.com. Because, from Clint to the Honey Badger, from Republicans for Planned Parenthood to hugs for Newt Gingrich, this was a week we don’t really want to forget. —David Warner
Tues. Aug. 28
Honey badger enters 2012 presidential race
There are many ways to not give a shit.
This election season, Randall — narrator of the viral mock nature documentary about the honey badger — wants American voters to be like the tough-as-nails mammal when they go to the polls. As Randall famously said in the video, “The honey badger don’t care.”
Randall thinks the best way to do this is by voting for the honey badger, whose presidential “candidacy” was announced at Ybor City’s Roosevelt 2.0 on Aug. 28.
Randall (last name not given) isn’t joking, either.
The environmental advocate said he doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t give a shit about politics — quite the contrary, actually. He wants voters to care so much that they fearlessly choose the leaders that represent their interests, instead of settling for a well-funded candidate who seems less evil.
“All we have right now are two different people telling us what’s best for us,” he said.
Wearing an enormous pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses and a vintage tweed jacket, he urged the several dozen in attendance to write-in the badger on the 2012 presidential ticket.
For Roosevelt 2.0 co-founder Bryan Roberts, having his space serve as the animal’s campaign headquarters was a no-brainer.
“We’re using humor to bring to light some very serious issues,” he said.
—Kate Bradshaw
“A smaller, less douchey Miami”
Some may remember Erin Gloria Ryan’s article “10 Reasons Why Ryan Lochte Is America’s Sexiest Douchebag” on Gawker-owned website Jezebel. Now she’s in Tampa for the RNC — she just wrote an article called “Everyone at this Hooters is terrible and I will die in my hotel: Tales from Tampa” — and last night she showed up at Wonkette’s meetup at MacDinton’s in South Tampa.
Arielle Stevenson: So what do you think of Tampa so far?
Erin Gloria Ryan: I’ve spent time in Miami and it reminds me of a smaller and less douchey Miami.
The Daily Show at the Straz
Though Rubio faltered at one point with a “You people all say that,” the debate was friendly and civilized and ended on a humorous note when Stewart suggested that Sen. Rubio take over the job as boss of the state.
“Florida deserves a governor with hair,” Stewart said.
—Julie Garisto
Wed. Aug. 29
Five minutes with Arianna Huffington
Arielle Stevenson: What advice do you have for someone covering a political convention for the first time?
Arianna Huffington: First, go to bed. Get enough sleep. If you don’t, you won’t enjoy this. I had to wake up early yesterday and I was dragging all day long. I was supposed to go on Morning Joe today but canceled so I could rest.
Two conservative groups fight for marriage equality
At a brunch co-hosted by Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry, Margaret Hoover, the great-grandaughter of President Herbert Hoover, said she thinks that marriage between any two people is a boon to society.
“If you want to have societies based on strong relationships, a fundamental relationship in any community beyond the individual is the partnership we create with a spouse. I believe every American should have that freedom,” she said.
—Michael Newberger
AFL-CIO leads a march that warns of “Romney’s America”
On Wednesday the Florida AFL-CIO — and other unions from across the state and country — showed their anger toward the Republican Party.
“We are labor unions, people working together in their own best interest,” said Dennis Bonilla, a retired letter carrier from Ormond Beach, FL. “Now Republicans are trying to destroy that at every level. They’ve done it in a multiple of states: Wisconsin for one, Pennsylvania another, Florida another. They’re going out after people who organize in their own best interest and attempting to vilify us.”
—Michael Newberger
Recalling when Republicans partnered with Planned Parenthood
At Wednesday’s Planned Parenthood rally in Julian Lane Park, longtime Republican activist Randy Moody reminded a crowd of nearly 200 supporters about the shared history of Planned Parenthood and the Republican party. He pointed out that none other than the godfather of the party’s conservative wing — the late Senator and presidential candidate Barry Goldwater — led the fight to establish a Planned Parenthood chapter in Arizona. At the federal level, a Republican president, Richard Nixon, signed the nation’s first federal family planning bill into law in 1970.
Barry Goldwater must be rolling over in his grave.
—Scott Farrell
Won’t Back Down screening at RNC: Jeb and education reform
While I hate the impenetrable bureaucracy of the school system, the film doesn’t address its ills. Won’t Back Down thumbs its nose at teachers’ unions and rights, and offers no solutions for public school management. It completely overlooks the onslaught of standardized testing, the loss of tenure, the relentless micromanaging of teachers and the disproportionately low pay scale for teachers compared to other professions.
The message is that the students come first, just like the name of the organization that presented the film. Which is all fine and good, but is taking children out of bad schools to start new ones the solution? While allowing the bad public schools to continue festering in dysfunction?
—Julie Garisto
Thurs. Aug. 30
Despite low turnout, “Romneyville” organizer feels RNC protests have had a positive effect
“What we’re trying to underscore is a whole culture of abuse that’s happening to poor and homeless folks,” said Romneyville organizer Rev. Bruce Wright. “That can’t be missing from this whole discussion. Poverty is almost like a cuss word to Republicans and Democrats… they keep talking about the middle class which is shrinking. They don’t talk about what happens to the middle class when they’re shrinking, they end up in the ranks of the poor.”
Though the marches and actions this week were much smaller than expected, Wright is happy with the way the week has turned out.
“In spite of a highly militarized police state, constant lack of sleep due to helicopters flying over, in spite of the weather, the culture of fear that was created that kept a lot of people from protesting, in spite of the small numbers, I think we had a really good impact. We got a lot of attention with the press, I mean Romneyville itself has,” Wright said. “I think we’ve had some major victories.”
—Michael Newberger
Sandra Fluke leads Democratic assault on Romney-Ryan ticket
Throughout the RNC, Democrats have conducted their own “counter-convention” just a short distance away from the fenced-in perimeter of the Tampa Convention Center.
On Thursday afternoon, just hours before Mitt Romney was set to give the speech of his political life, Sandra Fluke — the former Georgetown Law student who made national news after Rush Limbaugh called her a “slut” and a “prostitute” — took aim at the Romney-Ryan ticket by blasting their call to completely shut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
“I’ve had a particularly close look at Mr. Romney and the leadership of President Obama. And when I was personally attacked earlier this year, President Obama spoke out and condemned those hateful words and he supported my right to speak without being attacked. And Mr. Romney could only say those weren’t the words he would have chosen,” she said.
Fluke added that she didn’t need Romney to stand up for her, but it showed her that he didn’t want to respond, or “isn’t capable of standing up to extreme voices in his own party.”
—Mitch Perry
Doctors of America march in support of Obama’s health care reform
In one of the last official protests of the Republican National Convention, doctors and patients descended on Lykes Gaslight Park in downtown Tampa Thursday afternoon. It was the latest stop by Doctors of America, a health reform advocacy group, in a tour to break through misconceptions about the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
“There hasn’t been a law with more misinformation about it,” said Dr. Scott Poppen, a retired M.D. He and several other health professionals and students stood at quaint white stands in Gaslight Park, intercepting bypassers to talk to them about the ACA.
Thomas Neely, a primary care physician from Boston, noted that a similar health care reform law was passed in 2006 underneath Mitt Romney’s governorship.
“I have seen it work in Massachusetts,” said Neely. “Romneycare is very similar.”
—Nicole Martinez
Bizarre appearance by Clint Eastwood upstages Romney’s big speech
Good work, Romney advance people.
On the night heralded as the most important one of Mitt Romney’s political career, the Republican nominee for president was overshadowed by a surprise guest, 82-year-old actor/director/American icon Clint Eastwood, who electrified the crowd when he appeared on stage just after 10 p.m. to the strains of “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.”
But things quickly got weird — really weird.
…How was Romney’s speech? Well, it wasn’t like George H.W. Bush’s speech in New Orleans in 1988, a speech so good that many people said at the time that it won him the election over Michael Dukakis.
But there were lots of good lines.
“If you felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama, shouldn’t you feel that way now that he’s President Obama? You know there’s something wrong with the kind of job he’s done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him.”
Ouch.
—Mitch Perry
Rock-ribbed Republicans in Tampa
Encounters on the convention floor on the night when Romney (Eastwood or no Eastwood) had to seal the deal:
Vicky Sciolaro from Leewood, Kansas admitted that the former Massachusetts governor was not her first — or second — choice for president.
She initially supported Texas Governor Rick Perry. After he flamed out, she became an ardent Newt Gingrich supporter, traveling nationally (and taking her family with her) to campaign with the former House Speaker. But she eventually switched over to Romney.
“I took Ann [Romney’s] advice, you’ve got to get to know him. I appreciate his leadership, skills and his family values,” Sciolaro said.
She was also heartened by the selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate. She said he brings that “little, extra edge of the conservative party that we were looking for.”
Sciolaro, 51, has been married for 28 years and has four kids, aged between 26 and 18 — all four still living at home, two recent college grads, all having trouble getting a job.
A self-described “Right to Lifer,” she also believes in what she calls the “sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.”
“It’s a holy institution, and you better not mess with it — because if you do, where are you going to draw the line? Who’s going to say that sexual predators — ‘Well, I prefer children.’ Once you mess with that foundation of our country, there’s no way to stop.”
Joplin, Missouri delegate John Putnam was wearing a button supporting the candidacy of U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin, the Missouri congressman who is no longer being supported by the RNC or Karl Rove’s Super PAC after his stunning comments about “legitimate rape” last month.
Putnam says he thinks Akin can still win the race. “I think the people asking him to step out are creating a bigger problem than he did. His six seconds doesn’t override six years of bad policies that [Democratic incumbent] Claire McCaskill has had.”
Like Sciolaro, his first choice for president was not Mitt Romney. But he said he’s now “coming around” and will strongly support him against President Obama this fall.
—Mitch Perry
Final night of RNC protests… when shit (almost) got real
For whatever reason, by late Thursday night’s rally and march against Mitt Romney in Downtown Tampa, a riot had yet to break out. Arrests were at an eerie minimum. There were a few close calls Thursday, though.
“This is what overtime looks like!” the protesters, some of them lying down, shouted to the row of police officers blocking the end of Ashley.
Protesters and delegates were within feet of each other, though police did their best to stay between them.
One delegate called a male protester an asshole and attempted to engage in debate.
“Get a job!” he shouted.
“I have a job!” the protester shouter back.
After a minute or two of the men shouting at one another and nearly coming to blows through a wall of police, the delegate’s wife pulled him away.
—Kate Bradshaw
The last night of the RNC you didn’t see
Getting into a Republican pool party is as easy as any other pool party, Secret Service notwithstanding. Unfortunately, there were no heavy-hitters at this function. No Romneys in Speedos or Bachmann in a bikini. No Karl Rove doing a cannonball in the middle of the pool. In fact, nobody was doing cannonballs. Or in the pool. They didn’t even get their puritan feet wet.
…So, in the interest of “stepping this party up a notch,” I cannonballed into the cool waters of the pool — in all my clothes — in much the same way G.W. Bush dived into an unpopular war.
It went over just as well. …
I stepped into the elevator, hit the first floor button and got ready for my long walk to Ybor City. The elevator doors opened, I looked to my right and saw him: Newt Gingrich. The 69-year-old presidential candidate who wouldn’t back down from the Romney campaign until the bitter end. The architect of the Republican Revolution. The man who once said, after a Capitol police officer shot a homeless man, “Give the park police more ammo.”
What to do? Questions flashed in my reporter mind. But seeing him there, without makeup and hair a little astray, Newt looked sad. He stood there, shaking hands, like an old uncle nobody wanted to invite but who was too egotistical to stay home. A once-respected Speaker of the House whose own party relegated him to a small hotel meeting space during the convention. A man whose career is essentially over. His jowls hung looser than ever.
“Newt!” I exclaimed. “Let me get a hug!”
He extended his hand, a little hesitant toward this wide-eyed, dripping reporter. I wrapped my arms around his doughy body. I gave him a good squeeze as a very tense Newt patted my wet back.
Because sometimes, everyone, even Newt Gingrich, needs a hug.
—Alex Pickett
Epilogue
RNC aftermath: Buckhorn credits “overwhelming force” for only two arrests
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Police Chief Jane Castor held a news conference Friday morning to discuss the just completed Republican National Convention. As far as the mayor was concerned, “We knocked it out of the park.”
They crowed about the shocking statistic regarding the number of arrests — two.
…When asked if there was too much security near the Tampa Bay Times Forum, the Tampa Convention Center and downtown, the mayor said absolutely not, vowing to do it the same way if given the opportunity.
Invoking the Powell Doctrine named after former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Buckhorn said, “We deployed overwhelming force.” He added that he’d rather have complaints about too much security, than have injuries or serious property damage — a statement that Host Committee CEO Ken Jones seconded in his press conference a few hours later.
—Mitch Perry
This article appears in Sep 6-12, 2012.