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The Republican Convention will be held in New York City at Madison Square Garden starting on Aug. 30 and ending Sept. 2.
According to the Washington Post (Wright, 8/7/04), Colin Powell will not be in attendance.
The most popular Republican in the country will not be speaking at the Republican National Convention. The party's number one asset, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, will not even be there -- and may not be in the United States, according to U.S. officials.
Throughout the Bush presidency, Powell has consistently scored better than his boss in public opinion polls, often by 20 points or more.
This is too bad, as I think Bush could use the added support that Powell could provide by just being there. His absence is keeping with tradition, however, as "cabinet officials do not speak at the conventions -- or other campaign events."
Powell is certainly a man worth admiration and I've been a big fan of his for years. I highly recommend My American Journey (1996) to anyone interested in his military career.
Minority Appeal
But the tradition that keeps Powell "out of the fray," should also sideline Donald Rumsfeld, Condeleeza Rice, and the other neo-conservatives of the Bush admin. In the case of these two, it's probably a good thing for Bush not to have them around.
The Seattle Times (8/7/04) reports that, "[o]f the 4,788 delegates and alternates expected in New York, 17 percent will be minorities," so minority numbers are up this year. But Bush's connection to the minority vote will still be a challenge, particularly with Rice and Powell absent from the convention. Perhaps Alan Keys, who was, recently, offered the Indiana Senate nomination -even though he resides in Maryland (Smiley, 8/5/04), can offer the minority appeal to convention.
There is one minority cabinet member that will be in attendance, however. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, the man that "ignited a fury" by referring to the National Education Association (CNN.com, 2/24/04) as a "terrorist organization." It seems to me that his presence will be a liability to the GOP as it breaks the tradition that Powell stated, "... I have to take no sides in the matter," in addition to fueling the discontent that already exists about the man from his fellow educators.
Bigger Problems Loom?
According to Capitol Hill Blue (7/28/04), a long-time GOP political consultant is advising Republican Congressional candidates to keep their distance from Bush. “We have to face the very real possibility that the President of the United States is loony tunes,” he says sadly. “That’s not good for my candidates, it’s not good for the party and it’s certainly not good for the country.”
This is in regards to reports that Bush is taking "powerful anti-depressant drugs to control his erratic behavior, depression and paranoia." Admittedly, CHB is a fringe publication found on the internet and not a mainstream newspaper or journal, but their willingness to go to a HUGE amount of detail just to fabricate stories is fascinating. Take this excerpt from the same article:
Tubb prescribed the anti-depressants after a clearly-upset Bush stormed off stage on July 8, refusing to answer reporters' questions about his relationship with indicted Enron executive Kenneth J. Lay.
“Keep those motherf***ers away from me,” he screamed at an aide backstage. “If you can’t, I’ll find someone who can.”
In the past CHB has published articles accusing Bush of being off-the-hook with his behavior, profanity, and belligerent attitude about reporters and critics.
Personally, I can't wait to see him get flustered in a debate with Kerry on live television. If any of CHB's claims are true, they'll pop up then. Until that time, I read CHB with some amusement and a lot of skepticism.
Anyway, post all of your GOP convention links, comments, questions, rants, and raves here :cool:
References:
CNN.com. (2004, 24/2). Education chief's 'terrorist' remark ignites fury. Cable News Network LP, LLLP. (
http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/02/24/paige.terrorist.nea/)..
Hampton, T. (2004, 28/7). Bush Using Drugs to Control Depression, Erratic Behavior. Capitol Hill Blue (
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4921.shtml)..
Postman, D. (2004, 7/8). Minority numbers up for GOP convention. The Seattle Times (
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001999174_onpolitics07m.html), Saturday ed., sec. On Politics..
Powell, C. (1996). My American Journey. New York: Ballantine.
Republican National Convention. (2004, 7/8). 2004 Republican National Convention. Retrieved from
http://gopconvention.com).
Smiley, T. (Host). (2004, 8/5). Republicans Ask Keyes to Challenge Obama [Realaudio].
http://www.npr.org/dmg/dmg.php?prgCode=TAVIS&showDate=05-Aug-2004&segNum=1&mediaPref=RM): National Public Radio. (copy/paste link).
Wright, R. (2004, 7/8). GOP Star to Skip Convention: Powell, Following Cabinet Tradition, Will Stay Out of Fray. Washington Post (
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46593-2004Aug6.html), sec. Politics > Bush Administration..