The Republican National Convention has been delayed here in Tampa, while a hurricane/tropical storm named Isaac travels north over the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane did not strengthen beyond tropical storm status as it moved by Tampa Bay, but the emergency planning of the state of Florida did not allow for waiting to make decisions regarding the movement of thousands of delegates, alternates and guests by bus over the causeways.
The opening party at Tropicana Field, home of the baseball team The Tampa Bay Rays and located in St Petersburg, went off on schedule on Sunday night and we enjoyed non-stop musical entertainment, food stations and hosted bars.
This morning (Monday) Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey came over to the California delegation hotel to address our delegates. He is a Republican party 'favorite' as a straight talking guy with a 'Jersey attitude' who talks about the need for leadership. He compares the liberal bastion of New Jersey with California, and talks about balancing three straight state budets without raising taxes, while working with Democrats. They haven't elected a Republican senator from New Jersey in 40 years.
Since the convention business is on hold today, the CA delegates are getting a free screening of the movie "Obama 2016" at our hotel today. I just heard on the news that the movie grossed more than any other movie last week and is now getting a wider distribution through theaters nationwide. That is unusual for a documentary style movie.
Republicans are 'fired up' here at the RNC and are looking forward to tomorrow when we will start our day earlier, around 2:00 PM to do the roll call of delegates. We all know our delegate 'whips' who will organize us in preparation for important votes and keep us informed of what is to come. If you want to follow the RNC check out http://connect.gopconvention2012.com/
