Saturday, April 12, 2008

Developing story: Republican vs Democratic Convention

Today I spent my sunny Saturday at the King County Republican Convention. Some inspiring speeches and encouraging words from Rightful Washington First Lady Terry Rossi, Rep. Dave Reichert, Attorney General Rob McKenna and others. Unfortunately the rather arcane application of Roberts' Rules of Order stalled discussions and the relatively low turnout of elected delegates prevented meaningful discussion of platform issues. But overall it was exciting, got to meet some interesting and diverse people, and I have a renewed sense of pride in my Republican principles. (My fellow blogger Michael commented on his local convention experience here.)

A rather dramatic contrast was the recent Democratic meeting, reported on by a very liberal local paper and discussed this morning. As Republicans, we may disagree on issues or candidates, but voting DOWN the Pledge of Allegiance?! Ouch.

Interesting side-note: there was a brief standing recognition for veterans (hear, hear) - I would guesstimate about 40-50% of the 800 attendees stood. I'm conducting more research on McCain's support among military families and will report back soon.

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