Convention notes #5--the wrap-up

Democrats infiltrate GOP conventions (1964-2008-1992)

By Wes Vernon

Any party that has to fight the enemy right on the floor of its own convention is going into political battle with one hand tied behind its back.

Media and security questions

Probably the most telling moment for the Democrat ambush of Republicans at St. Paul came after a conventioneer answered a question from Katie Couric about Sarah Palin's qualifications to be vice-president. To which interviewer/Democrat Couric — low-rated CBS anchor — responded that, well, those were "Republican talking points," and she was sure some would have other opinions.

"No, those are not talking points. Those are facts," the interviewee shot back. (Note: Above reference to "interviewer/Democrat" was not a Freudian slip. I'm tired of granting these liberals their delusions of "objective" reportage.)

Nothing new

But this is old stuff, really. Democrat news people trash Republicans during their conventions, while treating nominees at Democrat conventions as rock stars (Barack Obama 2008) or as the greatest statesman of all time (Lyndon Johnson 1964).

Palin's comments in her acceptance speech hit the bull's eye.

Said she: "I've learned quickly these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason. But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion — I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people." (Note: Well, there goes her invitation to one of Sally Quinn's soirees with all the Georgetown swells.)

Déjà vu

Shades of Goldwater 1964 — my first convention as a reporter. Just two days prior to the Republican convention of that year, a below-the-belt attack on the expected GOP nominee Senator Barry Goldwater was filed in a CBS report by Daniel Schorr.

Reporting from Germany, Schorr implied (without flat-out saying) that Goldwater had a connection with German remnants of the Nazis. The thrust of the story was downright false, with cleverly-worded fuzzed-up nuances.

That was just a sampling of what would follow. Grassroots conservatives gathered for the GOP nominating convention in San Francisco's Cow Palace the following Monday and found themselves under a relentless potshot carpet-bombing by political enemy Democrats disguised as "reporters."

Ike had it right

Small wonder then that when former President Dwight Eisenhower included in his Cow Palace convention speech a reference to "sensation-seeking columnists and commentators," the delegates roared their agreement for several minutes, much of the time shaking their fists at the press boxes and broadcast booths.

Even Ike himself, who always was clueless to the issues near and dear to the hearts of conservatives in his party, was dumbfounded at the uproarious reaction to his comment. Today, some mainstream media "analysts" insist those 1964 delegates nearly started a riot. That was not the case, but the GOP faithful on the convention floor did thoroughly and with high-decibel abandon give vent to their frustrations. For months, the "objective media" had trashed their candidate with bucketloads of mud, and all Ike did was set off the explosion of an already long-burning fuse.

Slime 1964: Goldwater was a crypto-Nazi.

Slime 2008: Palin's family agrees to offer their Down syndrome baby as a political prop. (See "Convention Notes #4" — Sept. 3.)

The more things change, the more they — well, you know the rest.

Then there was 1992

Twenty-eight years later, as the Republicans gathered in Houston to re-nominate President George H. W. Bush for his ill-fated quest for a second term, they knew their leader was in bad shape. He had betrayed the Reagan revolution by raising taxes in the teeth of a downturn in the economy. But he was all they had.

What did fire up most of the delegates — albeit there was a minority of dissenters — was a controversial fiery speech by Patrick Buchanan. Though the Buchanan speech was duly trashed by the media, a CBS overnight poll came back showing that President Bush had derived a bounce before the convention had even concluded. Some credited the Buchanan speech for that.

However, we were ordered not to report the poll on the air — at all. Why? — Oh, well, you see, we're not sure, there may have been some mistake in its methodology....Uh-huh.

© Wes Vernon