(Editor’s Note: This is the second of two partisan reports from delegates to the national political conventions. The report from the Democratic convention ran on August 2. –eeb)
By B.J. Van Gundy | Two weeks ago it was my honor to be one of the 76 GOP Delegates to represent Georgia at the Republican National Convention. I have now attended several conventions and the feeling of appreciation for those that put their faith in me to represent them, as well as the excitement, has not diminished since my first national convention in San Diego in 1996.
Van Gundy
I attended this convention as one of 16 Marco Rubio pledged-delegates (he was also my primary choice). The Georgia Delegation also included 42 Trump and 18 Cruz-pledged delegates.
Initially, the location of the convention wasn’t necessarily exciting to me, but I have to say that Cleveland went a long way to shaking their old nickname “the mistake by the lake” in supporting the RNC in putting on a first class convention.
Sunday kicked off with a YUGE party, featuring Three Dog Night, for all of the delegations at the waterfront area near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is truly a gem of a venue for Cleveland.
Guests at our daily breakfast meetings ranged from Georgia’s ten Republican congressmen, two Republican senators, our lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and attorney general (none of whom insulted Israeli settlers or suggested that Guam may tip over) to Ben Carson and Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame.
Days were filled with a southeastern States tailgate party at the Cleveland Browns’ stadium, a special event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which included greeting the Trump family arriving via Mr. Trump’s helicopter, and specially hosted parties by Google and Budweiser. The highlight of these events was a luncheon hosted by Daimler-Benz (Mercedes) that finished with the opportunity to sing God Bless America along with former New York Fireman and 9/11 survivor Andy Wittman.
The convention itself was also a YUGE success. Although there were a few that wished for the convention to go another way, unlike the DNC Convention, the GOP didn’t kick off the convention by firing our chairman for rigging the primary. We didn’t have to explain away racist and anti-Semitic emails, nor did we have to distribute cash to locals to get them to fill seats in the hall. The GOP came away from the convention united with our nominee no matter the route through 16 candidates that got us there.
To summarize where we are, I believe, as a country, is that the voters have a clear choice in this election. The choice is a continuation of policies that have: paid ransom or traded prisoners for hostages, increased the debt during ONE President by more than all other previous Presidents combined, created a health care behemoth that greatly increased costs increased food stamp participation at 10 times the rate of job creation, created worry about what bathroom one uses rather than worrying about making sure that those that cross our borders aren’t hell bent on hurting us…. OR a candidate that will actually do something to stop illegal immigration, will be able to work with Congress to get Federal spending under control, won’t pay ransoms to our foes and will protect the rights of all Americans and not just those that are friends and supporters of the President.
Our candidate may hold one or two too many press conferences, but that beats the alternative that hasn’t braved a press conference in 242 days!
Vote Trump!
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