By James Q. Lynch – Flooding has been a recurring topic of conversation this week as delegates, candidates and officeholders have talked of the failure of the Democratic-controlled Congress to approve recovery assistance.

Wednesday, delegates saw the impact when a video montage of flood scenes was shown at the conclusion of the Iowa delegation’s daily breakfast meeting.

“It’s terribly relevant,” explained alternate delegate Kathryn Farrand of Cedar Rapids. She hoped it would encourage Iowans to volunteer Wednesday afternoon to assemble care packages for Hurricane Gustav victims.

Catherine Betts, a registered nurse from North Liberty, watched the video and signed up for the service project.

“I got the message,” said Betts, an alternate delegate, adding that she was moved by the emotional impact on flood victims depicted in the video.

Farrand also wanted to remind the delegation that congressional inaction has left a lot of uncertainty in flood-affected communities.

“I hope we can light a fire under Congress,” she said.

And finally, she’s has been using the video to raise money for flood victims and to support the work of Serve the City, which was instrumental in the flood response in Cedar Rapids.

Farrand said she has sent the video to many out-of-state churches as a fundraising tool. Dick Beals of Robins produced it with backing from her church, Christ Community in Marion.

She wasn’t discouraged by the fact that nearly two-thirds of the Iowa delegation had already left the meeting before the video was shown. The meeting had already lasted nearly two hours as several McCain surrogates spoke.

“I’m not offended,” Farrand said. “Who wants to follow the ambassador to the United Nations with my humble little church video?”

By James Q. Lynch – The mystery of the skinny-dipper at the hotel where the Iowa delegation has been staying has been solved.

Turns out the naked man in the pool was just making himself at home. Apparently, the dress code is a little more relaxed at home in Sweden.

A Swedish news reporter said he was just enjoying the pool and hot tub, and was unaware anyone objected to his casual attire.

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By James Q. Lynch - No one could blame Iowa conventioneers if they had trouble following U.S. Rep. Steve King as he described vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin Thursday morning.

First, he talked about how she had “nailed a 10″ and added, “She’s our Shawn Johnson,” referring to the gold medal Olympian from West Des Moines.

Later, he described Palin’s politics as “our Margaret Thatcher,” the late British prime minister, was known as the Iron Maiden.

By James Q. Lynch - Cedar Rapids police officers are helping maintain order at the Republican National Convention. They’re working in St. Paul to repay the support they received from police them during June flooding.

So far, officers said Wednesday night, they haven’t been involved in the violent demonstrations that have led to hundreds of arrests.

Like the delegates, they’re from out of town and don’t know their way around. When they get asked for directions, one officer said, “We tell them if they find what they’re looking for to come back and tell us where it is.”

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By James Q. Lynch – First District Republican candidate David Hartsuch raised a few eyebrows Thursday morning when he told Iowa’s GOP convention delegation that his role model is Paul Wellstone.

Yes, the liberal, college professor who claimed to represent “the Democratic wing of the Democratic party.” Wellstone defeated an incumbent Republican to serve one term in the U.S. Senate. Just days before standing for re-election, he died in a plane crash while campaigning.

Wellstone, according to Hartsuch, an emergency room doctor who lived in Minneapolis for 16 years, “did reflect a high level of service and I think people respect that whether you are from the left or the right or the center.”

“People want to know that the people they are electing to office are going to be representing everybody, not just special interests,” said Hartsuch, who is challenging freshman Rep. Bruce Braley, a Waterloo Democrat. Braley, he said, “represents a very narrow special interest group in trial lawyers and unions.”

Wellstone is rarely mentioned with respect in Republican circles and Hartsuch said later he hoped that his audience understood he appreciated Wellstone’s approach to public service, but was not endorsing his policies.
“I am a right winger, there’s no doubt about it,” said Hartsuch, who is a champion of social conservative philosophy in the Iowa Senate.

“I believe Paul Wellstone reflected the broader interest of the public,” he said. “While I disagree with him on his policy – nonetheless, I could never doubt his integrity.”

Wellstone’s commitment to individuals is what “makes a good legislator a great one,” Hartsuch said. “That’s exactly what I try to do ¿ (because) people come to government with needs. It’s my duty to meet the needs of the people.
“I think his memory should live on as being a great statesman,” Hartsuch said.

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By Sarah Henderson – Late Tuesday night several delegates and I had the opportunity to attend the AgNite reception, despite the chilly temperatures, it was a great event and we enjoyed the live entertainment of Styx. We were up pretty late, but it was worth no sleep to get up early for the Iowa delegation breakfast at 8:00 AM today.

If anyone was thinking they were tired at the meeting, the “Power Hour” program was sure to pump everyone up. We were blessed with the opening remarks from John McCain’s mother. For me, the highlight was being in the presence of two Medal of Honor recipients and the wisdom shared by John Bolton.

At mid-week and the first big TV night, I started to take note of some interesting attire. A few state delegations wear complete matching outfits such as Texas all with white cowboy hats. Several other delegations have coordinating blazers and golf shirts. But the highlight was a woman in elephant-head house slippers. She told me her feet hurt so bad and they were matching with the convention so she just never took them off from the afternoon at the hotel. Given the state of my own feet I thought it was a great idea.

Today I put on my tennis shoes to participate in our service project preparing snack bags for the Gulf Coast. The Iowa delegation joined other states this afternoon to stuff bags and package snacks to be shipped south. It was a great experience to see how much could be assembled with everyone working together. It has special meaning being from Cedar Rapids to pay it forward to other people dealing with the immediate evacuation from a natural disaster.

This afternoon we were able to attend a reception for Mitt Romney and his family prior to the start of the evening program. I hope to see more of Mitt Romney in the future in some capacity in American politics. I feel he brought forward a great campaign and offered a lot to the Republican party.

More on this evenings program in my next entry.

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By Tim Demuth - Truly one of the highlights of circling around the Republican convention is the all the sort of people that you could never expected to run into.

Today, the man in charge of the security for out hotel, Mr. John Bay, turned out to be a native of Decorah, who knows Bob Bruce and James Q. Lynch, and the son, Jason Bay, that I had the pleasure of working with during the caucuses.

What a small world this turns out to be.

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By Tim Demuth – My biggest lament of this convention experience is that there is far to much to do and not enough time in the day; however it’s like that with life in general.

Between several different receptions to choose from yesterday before the main convention a few of us went to see actor Jon Voight speak speak at the “Circle of Friends for American Veterans,”(www.vetsvision.org).

Also speaking at the event were Congressman Mike Rogers of Michigan and outgoing Congressman Tom Davis of Virigina.

Last night the real excitement of the convention began. The former President Bush and First Lady Barbara made a nice entrance with a well-deserved and heartfelt standing ovation. Fred Thompson gave a wonderful presentation on Senator McCain, it is truly a shame that he was never that articulate or on his game during his own campaign or events could have been very different.

The highlight of the evening was the speech by Senator Joe Liebermann. While political I may not agree with much of what Senator Liebermann thinks ideologically, he hit the nail on the head stating that folks must vote for the person this year, not the party and vote for the experience that is needed to make the tough choices in a dangerous world.

There was, of course, the usual festivities after the convention, but we are getting better at finding vehciles and navigating the streets of St.
Paul/Minneapolis. Let’s just say that the group I was with did not have as interesting a time as the sub-compact car that had five Iowans crammed into the backseat and then got pulled over by some of the cities finest.

We had quite the breakfast line-up this morning including John McCain’s mother, Bud Day (a fellow prisoner with McCain at the Hanoi Hilton), Michael Bolton and, the best part, Michael Steele. Tonight will be exciting; this is Sarah Palin’s moment on the stage to introduce herself to the world. I don’t believe that we will be disappointed and I strongly feel that the majority of Americans in fly-over country will see in her as the person for the job.

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By James Q. Lynch – A hat rescued from a flooded Cedar Rapids home is drawing attention here at the Republican National Convention.

Iowa delegate Rose Eaton of Cedar Rapids has been wearing a “Dutch’s Dollies” boater hat a friend, Rosemary Harvey, rescued from her Time Check home after the June flood.
Eaton, 78, and a former Square D employee for 33 years, has modified the front with a McCain sign, but proudly displays the original Reagan sign on the back.

“It’s the past and the future of the party,” a fellow delegate suggested.

When Harvey found the hat in her attic she thought Eaton would enjoy wearing it at the convention.
She was right.

“I’m having a lot of fun with it,” Eaton says.

By James Q. Lynch - Mike Knopf is getting an early start on his goal to change the nation.

The 17-year-old Dubuque Senior senior is the youngest delegate to the Republican National Convention – a designation that has made him a media darling.

At a breakfast gathering of the Iowa delegation Tuesday two television crews followed Knopf, who will turn 18 on Oct. 31, four days before the election.

At times, “it feels weird” to be so young among so many adults, he says. “Everyone is going out to parties and receptions and I’m sitting in the lobby with the security guard.”

However, he’s soaking up as much of the convention as possible and, hopefully, Knopf says, learning the ropes so he can be a candidate some day. “I want to climb the ladder, legislature, Congress.” He’s also considering running for governor or the U.S. Senate – even president.

In the meantime, Knopf will finish high school where he plays football and basketball. He plans to get a political science degree at the University of Iowa.

Knopf wants to get other young people involved. Most are naive and he says many friends have fallen for Barack Obama’s rhetoric and change message without knowing anything about the change the Democratic presidential candidate is proposing.

“I care about what’s going on,” he says. “I want to be an educated voter. I want to change the nation.”

First, though, Knopf says, excusing himself, he has to take a call from Newsweek.

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