VOLuntarilyConservative

Wednesday morning began with speeches to the Tennessee and Alaska delegations by Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Bob Corker, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Bob Corker touched a little on his recent trip to Georgia to view the unrest in that nation. Lamar Alexander showed a strong states' rights streak with his hammering of the need to stop unfunded federal mandates.

Governor Huckabee (pictured above with Chip Saltsman and Susan Williams) spoke mostly about Governor Sarah Palin. He pointed out that Palin received more votes while running for Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, than Joe Biden received in two presidential bids. Huckabee predicted that value voters will not turn from Palin due the recent pregnancy discussions, citing that she will become "like family" to the American people, and families stick together and offer forgiveness when needed. He pointed to Obama's meager record, and Huckabee hammered Obama when he said that the closest Obama has ever come to dealing with a terrorist is when he met with William Ayres. Huckabee closed a strong speech with a proposal that the nation's energy problem could be solved if the hot air could somehow be harnessed from Nancy Pelosi's speeches.
In the afternoon, an event was held with Senators Corker and Alexander at the Minnesota Science and Energy Museum.

From the veranda of the museum, several of us from Knox County were struck by how similar St. Paul and Knoxville were. The picture above greatly resembles the view off of the South End Zone seats at Neyland Stadium. We were also able to speak with Lamar Alexander about new historical exhibits in Tennessee, the importance of knowing one's genealogy, and how Tennessee's history is shaping its future. It was an intriguing informal discussion that I enjoyed greatly. Lamar is a great student of history, that is for sure.

During his program remarks, Bob Corker told details of his trip to Georgia. He also told of an interesting aspect of John McCain's foreign relations experience, of how world leaders to whom Corker has spoken don't speak of "Senator McCain," but of "John."

Lamar also addressed the crowd. He told of specific goals and predictions regarding energy, which is without a doubt the biggest issue being discussed here in the Twin Cities. Lamar believes that within 15-20 years that 50% of our cars will be electrically powered. He believes that this help our national dependency on foreign oil, but he realizes that 50% of our cars at that time would still be dependent on gasoline. In order to help all Americans and not create economic hardships based on what people could afford, Lamar believes that we need to increase American drilling. He pointed out that Republicans are the only party with a two-pronged approach - conservation, but also finding more and better energy sources.

From there, we went to the convention for the best night of speakers thus far. I will have to provide my notes, pictures, and thoughts on those at a later time, as my schedule here in Minnesota demands that I be at one function or another for the remainder of the day. I will attempt to add Part 2 (at the least) before I board my plane for Atlanta in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Labels: 2008 Republican National Convention, Bob Corker, Energy, Lamar