Republicans retool convention to avoid Isaac: who's in, who's out?

Up-and-comers in the GOP are still in prime speaking spots, as are Ann Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan. Action at the GOP convention will be suspended Monday, while Isaac sweeps past.

The storm-threatened Republican National Convention will cram four planned days of political theater into three by cutting some speakers, shortening some speeches, and starting evening speechifying earlier than previously planned, a senior strategist for Mitt Romney’s campaign told reporters on a conference call Sunday evening.

The convention will officially gavel in at 2 p.m. Monday but will be in session for no more than 10 minutes, said Russ Schriefer, the GOP strategist who has been the chief Romney campaign spokesman for convention logistics. The Republican National Committee called off Monday’s affairs due to the impending storm Isaac, which may be a hurricane by Monday as it blows past just west of Tampa, Fla., where tens of thousands of convention-goers and media representatives are gathering.

The proceedings will resume on Tuesday at 2 p.m. with Republicans taking their roll call vote in early evening to formally nominate Mr. Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin, to the Republican ticket. The convention’s new schedule appears to have cut only one previously named speaker: Steve Cohen of Screen Machine, a portable crushing and screening equipment manufacturer. [Editor's note: A later version of the RNC program showed Mr. Cohen to still have a speaking role.]

However, convention planners offered a list of 15 GOP House members and House candidates plus three Senate candidates who could get less time at the podium in order to make way for those whom Mr. Schriefer dubbed “headliners” originally scheduled to speak Monday. Among the headliners are Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who will now speak Wednesday, along with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Texas GOP Senate candidate Ted Cruz, who will speak Tuesday.

The convention did not alter the most prime speaking space -- 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. -- on any of the remaining nights, Schriefer noted. Romney’s wife, Ann, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) will headline Tuesday’s proceedings, followed by Representative Ryan on Wednesday and Sen. Marco Rubio (R) of Florida introducing Romney himself on Thursday. The evening speeches on Wednesday and Thursday will begin at 7 p.m. to fit in all speakers.

Schriefer also announced one other bit of convention showmanship: Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus will start a clock counting how much debt the US accumulates every second when he gavels in the proceedings on Monday. When House Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio concludes the ceremonies on Thursday, he’ll stop the clock to demonstrate how much debt the nation racked up during the course of the GOP convention. 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Republicans retool convention to avoid Isaac: who's in, who's out?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0826/Republicans-retool-convention-to-avoid-Isaac-who-s-in-who-s-out
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe