The GOP Convention MegaMittensThread!

[CountDeMoney]

Since it's going to be a week-long festival of celebrating Wall Street, veiled racism, austerity hysteria and putting women back in the 19th century where they belong, let's start the fun, shall we?

Ron Paul delegates get nosebleed seats

TAMPA — The GOP is shoving the Ron Paul Revolution to the margins — of the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

The Republican National Convention seating chart, obtained by POLITICO Sunday, shows the delegations from Nevada, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota and Oklahoma all located on the outer fringe of the convention floor. Each are states with significant Paul followings.

The delegation for the Northern Mariana Islands, on the other hand, is right in front behind the gang from Michigan, birth state of Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Other groups with pretty good seats include those from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and American Samoa. None has electoral votes that can impact the outcome of the election.

It's yet another indignity for the party's cantankerous libertarian faction for their revered retiring Rep. Paul, R-Texas, who accumulated 177 delegates during his run for the GOP nomination this year. While he didn't win a single state, his supporters used procedural mechanisms available to them in several states to take a majority of delegates from Nevada, Iowa and Minnesota.

It is customary for vanquished candidates to cede delegates to the presumptive nominee, but Paul has insisted he cannot tell his followers what to do.

Paul supporters rallied in Tampa Sunday.

The GOP has been concerned that rebellious Paul supporters could cause hiccups for Romney's coronation as some have stated they may try to give their delegates to Paul during the roll call. A candidate needs five states to be officially recognized on the floor and Paul supporters have made claims to Louisiana, Oregon, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Maine. Romney's lawyers blocked that from happening in any official way, but there's little to prevent a delegation leader from going a different route.

Originally, the RNC's ceremonial roll call had been slated for Monday to get it over with before the days on which the TV networks would provide prime time coverage. That plan has been scuttled by the weather cancellation of Monday's proceedings; the roll call will now take place late Tuesday afternoon and will easily be included in evening news reports.

RNC spokesman Kyle Downey would not explain the logic of how states are arrayed around the Forum floor and responded to inquiries with an e-mail: "There's not a bad seat in the house."

Paul told The New York Times on Sunday he turned down a speaking slot at the convention because he refused to allow Romney's team to vet his speech. "I don't fully endorse him for president," he told the paper.

Paul campaign manager Jesse Benton declined to speculate about the seating snubs except to quip: "I am glad so many of our delegates get to sit close together."

Yet others freely admitted the arrangement seemed intentional.

"I'm not surprised," said Sue Lowden, a former Nevada GOP chairwoman whose tenure was marred in 2008 by efforts by Paul supporters to control the delegation despite Romney's easy triumph in that year's Nevada caucuses. "Many [Paul delegates] have stated that they are not voting for Romney. We Nevada alternates have great seats."

Indeed, the alternates — in most cases for Nevada, Romney backers who did not get selected at the state convention — sit in a section slightly raised with a perfect view eye-level with the podium.

Of all the Paul states at issue, Iowa and Massachusetts received the best seats. The Bay State is, of course, where Romney lives and was governor, so it will sit in the front of its section. And the Hawkeye State group is near the center; it's a hotly contested swing state with seven delegates.

Nevada, too, is a swing state, but polls show President Barack Obama starting to pull away from Romney.

While the GOP wants to prevent Paul acolytes from disrupting the stage-managed part of the process, the party actually bowed to them in several significant ways in writing the platform document. Only 11 of the 112 platform committee members were Paul supporters but the document calls for an audit of the Federal Reserve and a presidential commission to study metallic basing of the currency, accepted Internet freedom language written by a Paul group and language opposing the use of domestic drones and eminent domain seizures.

The official seating chart:
http://images.politico.com/global/2012/08/rnc_delegate_seating_forum_level_3_8-15-12_alt_del.html

[Syt]

Where will the Log Cabin Republicans, i.e. garbon, be seated?

[CountDeMoney]

Where will the Log Cabin Republicans, i.e. garbon, be seated?

Down the street and out of sight, of course.  Finger foods and cocktails.  The jokes write themselves.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Rich Weissmann has been a Republican for many years but had never been to a political convention. That changed when he arrived in Tampa this week.

"Quite frankly, it did not occur to me as a gay person to attend a Republican convention, and today it does," said Mr. Weissman, 58, of Portland, Ore. "Today, I feel it's an important thing to do. The Republican Party has become significantly more open, significantly more accepting."

On Sunday, he attended a convention welcome party sponsored by the Log Cabin Republicans, a group that advocates equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Americans.

Log Cabin Republicans sponsored the hors d'oeuvres reception. Gay rights groups are hosting other events this week to coincide with the Republican National Convention in Tampa, too. There's a brunch to honor gay delegates, an "Out to Win" party to support gay candidates in down-ticket races, and GOProud's "Homocon," which organizers promise will be a party, not "one of those boring GOP cocktail receptions."

This isn't your father's Republican convention.

It has been a slow transformation for the party as older, more socially conservative stalwarts are being replaced by younger ones who grew up in a society more accepting of homosexuality, where they watched gay characters emerge on TV sitcoms and saw Facebook friends post unabashed status messages declaring their love for someone of the same gender.

"The world is changing," said Sarah Longwell, a member of the leadership committee of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry. "The majority of young conservatives under the age of 40 believe in marriage equality, and if their party wants to stay relevant -- wants to continue to grow and acquire new members -- it's going to find itself needing to rethink its position on gay marriage pretty soon."

Ms. Longwell also is a member of the national board of directors for Log Cabin Republicans.

"A lot of people think it's an oxymoron, but Log Cabin Republicans think it's important to be at the table and persuade the party we belong to get on the right side of history," she said in a recent telephone interview. "A big part of participating in the convention is being at the convention and working with Republicans on the next frontier: marriage equality."

Polls show a clear generational divide within the Republican Party when it comes to gay rights issues, and gatherings in Tampa this weekend seemed to bear that out.

Just as the Log Cabin Republicans party was starting, another GOP event was winding down a few miles away at the historic Tampa Theater. There, nearly 2,000 Republicans -- most appearing to be over 50 -- applauded socially conservative religious leaders and politicians who spoke against gay marriage during a rally sponsored by the Faith and Freedom Coalition.

They cheered when Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz said marriage should be between one man and one woman, and they clapped when coalition founder Ralph Reed slammed President Barack Obama for supporting gay marriage.

Nine miles away, Log Cabin Republican leaders were preparing to welcome conservative gays and lesbians at the Rusty Pelican, an upscale restaurant with beautiful views of Old Tampa Bay.

Chris Koomer, 30, of Tampa was among the guests. He said the Republican Party is going to have to change as it ages.

Party leaders "are going to have to recognize that the younger generation is socially liberal," he said. "The party is going to have to evolve as gays become more of a force in the party."

Gay Republicans have a bigger presence at the convention than ever.

"For the longest time they've been on the outside looking in, and it's within the past six or seven years that more and more Republican party officials are paying attention to them, listening to them and inviting them to be part of an inclusive Republican coalition," said Dave Lampo of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington. "Their visibility has grown."

But some social conservatives say they aren't welcome.

"They have no business being there. Our message is to them is that your home is in the Democratic Party," said Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis for the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association, a conservative radio host and a leading anti-gay figure in the GOP.

"These groups are actively working to undermine and subvert the Republican party platform and the principles of the Republican Party," Mr. Fischer said in a telephone interview. "They are undermining the moral foundations of the Republican Party."

It's no matter to him that Log Cabin Republicans support nearly every other party platform from tax policy to gun rights.

"There is no place for the homosexual agenda," he said. "The Republican platform is very clean on the issues of marriage and family and parenting, and these are people that are actively working against the principles of the party."

Ms. Longwell, who grew up in conservative Perry County, Pa., said marriage equality is consistent with party ideology calling for limited government and the formation of stable families.

"Too many Republicans are misunderstanding what being a conservative is all about. It's about keeping the government out of our lives to the greatest extent possible," said Ms. Longwell, who recently became engaged to her longtime girlfriend in Washington, D.C., where gay marriage is legal.

Mr. Fischer said young Republicans like Ms. Longwell misunderstand the premise.

"The reason they are for gay marriage is that it is an issue of liberty for people to have the freedom to do what they want ... but we oppose gay marriage because it threatens liberty," he said.

He offered two examples of businesses whose freedoms were trumped by what he calls the gay agenda. First, he said several mayors are trying to keep Chick-fil-A restaurants out of their cities because the company's devout Christian owners oppose gay marriage. In another example, he said, the New Mexico Civil Rights Commission fined Christian photographer Elaine Huguenin for refusing to photograph a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony.

"The gay agenda is a threat to religious liberty. It is a danger to the liberty that the party stands for ... and it's tyranny that's being launched against businesses," Mr. Fischer said.

He said younger members of his party don't see that "because they are young and they are immature and they are unaware of the severe dangers to liberty that is posed by the homosexual agenda."

Mr. Lampo said those views don't reflect the views of most rank-and-file Republicans.

"I think even most people on the religious right, including opponents of same-sex marriage, are appalled by him," Mr. Lampo said. "The cultural change that is leading to support for same-sex marriage has already taken place. Bryan Fisher and people like that are stuck in the culture of the 1950s. They live in an Ozzie and Harriet world where every family was a two-parent family, gay people didn't exist, hopefully there were no African-Americans who lived on their block, and foreigners were something you saw when you went across the seas."

In separate interviews, several attendees at Sunday's party said it's easier to be gay in a Republican crowd than to be Republican in a gay crowd.

"I'm 68 and I've never had any discrimination or anything because I'm gay, but -- inside the gay community and outside the gay community -- people find out I'm a Republican and it can be trouble," said Guy Castagliola of Hillsborough County, Fla. "Some say, 'Do you hate yourself?' I say, 'I happen to be for lower taxes and less government spending. Does that mean I hate myself?' "

Said Ms. Longwell: "You've got to be really, really serious about your conservatism to be a gay Republican. You've got to be willing to take heat from both sides. Gay people think you're a traitor, and Republicans -- at least some portion of them -- are opposed to your basic civil rights," she said. "It can be a lonely place."

But, she says, she won't defect from the party just because of one issue, especially when she's optimistic about being able to change the minds of more socially conservative party mates.

"It's important that the conversation happens from one Republican to another because you need to be able to say, 'Look, I agree with you on most things but I disagree with you on this and let me tell you why,' " she said. "We can work with them and change their opinion over time."

Gay Republicans can't afford to wait, and neither can the party as a whole, said R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans.

"If one is looking at it from a principled standpoint of equality, the need for the Republican Party to be inclusive that's great, but there's also the pragmatic view that if you want to maintain majorities and win elections you have to be inclusive," he said.

[Razgovory]

Can't blame them for wanting to keep Ron Paul guys out of site.  They really don't want these guys, and their actual voting power is fairly marginal. There's such myriad weirdness in that movement you have no idea what they'll say or do.  You could interview them and get nearly anything.

"I'm here to show Ben Bernanke that we the American people won't stand for the Judeo-Bolsheivk plot that is the Federal Reserve."

"I'm here to show the military-industrial complex that they can't keep recovered alien secrets to themselves!"

"I'm here to show the UN that they can't take over our country without a fight!

"I'm so fucked up on acid, i don't know where I am.  Legalize it!"

[Faeelin]

I'm not sure you can call Ron Paul marginal, given that the GOP is going to study adopting the gold standard.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/24/news/economy/republican-gold-standard/index.html

[CountDeMoney]

given that the GOP is going to study adopting the gold standard.

And half the nation actually take these people seriously.

[garbon]

Rich Weissmann has been a Republican for many years but had never been to a political convention. That changed when he arrived in Tampa this week.

Not attractive

[The Minsky Moment]

I'm not sure you can call Ron Paul marginal, given that the GOP is going to study adopting the gold standard.

There is a very recent case study that can look at.  It's called the Euro.

[derspiess]

given that the GOP is going to study adopting the gold standard.

And half the nation actually take these people seriously.

You do realize it's meaningless, since it only calls for a study.  They were throwing the Paulites a bone.

[CountDeMoney]

You do realize it's meaningless, since it only calls for a study.  They were throwing the Paulites a bone.

Yeah, like their studies on "legitimate rape".

Some of the biggest mouthpieces on the right still spout it though.  Or did you get rid of your Beck University master's degree when FOX got rid of him?

[mongers]

Can't blame them for wanting to keep Ron Paul guys out of site.  They really don't want these guys, and their actual voting power is fairly marginal. There's such myriad weirdness in that movement you have no idea what they'll say or do.  You could interview them and get nearly anything.

"I'm here to show Ben Bernanke that we the American people won't stand for the Judeo-Bolsheivk plot that is the Federal Reserve."

"I'm here to show the military-industrial complex that they can't keep recovered alien secrets to themselves!"

"I'm here to show the UN that they can't take over our country without a fight!

"I'm so fucked up on acid, i don't know where I am.  Legalize it!"

I'd say that's probably quite a good characterisation of quite a few internet based 'movement'; indeed it's not a bad summing up of much of the occupy movement, I've heard all of that, sometime all from the same individual.   

[Razgovory]

given that the GOP is going to study adopting the gold standard.

And half the nation actually take these people seriously.

You do realize it's meaningless, since it only calls for a study.  They were throwing the Paulites a bone.

I'm with Derspeiss here.  Classic bone throwing.  More troubling is individual state parties adopting the Gold Standard as a party plank.  Fortunately they can't do anything in state governments, but you may raise a next generation of goof balls who will try to enacted it when they get to Congress.

[Admiral Yi]

I'm not sure you can call Ron Paul marginal, given that the GOP is going to study adopting the gold standard.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/24/news/economy/republican-gold-standard/index.html

And Obama studied cutting the deficit.  So what?

[sbr]

I'm not sure you can call Ron Paul marginal, given that the GOP is going to study adopting the gold standard.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/24/news/economy/republican-gold-standard/index.html

And Obama studied cutting the deficit.  So what?

So you think cutting the deficit is as kooky as the gold standard?

[Neil]

given that the GOP is going to study adopting the gold standard.

And half the nation actually take these people seriously.

You do realize it's meaningless, since it only calls for a study.  They were throwing the Paulites a bone.

I'm with Derspeiss here.  Classic bone throwing.  More troubling is individual state parties adopting the Gold Standard as a party plank.  Fortunately they can't do anything in state governments, but you may raise a next generation of goof balls who will try to enacted it when they get to Congress.

Indeed.  That's the problem with these people.  They're all about getting people while they're young, and then imprinting them with Christianity, gold-standardism and gun-nuttery.