Republican National Convention **live commentary thread**

[muon2]

Here's my view.

[muon2]

Why is Frank Jackson speaking?

A smart mayor welcomes any convention that is spending a lot in his city.

[muon2]

Random state reps thus far.

Not random if you noticed they were an Asian woman and a Latina.

[muon2]

"In Illinois we have term limits. One term as Governor, one term in jail."

4 of the last 9 have served time after leaving office. Ouch.

[muon2]

On the floor for the last speeches before committee reports.

[muon2]

WOW this hall is empty.  Was Seal Team Six the last speech?

I am finally catching up to this thread. For many the business of the party was this afternoon, and that's the part that interested me as my earlier posts suggested. The evening has speeches for the TV audience and parties for the delegates that typically start around 10 PM, so that's before prime time ends. For folks who come to multiple conventions the real work of the evening is networking with other party officials and sponsors. I spent much the evening first at a reception then at a steakhouse for dinner. The speeches were on TV in the background, but I was more interested in the dinner conversation about the party and down ballot races.

[muon2]

I just got to my seat as Sessions began.

[muon2]

The VA delegation seems to be absent in its entirety.

[muon2]

The VA delegation seems to be absent in its entirety.

You're there?!  Are you a delegate?  I had forgotten about this thing till I read the news today.

I've been out of the country for a couple of weeks.  Got home at about 2AM last night.  Catching up on bills, mowing the lawn, rinsing the gear, etc.  I also had agreed to be a reviewer for an article which is due July 25 so I was working on that on the plane ride home.  Probably will be working on that for at least a few days.

From what I've read in the on-line versions of WaPo and NYT, it was a rocky start, replete with plagiarism, browbeating, luke-warm endorsements, and lots of gloom and doom.  On the other hand, they're both reporting that the NeverTrump faction seems to have faded, so it'll not likely be a contested convention.

Are you pumped about casting a vote for Trump?  I think he won your state handily.

I'm an alternate, but not needed to cast votes today.

[muon2]

No seriously, can anyone explain what the deal was with Alaska?

AL has state rules about candidates that suspend campaigns, and they lose their delegates. The delegation chair announced the original totals, not the ones based on their rules.

[muon2]

Here's the scene

[muon2]

It won't matter, but Alaska definitely got screwed.

Or they learned to be a lot more careful about how they write their delegate selection rules.

[muon2]

Sharon Day speaking. The hall seems empty

The hall is still quite full. The concourse is active with delegates getting food or using the rest room, but at least 3/4 of the floor is busy.

[muon2]

Some delegations like MI are largely in their seats and attentive. Others are milling around in small groups ignoring the speeches. The guests in the balconies are the most attentive.

Late night receptions will be starting in the next hours, so I expect people to start heading out when their events get started.

[muon2]

Why are there so many empty seats?

Is this normal? I don't remember seeing that many empty seats in the past?

Are people not there because they fear for their safety due to the recent terror attacks?

Did they forget to tarp over the seats or something?

Voting for delegates is over. Many states have delegate receptions that are starting up. I'll be heading to one myself in about a half hour.

[muon2]

Why are there so many empty seats?

Is this normal? I don't remember seeing that many empty seats in the past?

Are people not there because they fear for their safety due to the recent terror attacks?

Did they forget to tarp over the seats or something?

Voting for delegates is over. Many states have delegate receptions that are starting up. I'll be heading to one myself in about a half hour.

Thank you! I've been trying to figure it out. I know if I had the chance to be at a convention, I'd want to hear every speech. I didn't know they had receptions and things going on during the speeches.

And some delegates do stay all the way. Especially first-timers. But many delegates use these receptions for networking in advance of the election.

[muon2]

My sense is that the Trump campaign is more interested in tracking with what will play best, rather than stay locked on a consistent schedule. It seems they concluded that the negative speeches against Hillary would work better for them than the original pro-jobs message. They left a few of the original message speeches in, but those seemed to be from speakers who were non-politicians who only fit that message. They also get a bit of both worlds this way as casual observers might read there was an evening about jobs, but would hear the attack message.