The Republican National Convention takes place this week in Tampa, Fla. Patrick Mara, a delegate to the convention and the Ward 1 representative on the D.C. State Board of Education, will be sharing with DCist his experiences at the convention and its affiliated events as the Republican Party officially nominates former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.
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TAMPA, Fla. — If you get your weather forecasts from political reporters, you’re probably expecting the Republican National Convention in Tampa to be ravaged by a hurricane.
Well, it has started raining here, and it is getting windy, but when it comes to dangerous weather we should all be thinking about the people who live on the northern part of the Gulf Coast. Though it’s inclement today, central Florida is being spared the worst of Tropical Storm Isaac, which appears to be bearing down on many of the same areas devastated by Katrina seven years ago.
But I’m not a weatherman. So don’t pay attention to my forecasts or those of the journalists here in Tampa seeking to mix low-pressure atmospheric systems and the 2012 presidential election.
The news from Tampa is, of course, all about Republicans organizing around Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan.
Throughout the next few days I’ll be communicating tidbits from Tampa.
The D.C. GOP delegation is housed at the Wyndham Tampa Westshore, which is a coup of sorts for our relatively tiny group. Many other delegations are all the way over in St. Petersburg, while Wyndham-dwellers face only a 10-minute ride to the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
“It is nice, but not glamorous,” D.C. GOP Chairman Bob Kabel said of our digs. But it is perhaps the best hotel for our bunch. We are lodging with Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, where the endangered species of moderate Republicans still exist.
I’ve only heard of one skirmish at the Wyndham thus far: a Delaware delegate mocked D.C. for its lack of Republicans.
My reply: I am not a witch.
Sunday evening we participated in what was billed as the “best welcome ever” at Tropicana Field over in St. Petersburg. Although it was a bit heavy on country music, it was very cool to have such a large scale party on a Major League Baseball field. Great exposure for a city. Go Nats!
More to come tomorrow. Although the official convention activities have been truncated today in the wake of the approaching storm, the day—and week—remain filled with private events.
Patrick Mara is a delegate to the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. and an elected member of the D.C. State Board of Education.
