RNC having trouble filling up arena

[GrizzlyMan]

Just got off the phone with a buddy of mine in St.Paul. He works in govt. and has a number of Repug friends because of the nature of his business. At any rate, he said they have had a lot of trouble filling the arena. So much trouble in fact that they are encouraging local Repukes who have credentials to invite their like-minded family and friends to the hall where they are quickly credentialed and admitted.

He said at first he thought it was only because Monday was a scaled back day but they actually ramped it up today because they were concerned they couldn't fill it up when the TV cameras were on.

[marimour]

1. LOL. I bet Ron Paul had more supporters at his rally today than this pathetic convention.

[krkaufman]

32. Are you hearing ANY news coverage of Ron Paul ...

... at all? (if not as wild as the Hillary v Obama coverage of the DNC)

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

37. KPFA.ORG had a report this afternoon (The place was full, NO GOV. $ spent)

They were doing coverage from Ron Paul and RNC. maybe you can find something in their archives.

[gabeana]

2. I was wondering because it looked like there were a lot of empty seats

I didn't notice that at the DNC convention

[avaistheone1]

12. The RNC literally installed mirrors so that the crowd would look twice as large as it is.

Is that Orwellian?

[global1]

13. Tweety Was Comparing This Venue To The Dems Venue Last Week And Said......

that this Excel Center is very small in comparison. He went on to say that this was to give the illusion that it was packed to the gills. Oops!! Guess it didn't work.

[bleever]

3. What, are they afraid of a little tear gas?

Sarah Palin would march into that tear gas with her kids!

[ginnyinWI]

4. I noticed that.

I also noticed quite a few who looked to be in their twenties who looked really bored. Thanks to C-span for showing it. They were not enthused with Thompson or Lieberman. The whole thing was rather like a wake. For the GOP I guess!

[rwheeler31]

They to party.

[rwheeler31]

7. Lobbyists do not sit for speeches.

[avaistheone1]

31. I wonder if it was the lobbyists were leading the floor cheers

and the whooping that was going on. It sounded very orchestrated to me.

[napi21]

5. I bet they bus people on from everywhere! They had to do that

for McNuts Bday party too! Too f-in funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[skooooo]

6. Quite a difference from 04 when they were ...

...in Madison Square Garden. Remember all the young Republicans that showed up??? What happened to them this year??

[Gwinky]

8. Well, they were only able to find 6 people-of-color...

Did anyone else notice that the cameras repeatedly cut back to the same six people-of-color in the hall?

Nothing but white people in cowboy hats.

[GrizzlyMan]

10. I may be wrong but in 2000.....

There was a little factoid that 8 percent of the delegates to that RNC convention were minorities. It might have been 7 percent, not sure as it has been awhile but I remember watching that night and thinking how proud i am to be supporting a party that is rich in its diversity.

Like you said, old white guys in cowboy hats. A sea of white faces and THEY ARE PROUD OF IT.

[Gwinky]

16. Hahahaha! Guess the Katrina response ticked off the majority of RNC minorities!

Well, methinks 6-7 percent of non-white RNC faithful were feeling miiiiighty disenfranchised after the Katrina response.

And (Cheney's) Halliburton getting most of the contracts for Katrina cleanup probably didn't help matters. MIGHT have been good to hire more Louisianans!!!

[MrModerate]

27. For what it's worth, Halliburton didn't do much Katrina cleanup work . . .

The four big contracts (there were thousands in all) were to Fluor, Bechtel, Shaw, and CH2M Hill.

Halliburton did about 120 mill worth of work, almost all of it on military facilities (where they're supposed to have 'special expertise' given how much military support they've provided over the last 8 years).

[Gwinky]

33. Hahaha - I stand corrected...

Hahaha. I stand corrected.

I guess of the original $500 million contract Halliburton got for rebuilding naval bases...only $120 million was spent in the region?.

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/09/05/daily5.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Also, sorry, I was lumping in Shaw with Halliburton...was confusing the former GW Bush campaign manager Joe Allbaugh's great work in his new job pitching contracts for BOTH Shaw & Halliburton (KBR) - amongst other clients looking for fat US govnm't contracts.

As well as accidentally lumping in the additional Iraqi war military contractors Fluor & CH2M Hill.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/who-will-keep-us-safe-fro_b_7533.html

[MrModerate]

35. Yeah . . . task order contract capped at $500 mill

Of which they only spent ~120 on Katrina-related rebuilding. Whether they later upgraded two outhouses on Guam for the remaining 380, I can't say.

[gmoney]

20. "crashed" the McCain/Palin announcement rally last Friday...

My friend counted 5 black people, only 1 old enough to vote, and one asian guy out front selling buttons...

They also had closed off about 1/3 of the smallish arena so it would look more full...

[Arugula Latte]

9. It's hilarious! Only the floor is filled up.

Oooh, I feel a poem coming on:

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the dessert ... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
My name is Reagan, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level convention center stretches far away."

(With apologies to Percy Shelley)

[virgdem]

11. This English Lit Major..

appreciates your effort. Poor Ozymandias, he got drop kicked right out of that poem, but the revamp was very funny indeed.

[gmoney]

21. "Ozymandius! King of ANTS!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sDYmnk07i8

[Arugula Latte]

38. "I wandered lonely as a crab"

:rofl:

Gawd I love those guys ...

[Chloroplast]

14. CNN.com was showing the Ron Paul Convention and it was lively. The GOP had a subpar turnout.

Even George 41st was so bored, he kept looking at his watch.

[skooooo]

17. Are there more people at that convention??! nt

[Chloroplast]

29. When I tuned in, there was a band on stage but the crowd was impressively responsive.

I double checked and it seems Ron Paul tickets have sold out completely.

Source: http://www.ronpaul.com/events/ron-paul-convention/

[Bravo Zulu]

15. video of empty seats!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x180129

[NYC_SKP]

18. Did anyone fine attendance numbers? Any guesses?

I tried, but couldn't find any through Google news searches.

It's clear that the upper seats were empty (and unlit), so my best guess would be around 20,000 max.

I've never been to the venue.

Any educated DU guesses?

[Gwinky]

23. INVESCO Field reported 75,000 DNC faithful, Pepsi Center can hold 18,007 & Xcel can hold 18,064

No actual reports of attendees yet, but I will amend this if I locate a report

But for an NHL game:

Xcel Energy Center the seating configuration allows 18,064
Pepsi Center the seating configuration allows 18,007

Of course, if it is standing room only on the floor (where the ice is...) you can just imagine the extra total. At least 5,000 more people!

[NYC_SKP]

25. Thanks, so, maybe not even 10,000 in attendance?

hmmm, not surprised.

[Gwinky]

30. Only data I got...from Toledo, with an anti-Demo "spin"

The only count I could get was the Ohio Delegation at the Republican Convention.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080831/NEWS09/808310336

What's funny is the pro-republican spin they put on it...
Apparently, the entire Ohio Republican delegation was able to get "choice" seats on the floor of Xcel Energy Center, but at Pepsi Center, the Ohio Democratic delegation was up higher in the stands.
The article makes it seem like the Democratic party thinks less of Ohio than the Republican party.

Quote:
"As some 2,380 voting delegates and 2,227 alternates crowd into the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Ohio's delegation is expected to have front-and-center seating on the convention floor. That compares to first-level seating just off the floor for Ohio Democrats last week in Denver behind other battleground states like Michigan and Pennsylvania on the floor. The Ohio Republican Party, knowing what awaited its delegation in Minnesota, characterized the seating arrangements as a "snub" by Mr. Obama. "Ohio is going to play an important role and will be front and center," said Barbara Lang, a Monclova Township trustee and voting delegate. "Ohio is necessary for John McCain to win."

Could it simply be that the "choice seats" were available in St. Paul because the Ohio delegation was the only group to show up to the Twin Cities on Sunday???

And, probably ALL seats @ the DNCC in Denver were in hot,hot,hot demand? Standing room only!!!

hahaha!

[Borgnine]

19. They should just fill in the seats with Diebold machines.

God knows that's probably the largest part of the Republican base.

[pnorman]

24. " Diebold machines........ God knows that's probably the largest part of the Republican base."

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

THANKS! I'll use that phrase to good effect elsewhere!


pnorman

[Raster]

28. Game, set and match!

Thank you!:rofl:

[girl gone mad]

22. I was wondering why..

so many of the people there were just milling around, waving at the camera. I think they went out and asked random people if they wanted to be on TV.

[JI7]

26. that's the only reason they cancelled it on Monday

they just used the hurricane as an excuse. and then tried to profit out of it by making it seem they were giving something up.

[Hissyspit]

34. DNC was standing room only flowing out into the arena halls.

I felt privileged to find a seat.

[TexasObserver]

36. They should have given away free Rascals to draw more Republicans